Advancing Malnutrition Quality Improvement and Health Equity: Opportunities to Lead Change

Dr Philip Brown serves as Executive Vice-President and Chief Physician Executive at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. Living and practicing in his hometown, Dr Brown has enjoyed the privilege of serving his community as a General and Vascular Surgeon since 2004. Dr Brown completed medical school and general surgery residency at Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina prior to his Vascular Fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He has served in numerous leadership positions including present service as Co-Director of The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation’s Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership. 

Dr Brown, his wife Christy, and their two children are living testaments to what it means to serve others and are strongly rooted in the Wilmington community. In his role as Chief Physician Executive, Dr Brown leads the health equity strategic initiative at NHRMC. As such, he is charged with leading highly effective teams that identify health disparities within the community and work to eliminate them through data collection and stratification, innovative healthcare redesign, and alignment of community partnerships. Under his leadership, the Food Strategy team has been able to begin breaking down the barriers associated with food insecurity across the continuum of care.

As the National Director of Clinical Nutrition at Morrison Healthcare since 2015, Gisele Leger directs the development, implementation, and maintenance of clinical nutrition programs and services according to current trends and marketplace demand. She leads a team of division directors and regional clinical nutrition managers that support over 3000 RDNs and NDTRs at over 900 facilities nationwide. Ms. Leger has authored and co-authored various peer-reviewed manuscripts on clinical management topics such as staffing management, productivity benchmarks, and malnutrition coding. She is very active in her professional association, both at the state and national levels. She is a former Massachusetts Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Association (MAND) President. She has also held various positions with the MAND, such as Secretary, Director of Member Communications, and Reimbursement Representative. She currently serves as the Past-Chair for the Clinical Nutrition Management Dietetic Practice Group and has held previous positions with this DPG, such as Secretary and Fundraising Chair. 

She received a Master of Science in Nutrition and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from l’Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada. She completed her dietetic internship at Dr George L Dumont Hospital in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. She is a board-certified Nutrition Support Clinician and a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.