THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280142
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The Glennan Center on Aging at EVMS has the potential to become a national leader in geriatrics, says the man who's likely to head it.
Dr. William B. Ershler, who now directs the University of Wisconsin's Institute on Aging in Madison, is ``95 percent sure'' he'll be coming to Norfolk, he said in a telephone interview this week. Dr. John Franklin, the outgoing director of EVMS's geriatric program, confirmed that Ershler was the leading candidate to replace him.
Ershler, who edits the Journal of Gerontology, a leading publication in the field, has directed the Wisconsin center since 1989. He is willing to leave the prestige of a large medical school like Wisconsin because of EVMS' enthusiasm for the aging program, he says.
Also, the school has the potential to draw more medical students into geriatric-patient care because of EVMS' emphasis on primary care, he says.
``The big universities tend to draw medical students that have interests in subspecialties or academic medicine.''
Landing Ershler would be a coup for the medical school, not only because of his national reputation and experience, but because of the nearly $11 million in research funding he hopes to bring with him.
Much of his work centers on osteoporosis and the effects of aging on the immune system. At EVMS he would be able to collaborate with researchers at the Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine, where osteoporosis is also a major research area.
He also envisions a strong medical-care side to the center. At Wisconsin, he developed a network of clinics that focus on problems inherent in the elderly - falls, osteoporosis, incontinence, for example.
Ershler said he would also try to develop an in-patient geriatrics unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, similar to one he started in Wisconsin.
Too often, he said, the frail elderly are admitted into hospitals with illnesses like pneumonia and spend the next week lying in bed receiving antibiotics. By the time the treatment is finished, the patients are weak and often can't walk because they have spent so much time in bed.
On a specialized geriatrics unit, patients wear their street clothes, receive treatments while sitting in a chair, and participate in physical and occupational therapy. Studies show that these units both improve patients' health and cut medical costs by reducing time spent in the hospital and the risk of readmission.
Ershler would also nurture a close relationship with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton. Veteran hospitals across the country, including Hampton's, treat many older patients.
His goal would be to help the VA obtain a special geriatrics grant, called a GRECC, which supports geriatrics research, education and clinical care in VA hospitals and ensure that all faculty hired for the center share appointments at EVMS and the VA.
Erschler expects to make his decision by mid-February.
``If I were to come there,'' he says, ``it would be my goal to make the Glennan Center the No. 1 center in the United States.'' by CNB