Congratulations to the 2017 recipients of the College’s most prestigious awards. Some of these winners were recognized at the President’s Gala on Saturday night, while others will receive their awards at Section, Council, or Research Forum events. Check the ACEP17 mobile app for more details on award winners and presentation locations.

John G. Wiegenstein Leadership Award

Brian F. Keaton, MD, FACEP

Brian F. Keaton, MD, FACEP

Brian F. Keaton, MD, FACEP is a recognized leader in the fields of emergency medicine, medical informatics, organized medicine, and health policy. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) for Cleveland Clinic – Akron General in Akron, Ohio. He trained in emergency medicine at Akron’s Summa Health System where he was an attending physician and core faculty in the emergency medicine residency program for over two decades. In 2008, Dr. Keaton completed his service on the Board of Directors of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) where he was elected both President and Chairman of the Board. After over a quarter century of patient care, Dr. Keaton has retired from the clinical practice of emergency medicine. As the Akron General CMIO, he oversees EHR and analytics activities including the conversion to Epic, serves on the health system’s senior management team, and participates on several Cleveland Clinic – Akron General alignment teams.

Dr. Keaton has served leadership roles with multiple high-level public-private collaboratives including the eHealth Initiative (eHI), Connecting for Health, the American Health Information Community (AHIC) Population Health – Clinical Care Connection Workgroup, Ohio’s Healthcare Coverage Reform Advisory Committee and the Ohio Health Information Partnership Advisory Board. Prior to the State of Ohio’s decision to provide state-wide HIE services, he was the President & CEO of the Northeast Ohio Regional Health Information Organization (NEO RHIO). Dr. Keaton is Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and serves as adjunct faculty and on the advisory board for the Kent State University Health Informatics graduate program. He is a tireless worker who has been the recipient of several prestigious state and national awards. He and his wife, Stephanie, live in Akron, OH and are the proud parents of two grown children and three grandchildren.

John A. Rupke Legacy Award

Dr. A. Compton Broders, III, MD

A. Compton Broders, III, MD

Dr. A. Compton Broders, III, MD is an emergency medicine physician in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas where he has practiced Emergency Medicine since 1975.  Dr. Broders graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1970 and from medical school at Duke University in 1973.  He completed his residency at Parkland Hospital in Dallas in 1977. He later earned a master’s degree in medical management from Tulane University in 1998.  In addition, Dr. Broders is a lifetime Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a Fellow in the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Broders currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Emergency Medicine Consultants, Ltd., which he helped found in 1997.  He is a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, where he was instrumental in helping develop and start the Emergency Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Broders served in a variety of leadership roles at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Allen, and Kaufman as well as Parkland.  He has served on many committees including Project Director for the Dallas Chapter of the American Heart Association, past President of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Chairman of the Texas Medical Association’s EMS and Trauma Committee, Member of the Medical Advisory Committee for Parkland, Chairman of the Physician Leadership Council for Texas Health Resources and currently serves on the TMLT Claims Review Committee and Board of Trustees.  He has been awarded the Positive Medicine Project Award, the Spirit of Dallas Award, the James E. Hayes Award, and voted one of the 50 Most Positive Doctors in America.

Dr. Broders met his wife, Maureen Murry, MD, JD in the Emergency Department at Parkland.  They have been married for nearly 40 years.  Outside of work, Dr. Broders enjoys golfing, traveling, reading, good food, and spending time with his wife and their two dogs, Miss. Jones and Freddie.

James D. Mills Outstanding Contribution to Emergency Medicine Award

Wesley A. Curry, MD, FACEP

Wesley A. Curry, MD, FACEP

Wesley A. Curry, MD, FACEP, is the CEO Emeritus of CEP America, and continues to serve in a strategic and advisory role to its current Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors. CEP America is a nationally recognized physician group providing acute care, post-acute care, and ambulatory/urgent care physician services.

The partnership was originally founded in 1975 as a regional emergency physician group in California. Serving as the CEO for 21 years, Dr. Curry led the growth in infrastructure, and the transformation of the Partnership, into a multispecialty and national physician group practice, with locations in 13 states and the District of Columbia. The partnership today has more than 250 unique practices, in over 125 unique hospitals. Nearly 3,500 physicians and advanced care providers are responsible for providing medical care to over 6,300,000 patients each year.

In his prior role as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Curry had direct responsibility for the 10 fold growth of the Partnership during his tenure as CEO, as well as its operational and financial performance. CEP America today provides emergency medicine, hospitalists, anesthesiology, critical care medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, ambulatory/urgent care, emergency psychiatry, skilled nursing practice, and telemedicine physician services.

In his current role as CEO Emeritus, Dr. Curry is widely recognized as a transformational physician executive and thought leader, in the management and integration of physician practices across the care continuum transitions, of patients presenting to the emergency department and admitted to acute care hospitals nationwide. He also continues to champion the independent equitably owned physician group practice as a viable management model for hospital based physicians. He is also the founding Executive Editor of “Perspectives on the Acute Care Continuum,” a blog which provides first person perspectives of healthcare providers responsible for the integration of the medical care of patients with acute and post-acute care conditions.

Dr. Curry has received a number of leadership awards, and has held many positions of leadership in various hospital, county, state, and national organizations. His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stanford University, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Harvard University, and he completed his Internal Medicine residency at University of California San Francisco. Dr. Curry is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Medicine.

Outstanding Contribution in Education Award

Francis L. Counselman MD, CPE, FACEP

Francis L. Counselman MD, CPE, FACEP

Francis L. Counselman MD, CPE, FACEP is the Distinguished Professor of Emergency Medicine, Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS), and a partner in Emergency Physicans of Tidewater (EPT) in Norfolk, Virginia.

Dr. Counselman completed his medical school and emergency medicine residency training at EVMS. Previously a division of family and community medicine, Dr. Counselman founded the academic department of emergency medicine at EVMS in 1992, the first academic department of emergency medicine in Virginia. He continues to serves as its Chairman.

Dr. Counselman served as Program Director of the emergency medicine residency program at EVMS from 1990 to 2010. In 2003, he received the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA) “Residency Director of the Year Award”. In 2005, he recieved the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) “Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award”. Last year he received the medical schools most prestigious award, the “EVMS Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement”.

Dr. Counselman has served in numerous leadership positions, including: President of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (2014 – 2015); the first emergency physican to serve as President of the Medical Staff of Sentara Hospitals Norfolk (2008 – 2009, a two hosptial, 1100 physician system); President of the Association of Academic Chairs in Emergency Medicine (2002 – 2003); President of the Norfolk Academy of Medicine (1998 – 1999); and President of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians (1995 – 1996).

He has served as Associate Editor-In-Chief of Emergency Medicine since 2006, taught annually at the ACEP EMF/Teaching Fellowship since 2004, given numerious grand rounds and visiting professorships across the United States, and authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters. Dr. Counselman also serves as a Reviewer for Annals of Emergency Medicine and the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. He is currently an Associate Editor for Clinical Decision Support: Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Counselman currently lives in Norfolk, Virginia with his loving and supportive wife of 30 years, Liz. They have two dogs; Lilly the sweet one and Rocket, the slightly crazy one.

Colin C. Rorrie, Jr. Award for Excellence in Health Policy

Nathan R. Schlicher, MD, JD, FACEP

Nathan R. Schlicher, MD, JD, FACEP

Nathan R. Schlicher, MD, JD, FACEP, currently works at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and lives in Gig Harbor with his wife Dr. Jessica Schlicher, and their three children (David, Juliette, and Henry). He serves as the Regional Director of Quality Assurance for the emergency departments of the Franciscan Health System and the Associate Director of the TeamHealth Patient Safety Organization. He attended law school and then medical school at the University of Washington before completing an EM residency at Wright State in Dayton Ohio. He recently completed his Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Health Care. He is board certified in emergency medicine.

As Legislative Affairs Chairman of the Washington State Chapter of Emergency Physicians, Nathan spearheaded the “ER for Emergencies” program to replace the State’s plan to deny ER services to Medicaid Patients. Nathan’s leadership in this effort will save the state $31 million per year by making better health care. He created and has edited four editions of a textbook on the importance of advocacy by physicians, “The Emergency Medicine Advocacy Handbook.” He currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Washington State Medical Association and is the Past President of the Washington Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He has previously served as Legislative Advisor on the Board of Directors of the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association. He also spent a year in the Washington State Senate, representing the 26^th District. He continues to work with interested parties on health policy topics including renewed focus on the opiate and mental health crises affecting the state.

He has been recognized for his leadership multiple times including the South Sound Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award, Washington State Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians Guardian of Emergency Medicine Award, Pacific Lutheran University Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, and the American Medical Associations Leadership in Excellence Award.

Nathan and his wife are deeply involved in the community. They serve as foster parents to one gregarious 4-year-old, and run a free clinic on the peninsula. Nathan serves as the Capital Campaign Chair for the local college’s next campaign and is an active Rotarian. Currently serving as the Past President of WAACEP and Secretary-Treasurer of the WSMA, he continues to be active in advocacy on the local, state, and national level. In his spare time, his wife and he are amateur triathletes, love skiing, coaching their kid’s soccer teams, and relaxing in the mountains.

Council Meritorious Service Award

Kelly Gray-Eurom, MD, MMM, FACEP

Kelly Gray-Eurom, MD, MMM, FACEP

Dr. Kelly Gray-Eurom is the Chief Quality Officer / Assistant Dean of Quality & Safety and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida COM-Jacksonville. She received her medical degree in 1992 from the University of Vermont and completed her EM residency in 1996 at the University of Florida (UF). She joined the UF Faculty in 1996 to work at a UF community EM practice. In 2001, she returned to the main academic campus where she worked as the ED medical director for over a decade. In 2010, she completed a Masters of Medical Management at the Tulane School of Public Health. She continues to work clinical shifts in the ED.

Dr. Gray has been an active member of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians since her residency days. During her time at FCEP, she served as a resident member, participated in each of the FCEP committees, and was elected to the FCEP BOD in 2009 and again in 2012. She was a member of the BOD executive committee as Secretary, Treasurer, and then FCEP President in 2012. She continues to be part of FCEP activities including EM Days in Tallahassee and Symposium by the Sea.

For ACEP, she has worked with many sections and committees including YPS, AAWEP, Membership, NCRC, and CEDR. She is part of the ACEP 50^th Jubilee Task Force, has served on the Steering Committee, the ACEP Nominating Committee, and participated in both the ByLaws Restructuring and the Residency Visit Task Forces. She has been an ACEP Councilor for the last decade, has been privileged to serve on Council Reference Committees, as a Reference Committee Chair and as the Chair of the Council, Tellers & Credentials Committee. Council is one of her favorite ACEP activities and she is extraordinarily honored to be selected to receive a 2017 Council Award.

Disaster Medical Sciences Award

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, FIFEM, FAEMS

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, FIFEM, FAEMS

Kristi L. Koenig, MD, FACEP, FIFEM, FAEMS is Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine and Public Health and Founding Director Emeritus of the Center for Disaster Medical Sciences and the International EMS & Disaster Medical Sciences Fellowship at the University of California at Irvine, School of Medicine. She currently serves as the County of San Diego EMS Medical Director, responsible for prehospital services for a population of about 3.3 million spread over more than 4,000 square miles.

Her prior experience includes a 5-year term as National Director of the Emergency Management Office at the Department of Veterans Affairs where she led disaster preparedness for the Nation’s largest integrated healthcare system. In addition, she has practiced internationally as Co-Director of the Accident and Emergency Department at St. George’s Hospital National Health Service Trust in London, where she concurrently was Director of Undergraduate Medical Student Education and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of London.

Dr. Koenig has published three books, including the second edition of a definitive reference: Koenig and Schultz’s Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practice. She has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and has delivered nearly 500 invited lectures in about 35 countries. She holds international faculty appointments in Italy, Belgium, Australia, and Japan.

Dr. Koenig is an ACEP Media Spokesperson and recipient of the 2015 Communications Lifetime Achievement Award. She is also ACEP Ambassador to Germany and Taiwan and a member of the Epidemic Expert Panel. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2012 at the University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy. The International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) awarded her the prestigious “Order of IFEM” Fellowship.

A native Californian, Dr. Koenig is an honors graduate in applied mathematics from the University of California at San Diego. She received her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and completed an Emergency Medicine Residency at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California.

Outstanding Contribution in EMS Award (posthumously)

Salvatore Silvestri, MD, FACEP

Salvatore Silvestri, MD, FACEP

Dr. Silvestri or Dr. Sal, as he was often called, attained his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He then went on to train in emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. His most recent professional roles included his position as the Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency at Orlando Regional Medical Center and his role as the Associate Medical Director for Orange County.

Dr. Silvestri was passionate about research and partook in the publication of various abstracts, journal articles, and poster presentations. He took great joy in guiding the hundreds of medical students and residents that came into his program in their career paths. He also had a great love for his family and enjoyed watching his son play baseball and watching his daughter’s dance competitions. Dr. Silvestri was truly a man of compassion, guidance, humility, and love.

Outstanding Contribution in Research Award

Edward C. Jauch, MD, MS, FAHA

Edward C. Jauch, MD, MS, FAHA

Edward C. Jauch, MD, MS, FAHA, is Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, Professor, Department of Neurology, and faculty in the College of Graduate Studies at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and adjunct Professor of Bioengineering, Clemson University.

Dr. Jauch completed graduate training in bioengineering at Cornell University and was a faculty member in the Orthopedic Surgery Departments at the University of Kansas and the University of Cincinnati. He completed medical school and emergency medicine residency at the University of Cincinnati, then joined the faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke team at the University of Cincinnati in 1997. He was recruited to MUSC in 2008 to help develop the Residency Program in Emergency Medicine, assist in the creation of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at MUSC, help establish MUSC’s REACH Telemedicine Program, and co-direct the development of a state-wide stroke system of care through the South Carolina Department of Health.

Dr. Jauch is well known in the field of acute stroke research, leading or participating in numerous Phase II and III clinical stroke trials over the past 20 years. These studies have led to new approaches to managing patients with acute ischemic stroke and other forms of neurologic emergencies. He has over 160 publications, mostly in neurologic emergencies. He currently serves as the PI for the SC-CoAST network hub of the new NIH StrokeNet network, and is serving in the oversight of 4 other active NIH and industry studies.

Dr. Jauch served as the Chair of Stroke Council for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) and primary author for the 2013 Acute Ischemic Stroke guidelines. He is coauthor on the AHA/ASA guidelines for telemedicine use in stroke, primary prevention of stroke, prehospital care of stroke, and stroke systems of care. He has guided the creation of numerous educational programs for the AHA/ASA, and works nationally and regionally in advocating for improved stroke care and access to stroke care for all Americans. Dr. Jauch is active in the American College of Emergency Physicians, and served as chair of the Scientific Review Committee, Science Committee, and as an EMF Board member. He serves on the Joint Commission Technical Advisory Committees on Comprehensive Stroke Centers and Primary Stroke Centers, and also serves as the chair of the Department of Health’s Stroke Advisory Committee.

Honorary Membership Award

Patty Stowe, CAE

Patty Stowe, CAE

Patty Stowe, CAE, retired from The American College of Emergency Physicians in 2016 after 43 years, and was ACEP’s most tenured staff member. She was the only employee to have worked in all five of ACEP’s headquarters buildings, including the original offices in Lansing, Michigan, and the three facilities in Irving. During her tenure at ACEP, she provided valuable insights to hundreds of ACEP members.

Patty’s tireless work helped achieve record ACEP membership. Her leadership, kindness, organization, and follow-up allowed the thoughts and ideas of the Membership Committee and many other engaged ACEP members and staff to come to fruition. Patty was a mentor and an enormously strong advocate for emergency physicians.

Patty was born in Lansing, Michigan and lived there until relocating to Haslett, Michigan where she attended high school. She attended Northern Michigan University and Michigan State University. She has two beautiful black and white cats named Merry and Pippin. Patty enjoys traveling, sewing and crafts, reading novels (historical, science fiction, and fantasy), crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, bicycling, and Renaissance fairs.

Honorary Membership Award

Laura L. Tiberi, CAE

Laura L. Tiberi, CAE

Laura L. Tiberi, CAE, is in her 15^th year of service to the Ohio Chapter, American College of Emergency Physicians (Ohio ACEP) as Executive Director. Prior to joining the Ohio Chapter, Laura served 13 years in the Ohio state government with roles as the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative, and as State EMS Director.

Active with the Leadership Committee for the American Association of Medical Society Executives (AAMSE), Laura has served as faculty for the AAMSE Leadership Academy for over nine years, and has trained and facilitated workshops and led medical society executives, staff teams, and physician leaders through The Leadership Challenge®.

Laura earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2008 from the American Society of Association Executives; is LPI® Coach Certified and a Leadership Challenge Facilitator; is a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of Central Ohio Post Graduate Training Program with a focus on business and organizational consulting; and holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Ohio Wesleyan University, an M.A. from The Ohio State University, and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Honorary Membership Award

Gordon Wheeler

Gordon Wheeler

For over 18 years, Gordon Bissell Wheeler served as the Associate Executive Director of the Public Affairs Division/Washington Office of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). Mr. Wheeler provided executive leadership to the staff and activities of the College’s Public Affairs (advocacy) Division. His experience includes trade association management, strategic planning, and extensive experience in federal legislative affairs.

From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Wheeler was a Senior Principal and Director, Health Policy Practices Group at Capitoline International Group, a Washington, D.C. based public relations and government relations consulting firm. Before joining Capitoline, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of the Association of Managed Healthcare Organizations, a trade association representing preferred provider organizations and other managed care arrangements. He was also President of the Foundation of the Association of Managed Healthcare.

Mr. Wheeler was Director of Federal Affairs for the Health Insurance Association of America between 1989-1993. During that time, he also served as Acting Director of the Coalition to Insure All Americans.

He was a political appointee in the Reagan and Bush Administrations from 1982 – 1989. Mr. Wheeler was Associate Director in the Office of Management and Budget for Legislative Affairs, and in January 1989 he joined the Bush Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs and Director of Congressional Affairs.

Mr. Wheeler was born in Buffalo, New York. He and his wife Leslie have one son Stephen, one daughter Lindsay, two grandsons Cole and Bryce, two granddaughters Palmer and Pearce, and a yellow lab named Mack. In his spare time, he enjoys biking, skiing, reading, woodworking, traveling, and foreign languages.