Hershey Medical Center names Williams medical director of patient throughput
Hershey Medical Center has selected Dr. Duane Williams as the new medical director of patient throughput, effective July 1. Williams will be responsible for overseeing efficiency in the flow of patients through the hospital, ensuring timely and appropriate care.
As the physician leader for patient throughput across the care continuum, Williams will collaborate with Medical Center team members to develop strategies for addressing and optimizing bed capacity, patient flow, triaging, staffing and transfers. He will oversee Patient Logistics and the Capacity Governance Council and serve as physician liaison, collaborating on strategies with department chairs and division leads. This new position is critical to serving our patients and improving the employee and faculty experience, decreasing costs and increasing productivity.
“We are pleased that Dr. Williams has accepted this new role within the Medical Center,” said Dr. Sarah Iriana, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Hershey Medical Center. “His strong collaborative skills combined with his extensive knowledge about the throughput process, and his hope to serve others position him as the right leader for this work.”
Williams received his medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine and is studying for a master’s degree in health administration.
His leadership roles include medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and Penn State Health Children’s Hospital physician lead for inpatient pandemic response. He is the chair of the Medical Center Boarding Task Force, overseeing a multidisciplinary team responsible for assessment of opportunities to reduce boarding and improve throughput.
In addition, Williams serves on the Medical Staff Executive Committee and several other clinical teams and committees. He has developed and co-developed a series of pediatric clinical programs to improve patient care and nursing engagement, and received numerous honors and awards for excellence in teaching and specialty care.
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