Mourning Vincent Davis
The Duke community mourned the loss of bus driver Vincent Davis after he was killed in a crash at the intersection of Erwin and Morreene roads Dec. 22.
"This was as horrific as an accident could be, and we’re still working our way through supporting both the family and the coworkers within Parking and Transportation," said Vice President of Administration Kyle Cavanaugh in an earlier interview with The Chronicle.
Davis, 52, was driving a Duke passenger van at the intersection when Jacob Samuels, 18, ran a red light and struck the van. The van flipped onto its side, and Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.
He had worked at Duke for nearly two years.
Samuels has been charged with running a red light and death by vehicle. He was taken to Duke Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
"When a death does occur, there is a structured set of resources and benefits that are made available to both the family as well as to the coworkers, and we’re doing all that we can to support and expedite that," Cavanaugh said.
Davis’ funeral was held this weekend.
"Any time that we lose a member of our community, it is a time of enormous grief," Cavanaugh said. "We ask everyone in the Duke community during this holiday season to keep Vincent's family in their thoughts and prayers."
Award announced for Global Health at DKU
Following its inaugural semester, Duke Kunshan University was named a Research Hub for health policy and system research by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Shenglan Tang, associate director for DKU and China initiatives at the Duke Global Health Institute, was selected to lead the hub—which is one of only three selected locations. Tang is the founding director of the Global Health Research Center at DKU.
“Having the research hub at DKU will provide us with an excellent opportunity to generate new knowledge for strengthening health systems in Asian and Pacific countries, thus improving the health of the people in the region,” Tang said in a press release from DGHI.
One of the main goals of the research hub will be to “create a body of knowledge and evidence on health systems in the Asia Pacific region, comparable across countries, through collection and analysis of information and research evidence on health care policies and reforms,” the release explains.
Additionally, the hub will facilitate discussions between parties with interest in health care in the region in order to assess possible weaknesses. These interested parties include members of the government, NGOs and academia.
This announcement—which was released by DGHI on Dec. 20, 2014—comes just a month after DKU’s grand opening ceremonies in November.
DUHS implements influenza precautions
Following a high rate of reported flu patients in Durham and the surrounding areas, the Duke University Health System announced Dec. 30, 2014 that it was putting extra precautions in place to limit the spread of the influenza virus.
The announced restrictions are similar to those put in place in previous years, including from Dec. 30, 2013 to Feb. 28 of last year. The rate of influenza infection will continue to be measured and the restrictions will be lifted when they are no longer deemed a concerning rate.
According to a press release from Duke Medicine, during this period, visitors to hospital will be limited to immediate family or designated caregivers. Visitors may not be displaying a fever, cough or other flu-like symptoms and must be 18 years old or older.
The restrictions have been put in place at Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital and Duke Raleigh Hospital, as well as the Duke Ambulatory Surgical Center and the James E. Davis Ambulatory Surgical Center.
Additional precautions include limiting visitors to two per patient at any one time. Those who do visit are urged to frequently and thoroughly wash their hands—including when entering and leaving the hospital building. The press release that to facilitate this, foam soap dispensers are available throughout the hospitals.
Where possible, emergency rooms, urgent care centers and clinics will seek opportunities to physically segregate potential flu patients from those not displaying flu-like symptoms, the release explained.
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