We present our annual list of exceptional individuals working in infection prevention and control, as nominated by Infection Control Today magazine readers. Congratulations to these dedicated professionals who are working hard to advance the infection prevention agenda. For photos of all of the Who's Who individuals, please see the July 2010 print issue of ICT.
Terry Accuntius
Terry Accuntius, RN, is manager for quality at Miami Valley Hospital (MVH) in Dayton, Ohio, has worked in infection control for 30 years, and started the infection prevention program at MVH. Janet Suttmiller, RN, MS, an infection control coordinator at MVH who says she transferred to the hospital so she could work with Accuntius, says, “She has demonstrated so much enthusiasm for infection control and has been president of local APIC twice. Terry is very active in APIC, having taught EPI 102. I have heard her lectures for the class and she is easy to understand as a teacher. It is refreshing to listen to an instructor who is also is an excellent clinician. The examples she gives related to the lecture help to make it so interesting and useable.” Suttmiller continues, “As manager of quality, Terry oversees all of the quality issues related to infection prevention and control as well as sentinel events. She has been instrumental in adapting our infection program to the many new reportable requirements for CMS and governmental bodies. Infection prevention and control continues to offer many challenges for Terry, as exemplified in our year-end reports. She is the leader of many committees and is highly respected for her knowledge by our many infectious disease physicians.”
Kelley Boston
Although Kelley Boston, MPH, CIC, is early in her career in infection prevention, nominator Yolanda Barron, a quality data analyst at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego, says Boston is establishing herself as a leader in the field. Boston is an infection preventionist with Infection Prevention and Management Associates, Inc., and currently runs the infection control program at Alvarado. Boston’s background encompasses public health, epidemiology and medical geography, something Barron says “brings a different perspective to the field than many infection preventionists.” Barron adds, “Her public health training taught her to look at the ‘big picture’ and to try and understand how it affects the individual patient. One of her major interests is the way that system change and hospital culture affect patient-level outcomes; she tries to work with front line hospital staff when developing new infection prevention interventions and feels that healthcare workers should be a significant part of designing infection control programs.” Boston believes that community health is closely tied to healthcare-associated infection and is an active participant in community infection prevention efforts. She is a member of APIC and currently serves as president of the San Diego and Imperial Counties APIC chapter. She also participates in the San Diego County Medical Society’s Group to Eradicate Resistant Microbes (GERM) and the California APIC Coordinating Council. Through APIC, she helped plan conferences in 2008 and 2009 that reached more than 400 front-line healthcare workers and infection preventionists, and volunteered to provide infection prevention education to firefighters and paramedics. In the past year, she also made several television appearances in San Diego to discuss the H1N1 pandemic and flu prevention, and is currently working on a West Nile Virus public service announcement.