Kendra E. Gerlach has been the Marketing and Public Relations Director at Emory Johns Creek Hospital for only ten weeks. She didn't come right out and say it, but it's obvious she loves her job.

Gerlach has been working in hospitals for the past 10 years. Her responsibilities have included communications, public relations, marketing, government relations and emergency preparedness. She started out in North Carolina at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, an 800 bed trauma center. From there she moved to Atlanta Medical Center, another large trauma center, where she worked for three and a half years. On June 30 she started her new position at Emory Johns Creek Hospital.

YOUNG HOSPITAL ASSET TO LOCAL COMMUNITY

When asked why she left Atlanta Medical, her eyes brightened when she replied, "I saw here a young hospital in a young community, and I saw a great opportunity to be part of building and growing a fabulous institution in a great community." Emory Johns Creek Hospital opened in 2007, so its doors have been open only a few short years. The hospital is located at 6325 Hospital Parkway in Johns Creek, off McGinnis Ferry Road.

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE?

Emory Johns Creek Hospital is about to become 100 percent Emory Health Care. It started out as a joint venture between Hospital Corporation of America and Emory Health Care, but Emory will soon be the sole owner of this private hospital.

JACK OF ALL TRADES

Gerlach admitted to having "a pretty good operational knowledge" of many aspects at the hospital because that's what her job requires, but admitted that she would never be "an expert" because "they're the subject matter experts in their areas, but in order for me to help them so that we can work together and grow together, I have to know a little bit about what they do."

"That's probably one of the best parts about being in this particular niche of health care," she continued, "that you get to know a little bit about a lot of things. It's really my desire to . . . partner with the people who are the experts in their service lines and strategize how we can grow them, develop them and make them stronger."

COMPETITION MAKES US ALL STRONGER AND BETTER

Queried about the three specializations at Emory Johns Creek Hospital (birth place, bariatric and breast centers), Gerlach responded that it's a refl ection of the hospital's commitment to quality. In order to have these centers, a hospital has to meet higher criteria. "I think what it refl ects is a high commitment from the hospital to providing the best possible service in those areas."

When other hospitals in the area were mentioned, Gerlach smiled. "There's defi nitely competition among hospitals; metro Atlanta is a highly competitive hospital area, but competition makes us better and stronger. We should never shy away from competition because it causes all of us to take a hard look at what we're doing to make sure we're doing the right things in the best possible way. It's all about providing the highest level of health care to our community, and that's what we're here to do. We're here to serve the residents of Johns Creek, North Fulton County, south Forsyth County, Dawson [County] and beyond."

LOCAL DOCTORS SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY

There are a large number of fi ne physicians on staff at Emory Johns Creek, many of whom live in the community. "A community hospital can't care for its patients effectively without community physicians being involved; they are a critical piece of our infrastructure," Gerlach pointed out. Emory Johns Creek does recruit when there is a need in a specifi c area, and their website (www. emoryjohnscreek.com) lists job openings that are available. "We're always looking for nurses," she added. "I believe this hospital is exceptional in the level of customer service and attention to patients. Other hospitals focus in those areas, but there is such a warmth here among the staff and physicians I know it's felt by the patients and their families. We want patients to know that when they come here, they and their families are going to be taken care of. There's a very high level of compassion