Karen Douek

• I retired for many reasons. A main one was to take care of my 89 yr old mother after her diagnosis with colon cancer and required a permanent colostomy..
• I have enjoyed my retirement immensely. I am an avid duplicate bridge player. I am also extremely physically active-I walk my dogs, commute by bike everywhere and am an avid swimmer

• As a Medical director of units that had 50 plus patients I ensured that the highest standards for patient care were met. We always exceeded the performance standards required by medicare for reimbursement
• As Medical Director lead the quality improvement team and identified the facilities strengths and weaknesses. This always involved a multidisciplinary team and getting input from the nurse manager, the social worker, the dietician, the technician in charge of technical issues in the unit (water, machines etc).
• As a Medical director I often met with families and patients regarding acute issues but also discussing end of life, stopping dialysis etc
• Patient advocacy was always the underlying theme.

I worked there for 1 year after my transplant nephrology fellowship.