Shenandoah University presented an Ebola Panel Discussion on Dec. 2. Panel members included Health Director of the Lord Fairfax Health District Charles J. Devine, III, M.D.; Dean of the Shenandoah University School of Health Professions Tim Ford, Ph.D.; Dean of the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing Kathryn Ganske, Ph.D., RN; Shenandoah University Director of Health Services Ron Stickley, M.S., NRP; and Assistant Professor of Nursing and Nursing Lab Co-coordinator Gilda Gilbert, M.S.N., RN, CNOR.
The panel discussion addressed basic disease symptoms and transmission of Ebola and the local response to Ebola by the health department. It detailed the health department’s protocol for dealing with those who travel to Ebola affected countries, as well as travelers who become ill with the disease.
The panel discussion also outlined the process of identifying, quarantining, and transporting infected patients, as well as the decontamination and cleanup process. Contact monitoring by the health department was also addressed.
Shenandoah University’s preparedness planning and training was outlined, as well as the university’s position as a resource to the community.
About the panelists:
Dr. Charles Devine serves as the Health Director of the Lord Fairfax Health District, a part of the Virginia Department of Health. This health district serves the counties of Frederick, Shenandoah, Clarke, Warren, and Page, as well as the City of Winchester. In this capacity he leads the county’s health departments in their efforts to assure the health and safety of the region’s citizens. He also serves as Interim Health Director for the Thomas Jefferson Health District, which serves the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson and the City of Charlottesville.
Prior to his work with the Virginia Department of Health, Devine completed a 23-year career in emergency medicine. He has served as medical director of the City of Norfolk Fire and Paramedic Department, and of the Nightingale helicopter ambulance flying from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He received the 2003 Governor’s Award as Virginia’s Outstanding Emergency Medical Services Physician.
Devine holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in technical theatre and lighting design for ballet from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1979 and went on to complete training in emergency medicine. Between medical school and post-graduate training, Devine undertook externship training at Harvard Medical School and the Cleveland Clinic. His postgraduate training was at Duke University and the Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine. He was certified in emergency medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine and was named a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Tim Ford has served as Shenandoah University’s dean of the School of Health Professions since July 2014. In this newly created position, Ford oversees athletic training, occupational therapy, physician assistant studies and physical therapy.
Ford previously served as interim dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professions (WCHP), dean of graduate studies and public health, and vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at the University of New England (UNE). He held prior positions at Montana State University and at the Harvard School of Public Health.
At Harvard, he both founded and directed the program in water and health, and at Montana State University, he served as principal investigator on the Montana IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence program — designed to build research and training infrastructure throughout the state in environmental health and infectious disease.
Ford earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Sussex University (U.K.) and a doctorate in aquatic microbiology from the University of Wales, Bangor (U.K.). He completed his postdoctoral training in environmental microbiology at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Dr. Kathryn Ganske was named dean of the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2012. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing from Indiana University; a Master of Nursing from George Mason University; and a Master of Arts in bioethics and a Doctor of Philosophy in nursing from the University of Virginia.
Her research interests include bioethics, family caregiving and moral reasoning in nurses. Ganske has been awarded more than $1.5 million in federal and private grants. In 2010 she was named to the American Nursing Association (ANA) Ethics and Human Rights Advisory Board, in 2013 named a Valley Health System Corporate Member, and in 2014 named Commissioner of Education for the Virginia Nurses Association.
Her publications include articles on moral reasoning, moral distress and ethical implications in caregiving. As an immediate past member of the ANA Ethics and Human Rights Board, she participated in the revision of the ANA Code of Ethics. In 2014, Ganske was named one of 100 Alumni Legacy Leaders at Indiana University on the occasion of the School of Nursing’s 100 year anniversary.
Mr. Ron Stickley has served as Shenandoah University’s director of Health Services for more than seven years. He is responsible for the oversight of the university’s Wilkins Wellness Center and is the incident commander for any communicable or infectious disease outbreak on any Shenandoah University campus. Stickley has 30 years of medical and pre-hospital experience. He is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite and Shenandoah University.
Ms. Gilda Gilbert is an assistant professor of nursing in the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing at Shenandoah University and serves as co-coordinator of the Nursing Skills Simulation (SIM) Lab. For nearly 30 years, Gilbert served in the perioperative nursing practice in small, medium, and large non-profit hospital settings as well as private plastic surgery practice. She has served in various roles at both Winchester Medical Center and Page Memorial Hospital and is a long-time nurse educator through various organizations.
