Jamehl Demons, MD
Candidate - Representative, House of Delegates
Candidate Bio
Jamehl Demons, MD is an associate professor of Internal Medicine/Geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston Salem, NC. She is a graduate of the Emory University School of Medicine and the Internal Medicine residency and Geriatrics fellowship of Wake Forest. She has focused much of her career on the nursing home and other parts of the LTC continuum having served as attending physician or medical director in facilities around the Winston Salem area. Having been encouraged to attend the national conference during her fellowship she found the sessions very helpful in her pursuit of excellence in provision of medical care in the nursing home and is proud to say she has only missed one national meeting since. Jamehl has she been active in the national organization as part of the Transitions of Care committee, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, the initial Attending Physicians Competencies committee. She has been on the annual conference planning committee and has presented and judged posters. She was Senior Author on the 2019 Howard Gutterman Award -winning poster. Jamehl is the current onsite Director of the Futures Program which she has led or co-led since 2018. Within the Futures program, she delivers the introductory presentation on what LTC is and where it is going. She serves on the Workforce Development Committee where the Futures program now sits. She is pleased to have presented on several panels at the national conference on topics related to infectious disease, DEI and Women in LTC. She rose through the ranks of the North Carolina chapter and has served as president prior to it merging with the South Carolina Chapter as Carolinas Society for Post Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
A clinician, educator at Wake Forest, Dr. Demons also attends on inpatient ACE unit where in addition to taking care of ill and vulnerable population, she continually teaches the students and residents to think about the discharge on the day of admission and encourages warm handoffs when possible.
Dr. Demons is married and has two “nearly adult” children.
Candidate Statement
I have been a geriatrician at heart since a youngster. I gravitated to seniors in my home hospital as a Candy striper; wanting to hear how it was “in the old days’. Following Internal Medicine training, I went into geriatrics as a specialty specifically to care for patients in nursing homes. Having interacted with nursing home patients first as a Girl Scout, I recognized the need for them to retain their humanism which was rarely seen. My ability to care for the most vulnerable of the elder population has brought the most professional satisfaction. I have a true passion for the underserved and undervalued both of which I feel characterize our nursing home residents. I was more than amazed during my Geriatrics fellowship to find an organization (nee AMDA) that met my needs for education and understanding of the area I was interested in but admittedly knew little about. I have been coming back to my professional home every year to learn and to become better informed about the changes that will affect my practice. I have attended national conferences of other organizations but when asked to describe PALTmed’s annual meeting, I call it a “Monday Morning Conference”. Something learned during this conference can be put into effect Monday morning. There is no need to wait for years to have outcomes from something heard, it is clinically relevant and useable information. That very thing needs to be known far and wide, that PALTmed specializes in useable tools and vital information that is immediately applicable to daily PALTC practice.
Transitions of Care has been one of my main concerns within the LTC continuum. Because in my work at Wake Forest, I also rotate on the inpatient service, I can see the “other side” of the care equation. I am deeply involved in the process of transfers especially in the transfer of information. The very need to go from a paperless system in the nursing home (per the ACA) to a paperless system at most hospitals through paper—the forms we complete and print to give to the ambulance driver to tell everything about our residents is problematic. Once they reach the medical floor, that paper is gone and the effort of a seamless transfer is lost. Warm handoffs become few and far between. However, if we knew each other better by being educated on best practices through the resources PALTmed has, it could only get better. Speaking to the decision makers with one large voice of the organization is necessary both nationally and locally.
While I have been a part of this organization for several years, I still find nursing home clinicians who have never heard of us. Increasing national awareness and membership are vital to the organization’s very survival. A louder collective voice is essential. I have spent the last few years interacting with the trainees and clinicians new to LTC as onsite director of the Foundation’s Futures Program. The program is designed to expose them to both the practice of medicine in the PALTC environment but also an introduction to the organization itself. While there is great feedback about the few days, there is a need for greater retention and involvement of these young people. I am glad to support the new digital platform and social media presence that has been developed. But I believe also direct mentorship would help. There are many woes we know in the nursing home including staffing issues, surveyors looking for the smallest things not paying attention to the larger and better care federal and state agencies making decisions without knowing who we are and what we do. Higher visibility and recognition of who we are and what we do is necessary.
The soul of PALTmed is its members and the heart of the members sits in the House of Delegates (HOD). As the voting body of PALTmed, the HOD represents the views and interests of the entire society. I have served in the House of Delegates for many years. Hearing the passion of members as they advocate for resolutions brings a palpable energy to the room. They bring grassroots issues to the membership to help improve the excellence of clinical care and facility environments. It is my greatest honor to seek the board position that will represent the House of Delegates.
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