Southeast Health congratulates Amith Skandhan, MD, internal medicine hospitalist, for recently receiving the Award of Excellence for Service in Hospital Medicine from the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM).

Dr. Skandhan was honored with the award for his work and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the initial stages of the pandemic, he realized there was a tendency for institutional isolation. Larger institutions with more resources could create evidence-based medicine-directed protocols and policies backed by human and supply chain resources.

Dr. Skandhan created and moderated a weekly check-in platform for the Alabama state hospital medicine-program director’s forum through the Society of Hospital Medicine’s (SHM) Wiregrass chapter. Through this forum, the group tackled patient flow, supply chains, lab supplies, hospital personal protection equipment (PPE) development, autoclaving PPE, sharing care pathway, etc.

This forum particularly helped smaller institutions with limited resources caring for a disadvantaged patient population. The panel was also able to bring the health policy committee of the Alabama Legislature and the Alabama Department of Public Health involved in this forum and address pressing policy and procedural constraints like medication availability, PPE distribution, and alternate sites of care, among others.

During the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the following vaccine hesitancy, he led the creation of a grassroots healthcare advocate group for addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Alabama through multidisciplinary discussion forums.

Vaccination rates in Alabama were the lowest in the country at one point. He led a project that surveyed all the religious institutions in Alabama for common causes of vaccine hesitancy. This empathetic approach and data analysis helped the chapter leadership tailor a specific presentation addressing common issues in the community. The virtual-live event was attended by religious community leaders and the health Policy committee of the Alabama legislature & led to constructive, judgment-free discussions. This recorded video has been shared extensively across state lines. During a crisis, the community often turns to its spiritual leaders. Dr. Skandhan wanted to ensure they were up to date on truths and myths about the potentially deadly virus. This approach empowered grassroots community leaders with evidence-based data to have discussions in their communities.

Additionally, in the pre-pandemic times, Dr. Skandhan organized a meeting with the Chair of Health Policy at the Alabama State Legislature through the SHM platform. The panel also included eight state legislators as they discussed the health challenges facing the residents of Alabama.

Dr. Skandhan has been working with the department of Hospital Medicine at Southeast Health since 2011. Since then, he has taken numerous leadership roles at the hospital and with the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM). He has an upcoming appointment as the associate program director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. He also serves as the director for Physician Integration for Southeast Health Statera Network, the health system’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO), and the medical director/physician liaison for the Clinical Documentation Integration (CDI) program.

Dr. Skandhan co-founded the Wiregrass Chapter of SHM in 2014, which covers southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Under his leadership, the Wiregrass Chapter has won multiple awards, including the prestigious “Rising Star Chapter” in 2014, the “Outstanding Chapter” Award in 2019, and the “Outstanding Chapter of the Year” in 2021. He was also awarded the “Most Engaged Chapter Leader” Award in 2020. Additionally, he was named a “Top 10 hospitalist” in the country by the American College of Physicians (ACP) for the year 2018.