New Medical Director Brings Expertise to Wellness Center

Shenandoah University has a new medical director who will guide the university through both individual wellness and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Elizabeth Bennett started her tenure at Shenandoah in October. She supports the Wilkins Wellness Center by serving as a source of knowledge on best practices owing to her years as a director of wellness centers in both the government and corporate setting.

I am a sounding board and resource and will review the processes already expertly established in this last year by Hanan Kallash, FNP-BC. I also have a role in reviewing medical records for quality control, and in the future I hope to assist the employee health side of Shenandoah University with three wellness programs near and dear to my heart: weight loss, smoking cessation, and cardiac health, including blood pressure and cholesterol control.”

Dr. Elizabeth Bennett

Bennett grew up in Southern California and earned her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Davis in Northern California. She obtained her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts and completed her residency in family practice at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

To start her career in medicine, Bennett returned home to Southern California and opened her own private practice in Los Angeles. In 2003, she moved east with her husband, who is a United States Marine Corps officer. Over the years, she followed him throughout his assignments and had three children while working in military facilities, retirement communities, urgent care centers and corporate medical facilities. She has served as the acting medical director for the medical clinic at the FBI Academy, and most recently as a medical director for Premise Health, headquartered in Tennessee.

Bennett and her husband live in Burke, Virginia, where she recently started her own telemedicine business/private practice to better suit the needs of busy Virginians and to spend quality time listening to patient concerns and educating each individual on their personal health. Bennett said she believes a listened to and informed patient is a healthier patient.

I am excited to be joining the Shenandoah University Community in more ways than one, as not only will I be an employee of the university, but I’m also a proud parent of a first-year student in the music education program. I look forward to the opportunity to be the medical director of the Wilkins Wellness Center and to focus on the individual wellness of the entire campus community.”

Dr. Elizabeth Bennett

Wilkins Wellness Center Employees Get Vaccinated

Bennett joins Executive Director of the Wilkins Wellness Center Hanan Kallash, along with four others in the wellness center. All six of the center’s employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

This is another step to help us mitigate the spread. We are also looking into the process of becoming a vaccine clinic so we can be ready to provide the vaccine to the larger Shenandoah University community. We want others to be able to benefit from the vaccination and will be glad to be able to recommend and reassure them that we received it and are doing well. We also felt it was important for us to receive the vaccine so we can help better protect those who do not qualify to get it. Hopefully, as more and more people are vaccinated, we can develop a herd immunity for those among us who cannot receive the vaccine.”

Hanan Kallash

Bennett said she stands with her American Academy of Family Practice colleagues in that “immunizations are a selfless act of prevention that help the broader community.”

“I trust in the science of vaccines,”Bennett said. “We still need to be vigilant and protect others who cannot get vaccinated by wearing masks, hand washing, and social distancing till we can achieve the appropriate level of immunity in our community.”

One can learn more about vaccines and how getting vaccinated builds a community of immunity at familydoctor.org/vaccines.