Health foundation honors St. Francis Health clinicians for career contributions

INDIANAPOLIS – A Franciscan St. Francis Health physician and nurse who have distinguished themselves in their careers are the recipients of 2011 Indiana Public Health Foundation awards.

Richard D. Feldman, M.D., director of Medical Education and Residency Training; and Michele Kuntz-Wood, R.N., manager of Women’s Health Services, were recognized at the 27^th annual Tony and Mary Hulman Health Achievement Awards program, held Oct. 6 at the Indianapolis Westin Hotel.

Feldman received the Lifetime Award for Distinguished Service in Years of Health Advancement Award. Wood received the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Award.

Fittingly, both were introduced by dinner chairman Robert J. Brody, president and CEO of Franciscan St. Francis.

“In 1981, Richard was the youngest in the nation to become the director of a family medicine residency program when he assumed that position at St. Francis, one of the most respected of its kind in our region,” Brody said. “More than any other specialty, family doctors focus their attention on the person, not just the disease, and are driven by the need to make people whole. He has been a tireless advocate for the family medicine profession and, more important, an advocate for patients.”

The St. Francis chief executive was equally effusive with praise for Wood.

“She has been a member of our hospital family for nearly three decades,” he noted. “Her entire career has focused on caring for women and their families. There have no better champion than Michele.”

To learn more about the Indiana Public Health Foundation, go to http://www.iphf.us/

Medical honor society welcomes St. Francis Health surgeon into its fold

INDIANAPOLIS – Bridget Sanders, M.D., a member of St. Francis Medical Group, has been elected to membership into the Indiana chapter of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

A colorectal cancer surgeon with Kendrick Colon and Rectal Center, Sanders will be inducted into the group at a ceremony and banquet at the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis next spring. She was nominated by members of the Indiana chapter.

Sanders joined the Kendrick practice in 2005. She specializes in the treatment of pelvic floor disorders, as well as laparoscopic colon and rectal surgery. She treats patients at Franciscan St. Francis Health hospitals in Indianapolis, Beech Grove and Mooresville.

Certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, she is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Sanders earned her medical degree at the IU School of Medicine where she later completed a surgical residency. Following the residency, she completed a colon and rectal surgery fellowship at Cleveland clinic before joining Kendrick.