Retiring Dr. Louise-Marie Dembry Looking to Reconnect - Yale School of Medicine

On December 31, 2022, Louise-Marie Dembry, MD, MS, MBA, FACP, FSHEA, FIDSA, volition ringing successful a New Year, and a caller life. That’s the time she’s retiring from her agelong and palmy vocation arsenic a infirmary epidemiologist.

“My vocation has been a bid of doing things I said I would ne'er do,” says Dembry, prof of medicine (infectious diseases), Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and epidemiology (microbial diseases), Yale School of Public Health (YSPH); and manager of infirmary epidemiology for the VA CT Healthcare System (VACHS). “I said I wasn’t funny successful medicine, and I went into medicine. I said I’d ne'er specialize, and past I specialized. I said I’d ne'er bash research, and I ended up doing a probe fellowship. And I said I’d ne'er permission Detroit, due to the fact that my idiosyncratic beingness was there, and past I near and made a beingness for myself successful New Haven.”

Her enactment and contributions person been exceptional, notes Michael Kozal, MD, main of unit astatine the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, and a erstwhile VA and Yale colleague. “Louise is not conscionable a superb epidemiologist—she is considered THE starring adept successful infirmary epidemiology successful the country,” helium says. “She is past president of SHEA (Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America), conscionable astir the highest grant successful the field. We considered ourselves fortunate to enlistee her backmost to the VA successful 2015.”

Dembry’s determination to discontinue stems from a tendency to unrecorded her beingness astatine a slower pace. “COVID impacted everyone getting together, and the past 2 oregon 3 years person been super-busy,” she says. “It’s meant that I mislaid interaction with immoderate people, truthful I’d similar to reconnect. I privation to person clip for things I enjoy, similar catching up connected my reading. I besides whitethorn privation to travel.”

This first-generation American has places to spell and radical to see. Her parents were calved successful Europe: her parent successful France, her begetter successful Germany. Her begetter came to the U.S. arsenic a kid successful 1936. Her parent arrived successful 1954. Her mother’s begetter was a doc from a tiny French village. During the German occupation, helium rode a motorcycle from municipality to municipality to attraction for patients. “Perhaps helium was my archetypal inspiration to go a doctor,” she muses.

Growing up successful Detroit, Dembry spoke French astatine home. “Of course, my parent spoke English, but she lone wanted to perceive French,” she says. “I consciousness beardown ties to France; it’s wherever her household is. I utilized to sojourn them each year, but since COVID, I haven’t been back. So a travel is decidedly connected my radar.”

Dembry’s involvement successful medicine was kindled erstwhile she was a precocious schoolhouse senior. A terrible lawsuit of pneumonia enactment her successful the infirmary for 10 days. “Essentially, I was fascinated by my ain case,” she says. “I asked the doctors endless questions: ‘Why were they doing this trial oregon treatment?’ ‘When would I consciousness better?’ I began to deliberation astir becoming a doctor.”

After earning a bachelor’s grade successful zoology from the University of Michigan, Dembry applied to aesculapian school. To her large disappointment, she was not accepted. She was told that if she wanted to effort again, she could, but it wasn’t apt she’d get in. To fortify her application, she went to postgraduate school. With a master’s successful biology, she applied to aesculapian schoolhouse again. But it took her a 3rd effort to yet summation acceptance. She enrolled astatine Wayne State University due to the fact that it was adjacent to her home.

Remaining astatine Wayne State for her residency and a fellowship successful infectious diseases, she developed a keen involvement successful infirmary epidemiology. “Back past it wasn’t a vocation way oregon subspecialty, the mode it is now,” she says. Working with a mentor with a heavy transportation astatine Yale, she learned astir an opening for a combined subordinate infirmary epidemiologist astatine Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and infirmary epidemiologist presumption astatine the VACHS determination successful West Haven. She interviewed for the occupation with YNHH epidemiologist Walter Hierholzer, MD, and was offered the position.

Even though she had said she’d ne'er permission Detroit, this accidental was excessively bully to walk up. She told herself she would instrumentality the job, enactment successful New Haven for 2 years, larn everything she could from Dr. Hierholzer, and past instrumentality to Detroit.

As an adjunct professor, she divided her clip betwixt YNHH and West Haven. Hierholzer, a laminitis of the infirmary epidemiology specialty, became her mentor. As a inferior module member, she faced immoderate fascinating epidemiological challenges. Mark Russi, MD, MPH, prof of medicine (occupational medicine), YSM, and of epidemiology (environmental health) YSPH, recalls 1 of them. “In 1994, we had the accidental to enactment unneurotic connected lone the 3rd lawsuit of Sabiá microorganism successful the world,” helium says. A Yale researcher had been exposed successful a laboratory accident. Also known arsenic known arsenic Brazilian hemorrhagic fever, this microorganism is highly infectious and lethal.

“When you’re treating the 3rd lawsuit of thing successful the world, with a 50 percent mortality rate, it’s a large deal,” says Russi. “Even arsenic a young scientist, Louise was precise astute. I was gladsome to person the payment of her heavy cognition and cautious decision-making. Fortunately, this lawsuit had a affirmative outcome.”

As Dembry roseate done the ranks, she mentored inferior faculty, peculiarly pistillate faculty, arsenic she had been mentored. Lydia Aoun-Barakat, MD, subordinate prof of medicine, manager of Yale Infectious Disease Ambulatory Services, and aesculapian manager of the Nathan Smith Clinic astatine YNHH, was 1 of galore who benefited.

“I met Louise successful 1998 erstwhile I was doing a fellowship successful infectious diseases,” she says. “I’m of Lebanese descent, and we had an contiguous transportation due to the fact that of her French inheritance and familiarity with galore cultures, including my own.”

She adds that Dembry was an astute clinician and a fantastic teacher. “She was a pioneer successful instituting manus hygiene, and coached maine connected establishing a manus hygiene prime betterment task successful a erstwhile occupation I held astatine Waterbury Hospital. It was rather palmy successful improving hospital-wide manus hygiene.”

When Walter Hierholzer, MD, retired successful 1999, Dembry applied for his occupation and was accepted, leaving the VA to go the YNHH infirmary epidemiologist. A fewer years later, an planetary nationalist wellness situation would trial her objective and managerial skills.

In 2003, a superior outbreak of terrible acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) near hospitals reeling. Caused by a strain of the coronavirus, SARS was archetypal discovered successful Asia successful February 2003, rapidly spreading worldwide. The concern was peculiarly grim successful Toronto, wherever SARS infected patients, wellness attraction workers and visitors successful respective hospitals, forcing a shutdown of captious services.

Dembry says, “A workfellow successful Toronto reached retired to fewer of america and said, ‘We’re truly burned out—we request help. Is anyone consenting to come?’” She and 2 colleagues traveled to Toronto to enactment astatine a infirmary wherever a 2nd SARS outbreak had conscionable started. This acquisition would beryllium to beryllium precise utile down the road.

A twelvemonth later, Dembry was named subordinate aesculapian manager for exigency preparedness astatine Yale New Haven Health, playing pivotal roles during the 2009 flu pandemic and with Ebola prep successful 2014 astatine YNHH. “These efforts built connected my acquisition with SARS successful Toronto,” she says.

In 2011, Dembry was named a afloat professor, an lawsuit she describes arsenic “a pivotal constituent successful my career.” Four years later, she became president-elect of SHEA. When the president of SHEA called to archer her she won the election, she was shocked. “I told him I ne'er expected to win,” she says. “He responded, ‘Why not? Your colleagues truly respect you.’ I conjecture I’m a small excessively humble. I promote young pistillate module not to beryllium that way. I archer them, observe your achievements.”

That aforesaid year, she was recruited backmost to VACHS to go manager of infirmary epidemiology. At the time, Ann Fisher, MD, subordinate prof of objective interior medicine, was acting infirmary epidemiologist.

“Louise became my mentor and fundamentally gave maine vocation makeover,” says Fisher. “She has mentored and supported truthful galore radical done the years, peculiarly inferior pistillate faculty. We person a programme astatine Yale wherever you’re assigned a mentor, but Louise doesn’t hold to beryllium assigned—she conscionable mentors connected her own. She helped beforehand my career, encouraging maine to service connected determination and nationalist committees to link with peers and summation visibility. It was incredibly helpful.”

In her caller role, Dembry was charged with strengthening corruption prevention. After that, she was tasked with starring a radical to revamp and amended sterile processing. “This was an tremendous task with a immense clip commitment,” says Fisher. “Louise, arsenic always, did an fantabulous job. Just arsenic this task finished, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Talk astir luck—that idiosyncratic who was astatine the forefront of the SARS outbreak would beryllium starring our section done COVID. She was similar an service general, assembling her forces. She filled america with confidence, knowing she was starring the charge.”

“What I volition ever retrieve astir Louise is the mode she helped alteration our infirmary into pandemic mode,” says Kozal. “She knew conscionable what to do. Thirty-six antagonistic unit rooms were acceptable up, policies were enactment successful place, and we had strict procedures astir masking. Our ngo was education, education, education. We made play presentations to objective leaders and held Zoom calls to update unit connected what we were doing. Because of these efforts, we were exquisitely prepared and had an unthinkable response.”

And it wasn’t conscionable VACHS that benefited. The U.S. VA is organized geographically into 18 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, oregon VISNs—regional wellness systems moving unneurotic to supply greater entree to care. “Our VISN asked Louise to supply guidance for the full VISN,” notes Kozal. “It’s an lawsuit wherever her enactment had nationalist impact.”

In September 2020, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie paid a peculiar sojourn to the West Haven VA and the Newington VA Clinic. He was determination to commend the 2 hospitals for their outstanding efforts successful preventing the dispersed of COVID-19 among unit and patients. Addressing the unit and members of the media, Wilkie said the West Haven VA had earned peculiar kudos: “This is 1 of the safest places successful America for veterans. It has the lowest corruption complaint amongst VA employees successful the country, and astir apt the lowest corruption complaint for veterans too.”

Keeping unit and patients harmless and steadfast has ever been Dembry’s highest priority, astatine the VA and beyond. Among her different appointments, she is simply a subordinate of the Connecticut Healthcare Associated Infection Advisory Committee appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health. She is besides subordinate of the CT DPH HAI Multidisciplinary Antimicrobial Resistance Advisory Group. In summation to serving arsenic president of SHEA, she was committee seat successful 2016 and served arsenic the SHEA liaison to the CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee from 2017 to 2021.

Apart from each her accomplishments, she is astir arrogant of her mentoring. “I’ve focused connected inferior faculty, peculiarly women,” she says. At an infectious illness league she precocious attended, 1 of her MPH students from 4 years agone approached her. “She said that taking my people had inspired her to bash an ID fellowship, and present she’s doing a infirmary epidemiology fellowship,” says Dembry. “It’s gratifying to cognize I’ve had an interaction connected someone’s career.”

As Dembry gained a nationalist and planetary estimation for her enactment successful emerging infections and pandemic preparedness, she ne'er mislaid show of what is applicable and important locally and successful her ain institution, says Aoun-Barakat. “She continues to beryllium a loyal person and an advocator for women successful medicine. We were precise fortunate astatine Yale to person her successful her relation for the past decades.”

She adds: “Louise has built a beardown and sustainable infrastructure for corruption prevention connected some campuses, YNHH and the VA. Her bequest is that these institutions are amended prepared, stronger, and safer due to the fact that of her character, hard work, and dedication.”