Golisano Pediatrician Named President-Elect of AAP
Tom McInerny, M.D., F.A.A.P., associate chair for Clinical Affairs in theDepartment of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), was named the next president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) yesterday.The AAP is the nation’s largest pediatric organization, with a membership of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists.
McInerny will take office as president-elect Oct. 17 at the 2011 AAP National Conference & Exhibition in Boston and will serve as the 2012-2013 AAP president.
“The highest priorities for the AAP and its membership are to ensure that, as health care reform continues to unfold, all children have access to high-quality health care,” McInerny said. As president, he will work with legislators and other organizations to promote “facilitated enrollment,” which identifies and encourages eligible families to acquire continual health insurance for children. McInerny will also press for pediatricians to be paid appropriately for providing a coordinated medical home for children.
“Cutting costs on Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) will not yield substantial savings and potentially can lead to a decrease in access to quality health care for children,” said McInerny. “Delivering this message will require a concerted effort of the AAP at the national and state level. I look forward to working with our dedicated membership in achieving these priorities.”
McInerny has been a pediatrician in private practice at Panorama Pediatric Group for 40 years and is professor and associate chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Pediatrics at URMC and Golisano Children’s Hospital. He is the chair of the Town-Gown Committee which manages the relationship between the University and the community pediatricians, who all hold faculty appointments.
“The relationship between the University and our community pediatricians is absolutely integral to the ongoing success of our research initiatives and community outreach,” said Nina F. Schor, M.D., Ph.D., pediatrician-in-chief of Golisano Children's Hospital and William H. Eilinger Chair of Pediatrics at URMC. “We owe Tom a debt of gratitude for all he has done to serve our hospital and our community's children and we're delighted to share his talents with the rest of the country's pediatricians.”
McInerny is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School and did his pediatric residency training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital Boston. McInerny has held many elected and appointed positions in the AAP, and is editor-in-chief of the AAP Textbook of Pediatric Care and Pediatric Care Online. He served on the AAP Task Force on Mental Health, which developed the AAP Mental Health Toolkit and was one of the authors of the EQIPP module on the medical home. He is a member of the American Pediatric Society, the Academic Pediatric Association, and a certified physician executive and fellow of the American College of Physician Executives. He served on the board of directors and was chief medical officer of the Rochester Community Individual Practice Association serving 500,000 patients.