Patients of SIU HealthCare now have easy, free and secure access to their personal health information online, allowing them to request appointments, refill prescriptions, view lab results and receive updates to changes in their health record. Launched Oct. 1, the password-protected patient portal, available at SIUHealthCare.org , “allows patients to directly communicate with their doctors’ offices, manage their health and their family’s health online and request prescription refills anywhere using a computer, smartphone or tablet,” said Harald Lausen, DO, MA, chief medical officer of SIU

A new partnership between Simmons Cancer Institute (SCI) at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville will expand area cancer patients’ access to cancer care. Edem Agamah, MD, MS, FACP, formerly of Central Illinois Hematology Oncology Center in Springfield, has joined Simmons Cancer Institute and will see patients on Tuesdays in Jacksonville. Swati Pathak, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at SIU School of Medicine, will begin seeing patients on Mondays in November at Passavant. Pathak is also a member of Simmons Cancer Institute

NIH grant to fund researcher development, increase cancer research scope Research suggests that where you live in Illinois impacts your likelihood of dying from certain diseases, specifically cancer. Low-income, rural communities experience significant cancer health disparities, including lower screening rates, increased incidence, later stage at detection, poorer survival rates and higher mortality. A new National Institutes of Health grant will support a research partnership at the medical schools of Southern Illinois University and Washington University to further investigate the cancer

Tom Miller, MD, chairman and residency program director of SIU Quincy Family Medicine, has received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP). The award is given to a family medicine physician who combines family medicine education and service to the community. Miller will receive the award at the IAFP Annual Awards Banquet on Friday, October 9. Miller, an associate professor family and community medicine, joined the School of Medicine in 1994. He completed a family medicine residency at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. (1992)

Arts and Culture If you enjoy history, there are many historic sites and museums to visit in Springfield and the surrounding area. One of the most engaging is the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, about 20 minutes north of Springfield, is another popular destination. Along with the recreated village from the 1800s, the Theatre in the Park at New Salem hosts a variety of theatrical performances from April to August. The Dana-Thomas House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Springfield socialite Susan Dana, is an architectural gem worth experiencing

Harald Lausen, DO, MA, the chief medical officer of SIU HealthCare and assistant dean for clinical education at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, has been appointed chair of the Bureau of Osteopathic Education for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Education studies the full continuum of osteopathic medical education and makes recommendations to the AOA board on ways to improve osteopathic medical education and policies that support educational accreditation and certification programs. Lausen, a professor of clinical family & community

The SIU Board of Trustees has voted to appoint Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH, as Dean and Provost for Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. The appointment is effective January 1 and is pending a final contract. Kruse, a professor of family medicine, has been Executive Associate Dean of SIU School of Medicine and Chief Executive Officer of SIU HealthCare since 2013. He first joined the school in 1984. “Dr. Kruse’s knowledge of the medical school, his leadership experience and his commitment to serving the region position him to continue the School of Medicine’s positive trajectory,” said

Twenty faculty physicians at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine are included in Best Doctors® in America 2015 database. Best Doctors includes more than 45,000 U.S. physicians, chosen by peer review and representing the top five percent of physicians in more than 40 medical specialties. The SIU physicians, all members of SIU HealthCare or SIU Center for Family Medicine, are: Beau J. Batton, MD, associate professor and division chief of pediatric neonatology; Carol Bauer, MD, professor and division chair of otolaryngology; Lucinda S. Buescher, MD, professor, division chief of

Coordination to improve quality, lower costs Patients with complex brain and spine disorders may benefit from a new, multispecialty clinic at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. The Neuroscience Institute (NSI) will consolidate SIU’s departments of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry into a single-site outpatient clinical care center staffed by more than 50 neuroscience providers. The institute will care for patients with a range of disorders including stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, spine disease