St. Mary’s of Michigan is proud to announce that Stephanie J. Duggan, MD, FACEP, will be presented with the 2008 Emergency Physician of the Year Award by the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians.

She will receive her award on July 15, 2008 during the 35th Michigan Emergency Medicine Assembly at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, Michigan. This distinguished award was designed to recognize clinicians of unusual merit, to espouse and encourage members to pursue the ideals of Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Duggan, a resident of Swan Creek Township, is Medical Director for the St. Mary’s of Michigan Towne Centre Emergency Department and a member of the Timberline Emergency Physicians group. She has spent many hours building the infrastructure and designing the pathways that have made this ED tremendously successful. In the four years since she has been in charge, the ED volume has essentially doubled.

In her ever-present efforts to make a difference in her patients’ lives, one of her innovative ideas has been starting “ER BOOKS” – Encouraging Reading By Offering Opportunity to Kids who are Sick. She was convinced that providing new or near-new books to all children in the ED would improve their experience and increase the possibility of reading in the household.

She recruited volunteers and assistance from the hospital staff and community to donate books and funding to provide a book to every child who comes to the Emergency Department, whether as a patient or visitor. The tremendous success of this program has led to almost 100,000 books being sent home with children over the past several years.