NEWS

Weinberger receives Veterans Affairs’ highest honor for health services research

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Morris Weinberger, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, today (Feb. 13) received the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ highest honor for investigators in the field of health services research.

Weinberger received the VA’s 2003 Under Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Services Research at the national meeting of VA health services research in Washington, D.C.

Weinberger is the Vergil N. Slee distinguished professor of healthcare quality management in the School of Public Health’s department of health policy and administration. He also is affiliated with the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and is a core investigator with VA’s Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care.

A medical sociologist, Weinberger has conducted numerous studies to improve care for chronic health conditions, especially those prevalent among veterans and older adults. He is particularly interested in the relationship between primary care and hospital readmissions, the role of community-based pharmacists in outpatient care and the use of patient-centered outcomes to evaluate health care quality.

"Dr. Weinberger’s distinction as a nationally and internationally esteemed leader has helped keep VA at the forefront of the health services research community," said Dr. Nelda P. Wray, chief research and development officer for VA.

Weinberger received the 2002 Vision Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program on Improving Chronic Illness Care.

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School of Public Health contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 966-7467 or lisa_katz@unc.edu