Hershey, Pa. -- Kym Salness, first-ever chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine, will step down as chair effective June 30. Darrell G. Kirch, senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine and medical center chief executive officer, made the announcement today (June 3).
Salness came to the College of Medicine and medical center in 1993 with the goal of establishing emergency medicine as a designated Center of Excellence, a goal accomplished when a new state-of-the-art and enlarged physical facility opened as the Center of Excellence in 1994.
On July 1, 2000, Salness became the inaugural chair of the newly established Department of Emergency Medicine, a full academic department in the College of Medicine. More recently, a new residency program in Emergency Medicine was established The program officially begins July 1.
"Dr. Salness set specific goals when he arrived here 11 years ago and those goals have been met," said Kirch. "In addition, we have experienced unprecedented clinical growth in emergency medicine during his tenure. On behalf of the medical center and College of Medicine community, I congratulate Dr. Salness on his exceptional accomplishments and thank him for his years of valuable service."
During his 11 years with the medical center, Salness oversaw Penn State Life Lion, the medical center's air medical service. He also was instrumental in the establishment of the medical center's University EMS program. Both Life Lion and University EMS have experienced expansion under his leadership and have become preeminent medical resources for the region. Salness also has served as chair of the medical center's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Preparedness Task Force since shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. He has been engaged successfully in helping open lines of communication between various regional emergency response organizations and the medical center.
Salness, a tenured professor, plans to remain on the faculty of Penn State College of Medicine and participate in educational and academic functions, including serving as co-chair of the Hinkle Society Forum for full professors.
Before coming to Penn State, Salness served as chief of emergency medicine at the University of California for 10 years. He started the Department of Emergency Medicine and the emergency medicine residency program at the University of California Irvine.
Salness is widely recognized for his interest in the history of health care, both at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and throughout the region. He accomplished an extensive history research project a few years ago, culminating in a widely attended community presentation sponsored by the Derry Township Historical Society. He is a substantial contributor to the current "The History of Medicine in Hershey" exhibit, which opened last month at the Hershey Museum and remains open to the public through 2005. Salness has been very active in the community through the Derry Township Historical Society and Hershey Museum Boards, as well as through various other community endeavors.