Island honors
Regence promotes Chong to chief medical officer
Dennis Chong, M.D., has been named as Regence chief medical officer. Chong is now in charge of pharmacy services and the subsidiary RegenceRx, in addition to leading clinical policy and programs, and quality medical management for the Health Care Services division that serves all four Regence health plans.
Chong has been employed at Regence since 2006. Prior to that, he was the vice president and senior market medical executive at Cigna HealthCare.
Dr. Chong received his medical degree from the University of Calgary, Alberta, and is board-certified by the College of Family Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Canada, and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Knight is new Swedish president
Long-time Swedish administrator and Mercer Island resident, Cal Knight, was recently promoted to president and chief operating officer (COO).
Knight served as COO of the Swedish First Hill Campus from 1995 until May of 2007, when he became the executive vice president.
Knight oversees the outpatient services, nursing operations, Swedish Physician Division, support functions and service lines at Swedish’s First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard and Issaquah campuses.
Knight graduated from Western Washington University and earned master’s degrees in health administration and business administration from the University of Iowa.
Before joining Swedish, Knight was the senior vice president of operations for ORNDA Healthcorp.
Katz wins Social Issues Award
Mercer Island psychologist, Renee S. Katz, Ph.D., has received the Social Issues Award from the Washington State Psychological Association (WSPA). The WSPA Social Issues Award was presented to Dr. Katz in recognition of her outstanding application of psychology to community mental health in the arena of end-of-life care. Dr. Katz, who co-chairs the WSPA End-of-Life Task force, has been at the forefront of promoting awareness of the psychological needs of patients and families who are bereaved, living with life-limiting illness or near the end of life. Dr. Katz and her colleague, Therese Johnson, recently published “When Professionals Weep,” the first book to address the emotional responses and needs of health care professionals working in end-of-life care.
