Prior to April 2004, the health care community had never heard of Dean Wilkerson, J.D., M.B.A., CAE. A mere 5 years later, the leaders of that community have named him as one of the most powerful people in health care today.

Serving as the executive director for the American College of Emergency Physicians, Mr. Wilkerson debuted at an impressive number 37 on Modern Healthcare magazine’s annual “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” list.

“I was shocked,” Mr. Wilkerson said when he learned he was on the list. “Then I immediately thought of a hundred people in our specialty who, in my opinion, have more respect and influence than I do and should be on the list instead of me.”

The rank of number 37 comes more into perspective when you consider with whom Mr. Wilkerson shares this honor: President Barack Obama (number 1); Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus (D-Mont.) (number 4) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) (number 5); the CEO of the American College of Cardiology (number 80); the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (number 84); the executive vice president and CEO of the American College of Physicians (number 86); and the president of the American Medical Association (number 95).

“The man lives and breathes emergency medicine, and that has allowed him to be a very informed and effective leader,” said Dr. Linda Lawrence, chairman of the ACEP Board of Directors. “So it was absolutely no surprise when he made the list—I only wondered why he wasn’t ranked higher.”

Since Mr. Wilkerson took the reins in 2004, ACEP has seen significant growth in membership, award of grants, strength of NEMPAC, 911 Network participants, and a national media presence. Great progress has been made in reimbursement. Resources for disaster preparedness have increased considerably. And the issue of access to care has taken center stage.

Then there’s the explosion of public outreach.

In a little over a year after coming to ACEP, Mr. Wilkerson’s vision became reality when on Sept. 27, 2005, more than 4,000 emergency health care professionals took on Capitol Hill in a rally that made Congress stand up and take notice of the issues plaguing emergency medicine. Shortly after that, ACEP released its first “National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine”—a brainchild of Mr. Wilkerson’s that helped engage and motivate the public to get involved. The second report card was released 3 years later. Information about emergency care and health was put directly in the hands of patients with a consumer magazine for ED waiting rooms. And, a home health care kit went online with the launch of a Web site specifically designed for patients and the public.