title: The medical director's role in an acute care geriatric unit.
abstract: When a 179-bed acute care hospital decided to open an intensive gerontology unit, it sought a medical director to head it. The medical director's role in the evolution of the unit, as described in this article, included that of an administrator, educator, patient advocate, spokesman to the community, coordinator of a multidisciplinary staff, and recorder of the program's successes and failures.
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D005853:Geriatrics; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008486:Physician Executives