Walch selected as SMD for Peaks Neurosciences service line
Frank Walch, MD, Neurological Surgery, has been selected for the role of senior medical director of the Peaks Region Neurosciences service line.
“Every physician struggles on a daily basis with the hardships of delivering care, largely driven by systemic force,” said Walch. “In my new role, I will be able to bring a hybrid view to Intermountain’s leadership to help empower our clinicians, build a better system and, ultimately, serve more patients with higher-quality care.”
Walch has extensive experience working on Neuroscience initiatives along the care continuum, including on multidisciplinary care teams in movement disorders, back pain, epilepsy and brain tumors. He has led projects studying neuroscience referral networks and hospital utilization by neuroscience service lines. At Intermountain, he had the opportunity to connect with leaders across the system with the goal of optimizing back pain protocols, including participation in the Fall 2023 Advanced Training Program.
"Dr. Walch brings a unique engineering mind to developing process-driven approaches to quality improvement and outcomes,” said Jennifer Davenport, MD, associate chief medical officer for the Peaks Region. “His comprehensive vision for the service line is inspiring and will lead us to be essential for neuroscience care in all the communities we serve."
As senior medical director, Walch will provide leadership, oversight and support for the development of a culture of high reliability and the measurement of care, identifying opportunities, building relationships and executing on strategies to drive the performance and measured improvement of the service line.
“We intend to expand service offerings and provide more opportunities that increase access to high-quality neuroscience care, empower our frontline practitioners, standardize our care pathways and help our patients make their way through the complicated system that is US healthcare,” Walch said.
“We are poised throughout Peaks to build world-class programs that can compete with some of the best centers in the country,” he continued. “We want to be the neuroscience destination for your patients and patients across the country.”
After studying Chemical Engineering and Neuroscience as an undergraduate, Walch received his medical doctorate at the University of Florida, where he developed a passion for the human brain. He followed medical school by moving to Colorado to complete a neurosurgery residency at the University of Colorado Anschutz. While a resident, he received his Healthcare MBA from the University of Colorado Denver.
Walch has been practicing medicine in the Denver-metro area for 10 years and has been on Good Samaritan’s medical staff for two.
Physicians can reach out to Walch with congratulations or suggestions for the service line at frank.walch@imail.org.