Dermatologist the first woman recipient of the Barney Award

When Dr. Janet Hickman stepped into the role of president of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine for 2005-2006, she was the organization’s first woman president.

On Wednesday, the Lynchburg dermatologist was selected by LAM as recipient of the Barney Award for outstanding service to medicine and to the profession.

She was the first woman, and 11th physician to receive the Academy’s highest award, given in honor of Dr. William Barney, a Lynchburg physician active in the community, in the Academy, and a former president of the Medical Society of Virginia.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Hickman, in accepting the award from Dr. Anita Schmidt, LAM president.

“This is a great place to practice medicine,” said Hickman, whose husband Dr. Robert Hickman is a Lynchburg gastroenterologist, “and it was our wonderful opportunity to come here almost 30 years ago. It is a wonderful place to flourish, whether you’re a woman in medicine or a male in medicine and I certainly enjoy working with everyone, both in LAM and this community.”

In announcing the award, Schmidt cited Janet Hickman’s contributions to LAM, an educational and professional organization of area physicians, and noted that Hickman had been honored nationally for her contributions to dermatology, and locally for work as a teacher at the Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency.

Schmidt described Hickman as “an overachiever from her earliest days,” a graduate of Harvard Medical School magna cum laude, who is now “a medical consultant and investigator with over 40 listed publications.”

The presentation at the joint meeting with Centra also introduced 34 new physicians to the medical staff and recognized the retirement of eight longtime area physicians.

Retiring physicians included: Dr. John Arnold, of F. Read Hopkins Pediatric Associates; Dr. John Campbell, Brookneal Family Medical Center; Dr. Richard Giles, Lynchburg Nephrology Physicians; Dr. William Hobbs, Lynchburg Eye Physicians & Surgeons; Dr. Jay Hopkins, The Orthopaedic Center of Central Virginia; Dr. Kenneth Powell family physician in Appomattox; Dr. Ralph Slusher, Altavista Medical Center; Dr. Robert Whisnant Jr., Lynchburg Eye Physicians & Surgeons.

Each of the retiring physicians present for the meeting spoke — some were brief, others more expansive — most were complimentary of the medical community and its cooperative relationships.

Dr. John Arnold noted that the hospital system and the private practitioners had worked well together over the years to the benefit of patients.

Thirty years have brought changes unimaginable at the time he entered practice, said Arnold. Then speaking to the new physicians, he added, “We haven’t seen anything yet — it’s only going to get better.”

The meeting also saw the first presentation of a new award, the John Bell Memorial Clinical Excellence Award in memory of Bell, a cardiothoracic surgeon who died in 2007 in a tragic accident while bicycling.

The award, created by the Centra board of directors, is to recognize “and foster the continued use of best clinical practices throughout the region Centra serves,” said George Dawson, Centra president.

“John was a consummate surgeon with a passion for excellence,” said Dawson.

It was a surprise to the group that not one, but two people were honored with the Bell award — Dr. Albert Baker, a specialist in pulmonary medicine and critical care, and Patty Bumgarner, R.N., Centra director of all critical care nursing units and director of emergency services.

Working with a small group of hospitals, the two led the effort at Centra to create an “ideal ICU.” The effort has been recognized nationally for that achievement, said Dawson. The result of that work, he said, is that outcomes of critically ill patients at Centra have dramatically improved.

“They show what can happen when doctors and nurses team together,” said Dawson. “Their success in the ICU and elsewhere would not have been possible had they not received the support of their physicians and nursing colleagues, other employees, administrators, and even patients and their families.”