“…approaches everything from her patients’ perspectives,”
Ob/Gyn
North Valley
“Every woman who finds a lump in her breast immediately thinks cancer,” said Dr. Jeanne Conry of Kaiser Permanente North Valley Medical Center. “Until proven otherwise, that horror never leaves the patient’s mind. And that’s why we to decrease diagnosis time.”
When Dr. Conry moved to carry out her vision of rapid diagnosis, she was stunned to find a complex web of radiology, surgery, OB/GYN, medicine, oncology and other services that often meant the patient could wait several weeks before receiving a definitive answer. Dr. Conry championed a multi-disciplinary women’s health care task force that helped establish the Breast Screening Center, a one-stop process that cut diagnosis time to 5 days.
“Dr. Conry approaches everything from her patients’ perspectives,” said Susan Helvick, RN, Assistant Medical Group Administrator. “She reminds us that regulatory, budgetary, and personality issues are ultimately just distractions.”
Dividing her time between women’s health and administration, Dr. Conry refused to consider a position as Assistant Physician-in-Chief three times before finally relenting. “I just liked taking care of patients too much.”