The National Board of Certification for Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education Programs (TAGME) has appointed Magdalena (Maggie) Petre as a member-at-large for psychiatry. She is one of the first two to receive national certification in the state of Illinois and first five in the nation in the specialty of psychiatry.

Petre has served as supervisor of operations and education in psychiatry and graduate medical education at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for six years and has been involved in the graduate medical education arena for 17 years. As a member-at-large for this national organization, she will continue as support for the assessment of program coordinators and administrators of residency programs in psychiatry and will participate on adhoc committees and review boards.

"This is a great honor," says Petre. "I feel privileged to have been appointed and able to participate in this awesome evolution. National certification provides a valuable opportunity for key personal growth and development for every training administrator. The graduate medical education arena has changed so much the last few years. These changes have brought forth a need for higher levels of skill, expectation and responsibility for training administrators. The certification will demonstrate I have the knowledge and skills needed to successfully manage my training program. I encourage all training administrators to seek this valuable certification."

Lake Forest Hospital (LFH) Foundation Board of Directors has announced Thomas J. McAfee as its new president/chief executive officer.

McAfee has been vice president of operations & professional services for Hillcrest Hospital – Cleveland Clinic Health System, Cleveland, OH, for the past six years. McAfee also served as corporate/executive director of the Cleveland Clinic eastern region oncology service for four years prior to becoming vice president.

LFH Chairman of the Board Thomas Swarthout said, "This is an exciting time for Lake Forest Hospital. We have found someone to lead us into the next decade. Tom McAfee is up to that task."

McAfee most recently has been responsible for leading all Hillcrest Hospital support and ancillary departments such as medical imaging, cardiopulmonary services, maintenance & engineering, logistics, clinical engineering, nutritional services, security and environmental services. He also has overseen the oncology, cardiothoracic, vascular, neuroscience and orthopedic service lines.

In other experience, McAfee has been oncology service line administrator at Good Samaritan Hospital/Catholic Health Initiatives in Dayton, OH; and vice president at Frankford Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.

He has been an adjunct instructor for undergraduate students in a health services administration class at Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz Campus.

McAfee has a master’s degree in hospital and health administration from Xavier University and his bachelor’s degree with a concentration in neurophysiology is from Wright State University.

McAfee is a diplomat in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a board member, Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland.

Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital has named Kathy Mitchell as its Chief Nursing Officer. Mitchell comes to Adventist Bolingbrook Medical Center, which will open a new 138-bed hospital in 2007, from Celebration Health, a campus of Florida Hospital in Celebration, FL, where she was the assistant administrator. As a Chief Nursing Officer, Mitchell was part of the opening team at that facility in 1998.

"Opening a new hospital is an exciting adventure. I look forward to the opportunity to bring my experience to the opening of Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital," said Mitchell.

In her 23 years in nursing, she has worked in critical care and medical/surgical units and developed leadership skills as a charge nurse, nursing manager, director of nursing and as a chief nursing officer. Her philosophy of nursing is based on the holistic care of patients and balanced performance of five elements: team, clinical, service, market and finance.

"I approach leadership and the business of healthcare from a balanced performance philosophy. It’s important to recruit and retain a highly engaged work force. It’s important to deliver high quality clinical outcomes. Also important is to achieve patient satisfaction based on inpatient, outpatient and Emergency Department visits. To be successful, we must attract and grow volume in the market. We must also be good stewards and manage our finances," notes Mitchell.

"It’s how I enable nurses to meet the needs of their patients, day to day, week to week, month to month and quarter to quarter."

Mitchell earned a B.S. from Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, FL, and an MBA from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN.

Focused and disciplined, Mitchell also is looking for future leaders in nursing. "Every successful nursing leader was mentored by someone who reached out and shared their success. I like to identify traits of potential leaders and mentor. It’s important to develop future talent for Adventist Midwest Health and continue that accountability," said Mitchell.