VUMC in the news

WPLN Nashville Public Radio reporter Blake Farmer is covering the news that Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Cardiac Surgery Team performed Tennessee’s first total artificial heart implantation Wednesday, Sept. 26, on a 56-year-old man with congestive heart failure.

Last week’s Health Summit for Black Men, sponsored by the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, was covered by several media outlets, including WTVF News Channel 5. Andre Churchwell, Levi Watkins Jr. MD Professor and Chief Diversity Officer at VUMC, and James Hildreth, MD, president of Meharry Medical College, were speakers at the event.

Lori Rolando, MD, director of Occupational Health for VUMC, was interviewed by WZTV Fox 17, WKRN News 2, and WTVF News Channel 5 during the eighth annual Flulapalooza, flu vaccination event.  Fox 17 and News 2 both had live broadcast from inside the tent at 7 a.m, 4 p.m . and 5 p.m. A total of 12,627 people were vaccinated during the 12-hour event.  

Consumer Reports associate editor of health & food Catherine Roberts interviewed William Schaffner, MD, professor of Preventive Medicine, for a story about fears of flu shot side effects. Schaffner was also quoted in a CNBC story about lingering health problems after a bout of the flu, including increased risk for heart attack, and was interviewed for flu stories in other news outlets, including NPR and USA Today.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel covered what it called the “new partnership between doctors and facilities affiliated with University of Tennessee Medical Center and Vanderbilt University Medical Center aims to improve the quality of health care and reduce costs across the state.” C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer, is quoted in the piece.