Each year a new team of SHM officers is elected to lend their wisdom, time, experience, and skills in a collaborative effort to help manage the business of our organization, drive new initiatives, and support the society’s mission. At this year’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., we again witnessed that familiar changing of the guard with the following inductions:
- President Mary Jo Gorman, MD, MBA;
- President-Elect Russell Holman, MD;
- Treasurer Patrick Cawley, MD; and
- Secretary Jack Percelay, MD, MPH.
“Hospitalists are squarely in the spotlight today on key issues affecting patient care, quality of hospital care, hospital leadership, and other concerns. So it is important that we have a strong, hands-on leadership team that is committed to continuing the positive momentum SHM has generated for hospitalists,” says Larry Wellikson, MD, FACP, CEO of SHM. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with our slate of newly appointed officers. Time and again through the years Mary Jo, Rusty, Pat, and Jack have proven that they are active participants, and that they are leaders who will rise to the occasion to help us meet our objectives.”
Dr. Gorman, a charter member of SHM, has been a practicing hospitalist since 1997, when she founded the first hospitalist practice in St. Louis. In early 1999, her group merged into IPC—The Hospitalist Company and grew to become the dominant hospitalist group in the city. In 2001, Dr. Gorman was promoted to vice-president of medical affairs for IPC, responsible for the design and implementation of company-wide programs involving business development, recruitment, physician training, and operations in all of IPC’s markets. In 2003, she was named chief medical officer and today works with more than 300 physicians nationwide to develop programs and strategies that enhance clinical performance and drive the delivery system towards more efficient care and greater patient satisfaction. She also oversees IPC’s physician training, mentoring and retention programs, as well as IPC’s call center nurses, healthcare services and clinical studies.
A cum laude graduate of St. Louis University, Dr. Gorman earned a BA in Chemistry/Biology in 1981, then went on to earn her MD in 1984 from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. In 1996, she earned a MBA from Washington University, Olin School of Business, in St. Louis.
SHM’s new President-Elect Dr. Holman is senior vice president and national medical director for Cogent Healthcare, an organization that manages hospital medicine programs throughout the country. He is responsible for program implementation and management, quality systems reporting and auditing, physician leadership development, and data systems integration. Formerly, Dr. Holman was the medical director of Hospital Services for HealthPartners Medical Group & Clinics, part of HealthPartners, Inc. in Minnesota. There he also was the founder and director of the HPMG Fellowship Program in Hospital Medicine.
A long-time member of SHM, Dr. Holman served on the Board of Directors as treasurer from 2004-2005. He was previously chair of the Leadership Development Committee, chair of the Midwest Council, course director of the SHM Leadership Academy, and a member of the Public Policy Committee. In February 2006 he co-authored the “Update in Hospital Medicine,” which appeared in Annals of Internal Medicine. In 2002, he received the SHM Award for Outstanding Service in Hospital Medicine.
Through the years, Dr. Holman’s commitment to hospital medicine has helped produce nationally recognized standards in the areas of quality improvement activities, models of medical education, observation units, communication systems, compensation plans, case management, surgical co-management collaborations, and patient flow initiatives. Dr. Holman serves on two national editorial boards for medical publications and is currently co-authoring a comprehensive textbook and electronic decision support tool in hospital medicine.