Institute Of Medicine Honors Members For Outstanding Service

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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The Institute of Medicine honored members Jack Barchas, Karen Davis, and William C. Richardson for their outstanding service to the institution at its 37th annual meeting.

IOM awarded Barchas the Walsh McDermott Medal, which is given to an IOM member for distinguished service over an extended period. He is the Barklie McKee Henry Professor and chairman of the psychiatry department at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and psychiatrist in chief of the Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, including the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in Manhattan and Westchester, N.Y. Barchas chaired committees of several IOM studies including an important study of pediatric psychiatry departments and research. His most significant contribution was his leadership of IOM's Board on Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, which he co-chaired for several years.

Davis, one of the nation's leading health economists, received the Adam Yarmolinsky Medal, which is awarded to an IOM member from a discipline outside of the health and medical sciences. She exemplifies commitment to social justice and health care for underserved populations, the values that motivated Adam Yarmolinsky. Throughout her career, Davis has focused her formidable energy and intelligence on the challenge of achieving universal health insurance in the United States and improving access to care for the aged, poor, and uninsured. She also has brought attention to the need to improve the quality of health care in the United States. She has served as president of the Commonwealth Fund since 1992. Under her leadership, the foundation provided the only external funding for the study that produced To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System, IOM's first report in a major series on improving health care quality.

Richardson was presented the David Rall Medal, awarded to an IOM member who has demonstrated particularly distinguished leadership as chair of a study committee or other similar activity, showing commitment above and beyond the usual responsibilities of the position. He is president emeritus of Johns Hopkins University and former president and chief executive officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Richardson served as chair of IOM's Panel on the National Health Care Survey and the Committee to Study Allied Health Personnel. His exemplary work as chair of the Committee on Quality of Health Care in America earned him this award. This complex committee had multiple subpanels and produced the reports To Err Is Human And Crossing The Quality Chasm: A New Health System For The 21st Century.

Nominations for the three service awards were solicited from IOM members and staff. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.

National Academy of Sciences

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