05/09/2002
(HARTFORD, Conn.) -- Anthony S. Morgan, M.D., of Bloomfield, has been named chairman and director of the Department of Surgery at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. The appointment marks the first time that an African-American physician has been named chief of surgery at a major Connecticut hospital.
 Dr. Morgan, who had been serving as interim chairman and director of the department, joined Saint Francis as chief of trauma services in 1984. His appointment, which is effective May 3, comes as a result of a national search for a successor to Robert Painter, M.D., who retired in 1997.
"Our search determined that the top candidate to lead the Saint Francis surgical program into the new millennium was in our midst," said David D'Eramo, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer. "This speaks well of the tremendous pool of talent that exists in the Saint Francis family. In his 15 years here, Dr. Morgan has made tremendous contributions to the growth of this institution, and I am confident that Saint Francis will be well served as he assumes his new responsibilities."
In addition to his role as chairman and director of the Department of Surgery, Dr. Morgan will continue to serve as Saint Francis' chief of trauma services. In that position, Dr. Morgan was instrumental in the development of the hospital's traumatic brain injury (TBI) program, the oldest interdisciplinary TBI team at an acute care hospital in Connecticut. Groundbreaking research by this team has demonstrated that its innovative approach to rehabilitation improves patient outcomes and reduces the length of hospitalization.
Dr. Morgan and two other TBI team members, last year, published Maximizing Brain Injury Recovery: Integrating Critical Care and Early Rehabilitation, the first medical textbook to integrate the principles and guidelines of critical care medicine with acute rehabilitation in an intensive care unit. He also has played a key role in the development of two of Saint Francis' highly acclaimed outreach projects, Let's Not Meet by Accident, an alcohol education program for teenage drivers, and Lives at Risk, a violence prevention program.
In his new position, Dr. Morgan will oversee the clinical and administrative functions of the Department of Surgery and will serve as a member of the Saint Francis Care leadership team, playing a key role in the system's growth and development. He will also assume a major role in graduate medical education programs at the hospital, serving as site director for the UConn Integrated Surgical Residency Program at Saint Francis.
A graduate of the Hahnemann University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Dr. Morgan completed a residency in surgery at Hahnemann University Hospital and a fellowship in trauma/critical care medicine at the Maryland Institute of Emergency Services Systems, Baltimore.
A diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, he is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.
Dr. Morgan has held teaching appointments at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine since he joined Saint Francis in 1984, and he was elevated to professor of surgery in 1997, the first Saint Francis physician to rise through the academic ranks at UConn to a full professorship in surgery. He also is one of a relatively few African American physicians nationwide to hold a full professorship in surgery and serve as chairman of a surgical department at a major university-affiliated teaching hospital.
In 1996, Dr. Morgan was one of three executives loaned by Saint Francis to the Hartford Department of Public Health while it was recruiting a new director. Since the naming of a new director, Dr. Morgan has continued his association with the department, serving as its medical advisor and as a member of the Public Health Advisory Board. He is a member of the board of directors of the Brain Injury Association and the honorary board of its state affiliate, the Brain Injury Association of Connecticut, and previously served on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's Injury Research Grant Review Committee.
Dr. Morgan also is the vice chairman of the board of directors of the Urban League of Greater Hartford and serves on the board of the Hartford Ballet. He previously served on Gov. William O'Neill's task force on traumatic brain injuries and the trauma committee of the state Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board, which oversaw the development of Connecticut's statewide trauma network. His leadership role in the committee's development of statewide trauma regulations led the Capital Area Health Consortium to name Dr. Morgan the 1995 recipient of its Robert U. Massey Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has contributed to the advancement of cooperative arrangements among health care providers in the Capital Region.
In 1996, Dr. Morgan was one of 36 "community heroes" chosen by the United Way of the Capital Area to carry the Olympic Torch through the Greater Hartford area.
Founded in 1897, Saint Francis is licensed for 617 acute inpatient beds and 65 bassinets and is the largest Catholic hospital in New England.
| 
