18
December
2018
|
17:00 PM
America/Chicago
Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital Names New Chief of Medical Staff
LAKE FOREST, IL– December 19, 2018 – When she was elected Chief of the Medical Staff at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital earlier this fall, Jill Holden, MD, became the first woman to hold the position.
“I never thought of myself as being a symbol,” says Dr. Holden, who is a partner in a private Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in Lake Forest for 26 years and a Lake Forest resident. “I just thought it was my turn to do the work. But I think I am a symbol, because nobody has been down this road before.”
Michael Bauer, MD, medical director at Lake Forest Hospital, has worked with Dr. Holden since she arrived in the north suburbs. “This was a long time coming,” Dr. Bauer says, but adds that gender was not a factor in Dr. Holden’s selection.
“Jill was picked for her leadership abilities, her phenomenal reputation both in the community and amongst her colleagues, and in the way she blends her role as a private practice physician with advancing Northwestern Medicine and championing what's best for our patients,” Dr. Bauer says. “The fact that she is the first female chief of the medical staff is groundbreaking, but it is not why she’s in this position.”
Dr. Holden is a graduate of University of Illinois and Kansas University School of Medicine at University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. She completed her residency at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
One of her top priorities as the leader of the medical staff is to help evolve the culture at the hospital. “I have watched medicine evolve, and I’ve watched our community hospital become a state-of-the-art facility anchoring the northern suburbs of a Chicago’s premier academic health system,” she says. “We've asked a lot of our physicians recently as changes can be frequent and at times overwhelming. I hope to help facilitate this transition as smoothly as possible.”
The word community is one she most frequently stresses. “You evolve the culture to what it needs to be within a bigger system, but it still has a community to it,” Dr. Holden says. “We have all the resources that we never would have imagined before, but we still need to bring it back to the community.”
Her proudest achievement, she says, is raising her two adult children — a son who is a teacher with plans for law school next year and a daughter who, after earning an engineering degree, is now in her third year of medical school. Could her daughter follow in her footsteps? Dr. Holden says her daughter hasn’t ruled obstetrics out yet, but she does see a similar drive in her to be a leader. “She never had an attitude of, ‘You can’t do things,’” Dr. Holden says. “I’m always amazed watching her. I guess I did, too, but you don’t always see it until you’re watching someone else.”
“I never thought of myself as being a symbol,” says Dr. Holden, who is a partner in a private Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in Lake Forest for 26 years and a Lake Forest resident. “I just thought it was my turn to do the work. But I think I am a symbol, because nobody has been down this road before.”
Michael Bauer, MD, medical director at Lake Forest Hospital, has worked with Dr. Holden since she arrived in the north suburbs. “This was a long time coming,” Dr. Bauer says, but adds that gender was not a factor in Dr. Holden’s selection.
“Jill was picked for her leadership abilities, her phenomenal reputation both in the community and amongst her colleagues, and in the way she blends her role as a private practice physician with advancing Northwestern Medicine and championing what's best for our patients,” Dr. Bauer says. “The fact that she is the first female chief of the medical staff is groundbreaking, but it is not why she’s in this position.”
Dr. Holden is a graduate of University of Illinois and Kansas University School of Medicine at University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. She completed her residency at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
One of her top priorities as the leader of the medical staff is to help evolve the culture at the hospital. “I have watched medicine evolve, and I’ve watched our community hospital become a state-of-the-art facility anchoring the northern suburbs of a Chicago’s premier academic health system,” she says. “We've asked a lot of our physicians recently as changes can be frequent and at times overwhelming. I hope to help facilitate this transition as smoothly as possible.”
The word community is one she most frequently stresses. “You evolve the culture to what it needs to be within a bigger system, but it still has a community to it,” Dr. Holden says. “We have all the resources that we never would have imagined before, but we still need to bring it back to the community.”
Her proudest achievement, she says, is raising her two adult children — a son who is a teacher with plans for law school next year and a daughter who, after earning an engineering degree, is now in her third year of medical school. Could her daughter follow in her footsteps? Dr. Holden says her daughter hasn’t ruled obstetrics out yet, but she does see a similar drive in her to be a leader. “She never had an attitude of, ‘You can’t do things,’” Dr. Holden says. “I’m always amazed watching her. I guess I did, too, but you don’t always see it until you’re watching someone else.”