Collectively, Baystate Health Geographic Program staff have more than 80 years of experience in health, environment, spatial statistics, spatial geometry and hospital GIS. Their broad experience includes extensive use of GIS in:
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The HGP staff is available for collaboration, consultation and sub-consultation on local, regional, statewide and national projects and grant opportunities. Contact Jane Garb or Chris Boyd for more information.
Richard B. Wait, MD, PhD, FACS
Director, Health Geographics Program and Baystate Health Geographics
Chair, Department of Surgery, Baystate Medical Center
Dr. Richard B. Wait's career-long interest in basic science research and advocacy for new technologies in medical education, led to his instrumental role in establishing the Health Geographics Program at Baystate. His current clinical research centers on breast cancer in minority populations and the use of GIS in injury prevention, cancer screening, and emergency preparedness and response. Dr. Wait has been an invited speaker on GIS and Homeland Security, and GIS in health education at several international conferences.
James Burns, MD
Director, Division of General Pediatrics, Baystate Children's Hospital
Dr. James Burns has taught medical students and residents for 24 years, first as an academic pediatrician in the United States Navy and then on the faculty at West Virginia University School of Medicine. In collaboration with colleagues at Baystate Medical Center, Dr. Burns will be conducting geographic analysis on childhood obesity, teen pregnancy, congenital heart disease, asthmatics' use of emergency medical services, and the epidemiology of MRSA infections and Crohn’s disease.
Chris Boyd
GIS Programmer/Application Developer, Health Geographics Program and Baystate Health Geographics
Chris Boyd has strong expertise in designing and building interfaces, test suites, and geoprocessing functions, and is adept in various programming resources. His comprehensive knowledge of ESRI software design concepts and functionality, gained during his 10 years of employment by ESRI, Inc., where he was directly involved with developing tools and applications for the Arc/Info 7.x and ArcGIS 8.0 and 9.0 releases, is a particular asset to HGP. Chris is responsible for developing internal and external desktop, server-based and web-based GIS applications for the hospital setting. He has developed applications for vehicle route management and disaster patient tracking, as well as for internal asset management using hospital floor plan "smart maps."
Jane L. Garb
Biostatistician/Spacial Epidemiologist, Health Geographics Program and Baystate Health Geographics
Jane Garb has done extensive research cancer, cardiovascular and trauma epidemiology, and has published over sixty references in the medical and GIS literature (also under Jane McCall), including a book entitled: "Understanding Medical Research: A Practitioner's Guide." She continues to provide ongoing education and support for surgical residents and faculty in research methodology and statistical analysis. Jane's current focus is on GIS applications in healthcare, particularly the relationship of social and demographic factors to health as well as the use of census data in estimation of affected populations in the event of a terrorist event.
