Members on the Move: May 2019

American Association for Physician Leadership members share their career news, accolades and other milestones.

DAVID PERROTT, MD, DDS, MBA, FACS, CPE, is the new chair of The Joint Commission’s board of commissioners, charged with overseeing activities of the board and its executive committee. The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization, is the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care.

Perrott, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the California Hospital Association in Sacramento, previously served as chair of the commission’s finance committee in 2016 and as vice chair of the board in 2017 and 2018.

As the new chair, he will oversee activities of the board and its executive committee, including setting goals and prioritizing issues that the commission can target in support of its mission to continuously improve health care. He has been an AAPL member since 1998.

“Dr. Perrott brings extensive experience and knowledge in quality improvement to assist us in working with health care organizations across the country to transform health care and lead the way to zero patient harm,” says commission CEO Mark R. Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MHP.

WILLIAM K. CORS, MD, MMM, CPE, FAAPL, an AAPL member since 1994, recently released an updated version of his book about physician leadership. Cors, the chief medical officer at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pocono, Pennsylvania, wrote The Medical Staff Leader’s Practical Guide: Survival Tips for Navigating Your Leadership Role as an instructional tool for physicians on how to become exemplary medical staff leaders.

The 2019 edition includes expanded chapters on peer review, advanced practice professionals and physician employment; a clear description of the relationship between the medical staff office and the medical staff leader, including reporting structures; and a top 10 survival tips for medical staff leaders.

“Physicians who accept or are assigned leadership positions are often left on their own to develop leadership skills and educate themselves about their responsibilities as medical staff leaders,” Cors says. “Just because a physician is a great clinician does not mean he or she is a great leader.”

CODY WENDLANDT, MD, medical director for Sartell Family Medicine, a primary care clinic in the St. Cloud, Minnesota, area, was named one of five young professionals under age 40 to watch by the St. Cloud Times.

The clinic, founded by Wendlandt in Sartell, Minnesota, offers patient “memberships” that include unlimited care for a monthly fee. Wendlandt, 34, told the newspaper his entrepreneurial inspiration comes from being a “risk-taker” and “doing something that nobody has done before.” Previously, Wendlandt co-founded a medical scribe company.

Wendlandt, an AAPL member since 2017, is a Minnesota native who earned his medical degree at St. George's University in Grenada, West Indies. He lists professional interests in rural medicine, emergency medicine, health care policy and clinical workflow.

KRISTEN BROWN, MD, MMM, has been named president of Mercy Health Physician Partners, in the Grand Rapids-Muskegon region of western Michigan. Brown, an AAPL member since this year, was vice president of medical group and physician services for Mercy Health’s physician group in Muskegon, but in December the health system merged with its Grand Rapids-based operation. Brown, who also serves as chief medical officer, began with Mercy Health in 2001 as a family medicine resident at Mercy Health Saint Mary's.

JESSICA KROCHMAL, MD, has been named chair of the Pathology and Clinical Laboratories department at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. An AAPL member since 2015, Krochmal completed her residency in pathology at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, based in Iowa City. She began at Berkshire in 2008.

STEVEN A. MASER, MD, CPE, has been named vice president and medical director of Regional Health Orthopedic and Specialty Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota. In his role, he will also provide leadership for musculoskeletal services throughout the system. Maser previously was medical director for orthopedic surgery for Atlantic Health System in New Jersey. Maser, an orthopedic surgeon, became an AAPL member in 2009.

STEPHEN H. COHEN, MD, CPE, has been appointed by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, based in Rochester, New York, as senior vice president and corporate medical director. Cohen, an AAPL member since 1995, previously was the insurer’s medical director, as well as president of Lifetime Care Home Health Care and Hospice and Lifetime Health Medical Group in western and central New York.

RICHARD J. JUDA, MD, MBA, CPE, the CEO of Innovative Healthcare Group, has been recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Member in the field of medicine. Jude has been an AAPL member since 2013.

Attention, association members. Were you recently promoted or receive an award? Got a new job? Publish a book? Or achieve some other milestone? Share your news with colleagues through Members on the Move. Let us know by emailing journal@physicianleaders.org.