Neal Kohatsu, MD, MPH, FACPM
April 20, 2005

LOOKING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK

ACPM Appoints Mike Barry as New Executive Director 

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Board of Regents has approved the appointment of Mike Barry to be ACPM’s new Executive Director.  As many of you know, Mike has been ACPM’s Deputy Director for the past five years and has been responsible for numerous ACPM successes.  The Board of Regents is confident that Mike, as someone with a track record of achieving desired results, will be an effective leader and manager and will continue to advance the agenda of the College.  Mike will assume the position effective May 1.

Mike’s entire career, spanning nearly 20 years, has been devoted to public health and prevention.  At ACPM Mike has managed several critical facets of the organization, including policy development and advocacy, program development, and many of ACPM’s grants and contracts with federal agencies, foundations, and corporate entities.  He knows how to serve and cultivate a membership, build relationships with federal agencies, national organizations, and other important partners, and promote the delivery of both clinical and population-based preventive services in the health system.  Prior to coming to ACPM, Mike worked for 14 years at the Public Health Foundation in a variety of capacities developing and disseminating public health information to state and local health practitioners and policy makers.  Mike is currently working toward certification in association management. 

Mike was selected from among more than 100 applicants for the Executive Director position.  I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Search Committee including:  George Anderson, Amber Barnato, Halley Faust, Bob Harmon, Dorry Lane, Mike Parkinson, Jim Tacci, and Don Vickery.  In addition, I must extend my personal thanks to a dedicated subcommittee that helped with the details of the transition process.  This subcommittee included:  George Anderson, Halley Faust, Mike Parkinson, and Jim Tacci. 

Congratulations, Mike, on your appointment!  I know the members of the College are looking forward to working with you as you take on this new job.

Jud—Thanks for the Memories

On behalf of all College members, let me express my sincere appreciation to Jud Richland for over 6 years of dedicated service to ACPM as Executive Director.  Jud has done an outstanding job supporting and advancing our mission through a strong annual meeting, high quality member services, and a commitment to thoughtful health policy development and leadership.  Jud, we will miss you but look forward to working with you in the future, in some other capacity, on the critical public health and preventive medicine issues.  Best wishes on your future endeavors.  Also, may I add special “thanks” for your invaluable assistance in planning for a smooth management transition.

Dr. Harmon’s Presidency

I would also like to express the College’s grateful appreciation for Bob Harmon’s outstanding term as president.  Bob, as promised, aggressively sought to bring the preventive medicine community closer together to enhance its effectiveness.  He accomplished much in this regard, including revitalizing and focusing the Preventive Medicine Leadership Forum, developing an important administrative agreement with the American Association of Public Health Physicians, and strengthening our partnership with the American College of Medical Quality through our annual meeting.  Bob, congratulations and thank you for a wonderful and highly successful two years.  You leave big shoes to fill.

The ACPM Strategic Plan

Another one of Dr. Harmon’s major accomplishments as president was to lead the development of a focused, strategic plan.  I invite you to review the strategic plan on the ACPM website at http://www.acpm.org/strategicplan.htm. The plan is an important document that will help to ensure that we put the College’s precious resources into the highest priority activities that are directly related to our mission, goals, and objectives.  I want the strategic plan to be familiar to all members since I believe the operations of the Executive Committee, Board of Regents, Committees, ACPM staff, and other units of the College should directly address the plan.  Like others of its type, ACPM’s strategic plan must be viewed as a living document.  To adjust to the changing environment, it must be regularly and consistently revisited and updated accordingly.  I invite your comments on the current plan as we move forward.

Preventive Medicine 2006

Make sure that you hold February 21-26, 2006 on your calendar for Preventive Medicine 2006 in Reno/Lake Tahoe.  Better yet…plan to attend and ensure that your friends and colleagues attend with you!  You can help double attendance at the meeting!  Be assured you will enjoy high-quality content, stimulating speakers, and the great networking opportunities you’ve come to expect at the Preventive Medicine meeting.

If you’ve never skied or snowboarded before, just head out to one of the nearby, world-class ski resorts and they’ll get you hooked on skiing or boarding.  Modern instruction is safe, fun, and designed for beginners of all ages.  The new equipment makes learning a lot easier than before.  If you are a beginning skier or boarder or a double black diamond expert, you will have a great snow experience.