TXACP SERVICES SNYDER/CHUMLEY ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR AWARD
TXACP Services, the advocacy arm of the Texas Chapter of the ACP, is pleased to present the Advocate of the Year award, named in honor of the first recipients, Ned Snyder III, MD, FACP, and Delbert L. Chumley, MD, FACP. The awardee must be a registered Key Contact who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the areas of legislative advocacy and grassroots activism. The Advocate of the Year has consistently communicated concerns on behalf of TXACP Services to elected officials on issues and unfailingly responded to legislative alerts, as well as served as a community spokesperson on behalf of internal medicine and patients. In addition, this person has expanded the Chapter's advocacy program, recruited new Key Contacts, and actively participated in Leadership Day visits and/or other meetings with legislators and staff.
2023: John Flores, MD
2021/22 Fred Campbell, MD, MACP
2021/22 Fabrizia Faustinella, MD, FACP
2020: Steve Hays, MD, FACP
2019: Robert Jackson, MD, MACP
2017: A. Jimmy Widmer, MD, MPH
2016: Roger S. Khetan, MD, FACP
2015: Ildefonso Ismael Rodriguez, MD
2014: Felicia Jordan, MD, FACP
2012: Eugene Stokes, MD, FACP
2011: Scott W. Yates, MD, MBA, MS
2010: Howard R. Marcus, MD, FACP
2009: F. David Winter, MD, MS, FACP
2008: William Deaton, MD
2007: Spencer R. Berthelsen, MD, FACP
2006: Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr., MD, FACP
2005: Delbert L. Chumley, MD, FACP
2005: Ned Snyder III, MD, FACP
John Flores, MD
Dr. Flores was born in Dallas, TX and grew up on the southern border of Dallas County in the city of Duncanville. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with Plan 1 honors in Government in 1989. He graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1993 where he was editor of the student newspaper, The Murmurer, and also served as President of the Texas Association of Mexican-American Medical Students. After graduating from the Methodist Central Hospital Internal Medicine Program in 1997, he opened a private Internal Medicine clinic in Little Elm, TX, where his wife Jill, also an internist, joined him in 2003.
He has been activity involved in organized medical since early in his career. He chaired the TMA Council of Socioeconomics and the Council on Health Service Organizations. He is a TMA Delegate to the AMA, and is currently the Vice Speaker of the TMA HOD. At the AMA, he has served on the AMA Organized Medical Staff Section’s Governing Council since 2017 and was elected as its Secretary in 2020. He also serves on the AMA Speakers Election Committee. He previously served as the Legislative Chairman and President of the Denton County Medical Society.
Dr. Flores has been with his wife Jill for 26 years and has 4 boys. He enjoys watching them grow, and participating as their Boy Scout Cub Master and their Associate Scout Master. He enjoys reading, graphic novels, and golfing.
Steven Hays, MD, FACP
Dr. Steven Hays received his medical degree from the University of Illinois in 1979; Internship and Residency was completed at the University of Texas Southwestern Health Science Center at Dallas. Dr. Hays’ Nephrology Fellowship was also completed at the University of Texas Southwestern Health Science Center at Dallas in 1986. Dr. Hays is board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. He is Director of Renal Replacement Therapies, Medical Director of Living Kidney Donation, and Past-President of the Medical Staff at Baylor University Medical Center.
Dr. Hays is an advocate for internal medicine and serves on several committees in Texas. He has served on the Dallas County Medical Society AdHoc Committee on Legislative Affairs since 2007, served as Co-Chair of the DCMS Caucus for the TMA 2009-2017, Chair of the DCMS Legislative Affairs and Advocacy Committee, a member of the DCMS TMA Nominating Committee and DCMS Ex-Officio Delegate to the TMA. He has held the 23rd District Chair for TEXPAC, served as chair of the TMA Council on Medical Education, and served as an Alternate Delegate for Texas on the AMA since 2018. He is Vice Councilor, District 14, TMA Board of Councilors.
Dr. Hays has been on the Board of Directors for the Texas Chapter of the ACP from 2013-2020 serving as Texas Chapter President and President of Texas ACP Services. He has been on the TXACP Health and Public Policy Committee and served as Co-chair of the Membership Committee since 2020. Dr. Hays has been on the Best Doctors in Dallas list since 2000.
Robert Jackson, MD, MACP
Robert E. Jackson, MD, MACP was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where
he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors and Special Honors in Botany in 1975. He received his Masters in
Botany and then attended UTMB Medical School in Galveston Texas where he was awarded the Medical Student
Research Award in 1981. Dr. Jackson completed his internal medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, Texas and has been in private practice at the Texas Medical Center for over 30 years.
Dr. Jackson is a Past-President of the Medical Staff of the Houston Methodist Hospital and presently serves as
Medical Director of the Methodist Physicians Alliance for Quality. He completed his term as Governor of the
Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians ACP Southern Region in 2015. He was awarded Mastership
in the ACP and became a Laureate of the Texas ACP Chapter in 2016.
Dr. Jackson is a Clinical Professor of Medicine of the Weill Cornell Medical College’s Houston Methodist Hospital
campus. He has received the Baylor College of Medicine’s Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award twice during his
teaching career. Dr. Jackson continues to be involved in education, research and patient care as well as quality
integration for large physician groups and hospitals. One of his main areas of focus currently involves quality
and patient safety in complex medical systems.
Dr. Jackson is also Past-Chairman of the Physician and Health Care Distribution Committee of the Texas Medical
Association (TMA) and currently serves on the TMA’s Council of Legislation. While serving as the 2015 Chair of
the Harris County Medical Society’s (HCMS) Board of Medical Legislation. Dr. Jackson was instrumental in
obtaining $300 million dollars for Graduate Medical Education and $4 million dollars to restore statewide
programs for mentoring medical students in Primary Care. Dr. Jackson is currently on the Board of Directors of
the HCMS and will be President in 2024. He has attended innumerable ACP Leadership Days in Washington, D.C.
as well as the TMA’s First Tuesdays at the Texas Capitol during the Legislature’s Biennium.
Dr. Jackson currently serves as Chairman of the Continuing Medical Education Committee and the Center for
Performing Arts Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital. Dr. Jackson highly values education and mentoring
young medical students and residents as they advance through their careers. He continues to teach in his office,
the hospital, and is dedicated to lifelong learning and education in medicine as well as advocating for patients.
A. Jimmy Widmer, MD, MPH
Originally from Argyle, Texas, Jimmy Widmer graduated from Texas A&M University with a BS in Biomedical Science, followed by a Masters’ in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy from the Texas A&M School of Public Health. Jimmy is currently a PGY-3 at the Baylor Scott & White Internal Medicine Residency Program. At the conclusion of his residency, Dr. Widmer will join the General Internal Medicine Division as staff at the Baylor Scott & White Center for Diagnostic Medicine. His career will be directed toward combining his medical training and health policy experiences to provide individual care to his patients and improve the health of his community and the state of Texas.
Dr. Widmer pursued his interest in health policy after graduation by working for the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA) Division of Advocacy during the 82nd Legislative Session where he focused on graduate medical education funding and scope of practice legislation. Building off of his experience in Austin, Jimmy then went to Washington, D.C., to work for the Health Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce where he gained additional exposure to the legislative drafting process and participated in legislative hearings that ultimately led to the passage of the SGR repeal in 2015. Dr. Widmer graduated from the Texas A&M College of Medicine in 2015, where he stayed active in health policy and organized medicine by serving as a Delegate to both the TMA House of Delegates and the American Medical Association Medical Student Section House of Delegates. He currently serves on the TMA Council on Legislation as well as an active participant in the TMA Political Action Committee (TEXPAC). Dr. Widmer is currently serving his second year on the Texas ACP Board of Directors as a resident representative where he has made increasing resident involvement in advocacy on the state and national levels his top priority.
Roger S. Khetan, MD, FACP
Roger S. Khetan and his identical twin brother Rainer both graduated from Texas A&M University and attended medical school at the University of Texas Houston. After one year of post-graduate training in anesthesiology in Pittsburgh, Roger returned to Texas for internal medicine training at the UT Houston hospitals. He served as Chief Medical Resident.
Dr. Khetan joined the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas where he was one of the first hospitalists. He helped develop the hospitalist program at Baylor and has been integrally involved insystem-wide quality initiatives throughout his career. He has chaired a
number of committees whose goal is to standardize care processes throughout the system.
Roger has been involved in the ACP since the early days of his career. He became a Fellow in 2009. He has held multiple leadership positions in the Texas ACP including President of the Texas ACP Chapter and ACP Services. His abundant energy and enthusiasm have been a hallmark of his tenure with the ACP. Early on, it became apparent that Roger had a keen interest in advocacy. He has participated in multiple Leadership Days in Washington, DC during which ACP members visit Congressional offices to meet with our legislators and their staff. He has served as the leader of our delegation for the past several years.
On the state level, Roger is the co-chair of the Texas ACP Health and Public Policy Committee. He and the committee have worked tirelessly on bringing the ACP’s policy positions to the Texas legislature. He has championed increased funding for graduate medical education, continued funding for our General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program and increased access to health care for all Texans. He helped develop our chapter’s Advocacy
Day at the state capitol as well. In recognition of Dr. Khetan’s leadership, passion, boundless energy and persistence in making the ACP’s vision a reality, we are proud to award the 2016 Snyder Chumley Advocacy Award to Roger S. Khetan, MD, FACP.
Ildefonso Ismael Rodriguez, MD
Dr. Ildefonso Ismael Rodriguez received his medical degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He completed his Internal Medicine training at The University of Texas Southwestern Residency Programs in Austin, and was elected to serve as Chief Medical Resident at the University of Texas at Austin – Dell Medical School. Dr. Rodriguez is currently completing his Fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital.
As a former participant of the general internal medicine statewide preceptorship program, he appreciates the importance of early exposure to clinical medicine in shaping the career choices of physicians in training. Dr. Rodriguez adamantly testified in the Texas Senate as an advocate for reinstatement of funding to the statewide preceptorship program. As a result of his testimony in collaboration with several of his colleagues, millions have been committed to the preceptorship program securing funding for hundreds of medical students in the years to come.
His initial interest in mentorship and education stemmed from his experiences in medical school. He served as a peer mentor for preclinical students during his third and fourth years. He continued to foster his interest in education as a resident mentor and chief medical resident. Dr. Rodriguez also advocated for medical education opportunities for minorities and underserved areas through several televised interviews.
He continues to participate in student and resident education in the field of hematology and oncology through clinical rounds, case conferences, and grand rounds. His research interests include leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and lymphoma. He has both presented and published his research findings in the field of leukemia and continues to pursue a career in academic medicine. Dr. Rodriguez is active in multiple professional associations in addition to the American College of Physicians, including the American Society of Hematology, Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, and American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Felicia Jordan, MD, FACP
Dr. Felicia Jordan received her medical degree at the University of Miami Medical School. She completed her training in Internal
Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr.Jordan has been active in the Texas Chapter of the American
College of Physicians and served as President of the Chapter as well as President of the Texas ACP Services, the chapter’s advocacy arm.
Dr. Jordan has attended Leadership Day in Washington, D.C. on a regular basis since 2009. She has always represented the needs of our patients in Texas during her multiple visits to DC and Austin. Dr. Jordan served on the Board of Directors of the Texas ACP from 2007-2012 and currently is the Chair of the Health and Public Policy Committee. Dr. Jordan has distinguished herself with the Texas Medical Association and has served on the TMA Political Action Committee Board of Directors since 2009 and is currently a member of TMA’s Council of Socioeconomics.
Dr. Jordan is the epitome of excellence in leadership and advocacy. Most recently, she has been awarded the ACP’s Lead Certificate and the Trailblazer Award of the Ivy Educational and Charitable Foundation of Houston.
Today, she become the first woman to receive the Texas Chapter Advocate of the Year Award for her outstanding leadership. Dr. Jordan lives in Houston, Texas where she practices medicine with the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. She served as the Chair of the Diabetes Committee for Kelsey-Seybold and as the Medical Liaison Director for Memorial Hermann Hospital System. She is married to Perry Jordan and is active in the Deacon Spouses’ Ministry of the Brentwood Baptist Church.
TXACPS is proud to recognize Felicia Jordan, MD, FACP with the TXACP Services Chumley/Synder Advocate of the Year award.
Eugene Stokes, MD, FACP
Dr. Eugene Stokes was born in San Marcos, Texas, on October 11, 1953. He began his medical career at UTEP with a major in Biology in 1976, and a medical degree from the Texas Tech University Medical School in Lubbock in 1980. He completed his residency at the William Beaumont Medical Center in El Paso, followed by a GI fellowship, all of which culminated in a fully recognized gastroenterologist and internist in 1986. In 2000, he became a board Certified physician in hospice and palliative medicine. He takes Internal Medicine to a new high as the complete physician in all aspects of care.
He lives and practices in San Angelo and has never stopped being an active crusader in Internal Medicine, even as a specialist, attending our state meetings, TMA meetings, and fighting for the preceptorship program. From the start of his private practice days to the current period, he opens his practice to students, residents, and fellows who want to come and learn from his art of practicing medicine.
Dr. Stokes has numerous leadership roles within his community’s medical centers, the Concho Valley County Medical Society, the TXACP, the TMA and the ACP. He was the TXACP Services President in 2003-2004 and the TXACP President in 2006-2007. Since 2004, he has served as the Medical Student Committee Co-Chair and he is also a preceptor for the GIMSPP program. He is an active TMA member and Texas Medical Foundation member. As a specialist and an internist, he knows the benefit of a physician community that needs to be closely aligned and organized in showing its worth to the public and to our politicians. He is involved with TMA’s First Tuesdays in Austin and with the ACP’s Leadership Day in Washington DC. Dr. Stokes leads others in a very respectful manner and gains honor from our politicians in his concise message on the current healthcare crisis. He has seen the effects for some time, and he has never given up fighting and pursuing more for Internal Medicine doctors.
His love for medicine is significant, but Dr. Stokes could not be the man he is without the love and support of his lovely wife. His wife, Cindy, is the key to his continued passion and provides him the stability and love that helps him in the medical field. She has stuck by him through all the meetings, the time away on call, the time away for teaching new physicians in training, the time away to represent our profession in Austin and DC. Gene and Cindy are the proud parents of two children and are also the proud grandparents of two grandchildren, Avery and Adley.
Dr. Stokes is a legend to the Texas Chapter of the ACP, and not one of the board members would deny that Dr. Stokes is part of the heart and soul of the Texas chapter. It is a great honor for the TXACP to have such an esteemed member in its ranks. Therefore, it gives us great pleasure to recognize his achievements by bestowing the 2012 TXACP Services Chumley/Synder Advocate of the Year Award to Eugene Stokes, MD, FACP.
Scott W. Yates, MD, MBA, MS
Dr. Yates’ passion for patient care is longstanding; his first experiences in medicine were working in the office of his Pediatrician while in high school. Twenty-five years later, he now teaches medical students, medical residents and nurse practitioner candidates who rotate through his office. Previously elected President of the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine (the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians), Dr. Yates is looked to by his peers as an expert in adult healthcare.
He is a member of the medical staff of Presbyterian Hospital of Plano, Baylor Plano Medical Center and Select Specialty Hospitals of Dallas. He has held appointments and leadership positions at various hospitals including Chief of Staff, Chief of Medicine, and membership or Chairmanship of Medical Executive, Credentials, Utilization Management, Performance Improvement, Pharmacy & Therapeutics, and Internal Medicine Peer Review Committees. He serves as a quality and utilization review physician for the Texas Medical Foundation and as an Expert Panelist for the Texas Medical Board.
Dr. Yates completed his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin and Medical Degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration and Health Services Administration. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives. The Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators and Association of Clinical Research Professionals have recognized Dr. Yates with their joint Certified Physician Investigator designation.
Dr. Yates’ research interests include wellness and prevention, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and the Cardiovascular Dysmetabolic Syndrome as well as office automation and electronic health records and the effect of these technologies on quality of care and error rates. He has published articles in diverse journals and lectures internationally on these subjects. Dr. Yates is a member of the Editorial Boards of Pharmacy & Therapeutics, American Journal of Medicine, American Journal Therapeutics, American Journal of Men’s Health, Southern Medical Journal and Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings and serves as an article peer reviewer for several additional journals.
Dr. Yates is married and enjoys photography, leisure reading and travel with his wife, daughter and twin boys.
Howard R. Marcus, MD, FACP
Dr. Howard Marcus was born in New York, New York. He graduated from Tufts University Medical School in 1971. From 1972-1974, Dr. Marcus joined the U.S. Public Health Service, National Health Service Corp. Through his service, he established a solo physician general practice in a small town in rural Appalachia (southwestern Virginia) which continues to this day. Dr. Marcus completed his residency at the University of Rochester in New York in 1976 and created a two physician internal medicine practice in Newport, RI until 1980. In 1981, Dr. Marcus saw the light and came to Texas where he joined Austin Regional Clinic. He is currently a senior internist at ARC in an outpatient general IM practice.
Dr. Marcus has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the areas of legislative advocacy and grassroots activism. He has worked tirelessly with our elected representatives on behalf of Texas physicians and their patients; he has effectively communicated health care issues on behalf of the Texas Chapter of the ACP to elected officials.
Dr. Marcus was elected to the Board of Governors at Texas Medical Liability Trust in 1995 and served for nine years. He was also elected Chairman of Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) board in 2000 and served for three years. In coordination with TMLT and TMA, Dr. Marcus organized Texas Alliance for Patient Access (TAPA) in 2001 in order to address a rapidly worsening professional liability crisis. He was elected as the TAPA Board Chairman in 2001 and has remained the TAPA Board Chairman since its inception. The Texas Chapter of ACP is a charter TAPA member and remains a TAPA member.
TAPA developed the legislative proposals which were, in most part, incorporated into House Bill 4 (HB4). TAPA supported the lobby team which worked the HB4 through the legislature resulting in Texas professional liability tort reform. TAPA raised several million dollars in support of the campaign for Prop. 12. TAPA has fought for continuation of tort reform through three subsequent legislative sessions with a robust presence at the legislature. Dr. Marcus has been intensively involved during this period. The tort reforms which passed in 2003 completely changed the face of medicine in Texas. Our state became a model for tort reform in the United States. Dr. Marcus’ tireless efforts were essential to bring this to fruition.
In addition, TAPA has supported tort reform through the appellate process, submitted many amicus briefs and defended the attack on the cap on non economic damages in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District in Marshall, TX.
Dr. Marcus organized the Medical Defense PAC (MDPAC) in 2007 and has been Chairman of MDPAC since inception to support candidates for the Texas legislature and statewide office who pledge to defend tort reform.
Dr. Marcus represents the best in advocacy and serves as a role model for all of us to be involved in legislative activities in the service of our patients. He is a true leader of Texas medicine in general and the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Marcus and his wife Margaret, have three children and five grandchildren.
F. David Winter, MD, MS, FACP
Dr. David Winter received a bachelor of science in biology with honors from Lamar University in 1972, his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1975, and completed a medical internship and residency at Baylor University Medical Center in 1978. He started a solo practice at Baylor and later went on to found MedProvider, a group practice in Dallas, Texas that now includes 50 physicians. In 1994, this group became one of the founding members of HealthTexas, a physician group in partnership with Baylor Health Care System. He is the current chairman and chief medical officer of HealthTexas which includes 118 different practice sites and almost 500 physicians in North Texas.
A student, leader, and teacher of physician organizations, Dr. Winter received a Master of Science in Medical Management from the University of Texas at Dallas where he currently serves as an adjunct professor.
Dr. Winter has also been a leader of the quality movement in medicine and founded the Quality Improvement Committee of HealthTexas which has led that organization to receive nationwide recognition including the 2008 Top Leadership Team in Health Care from Health Leaders Media.
He also is an active teacher through television, radio, and frequent speeches, and has been awarded the Marcus Welby Award for Excellence in Broadcasting from the Academy of Radio and Television Health Communicators, the Jules Bergman Award from the National Association of Medical Communicators, and the Anson Jones, MD, Award for Physician Excellence in Reporting from the Texas Medical Association. His tips on health care can be viewed on the local ABC affiliate, channel 8, and he can be heard on KRLD radio where he serves as their medical expert.
Despite his administrative, academic, and media responsibilities, Dr. Winter remains a practicing physician at Baylor University Medical Center. He is married and has two children.
TXACP is proud to recognize F. David Winter, MD, FACP, with the Snyder/Chumley Advocate of the Year Award.
William Deaton, MD
William J. Deaton, MD, a critical care, pulmonary, and internal medicine specialist, has exhibited a passion for medicine, advocacy, and teaching that began with his graduation from Baylor College of Medicine in 1969 and continues to this day.
Dr. Deaton grew up in Waco, and although he spent of good deal of time on Granddad Big Bill’s farm in Oklahoma to “learn the trades of cow milking and okra pickin,’” his mother demanded academic excellence from young Bill. He graduated from Baylor University before attending medical school, where he developed an interest in internal medicine. After a straight medicine internship at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center and two years in the U.S. Air Force in Southeast Asia, Dr. Deaton returned to Houston to complete internal medicine and pulmonary training at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Deaton served on the Baylor faculty from 1975 to 1981, where mentors and peers inspired his passion for the continuing learning process, especially involving the concept evidence-based medicine, that laid the foundation for a continuously cutting-edge career. In 1981, Dr. Deaton left Houston to open a private practice in Austin. That same year saw intensive care introduced into the Austin health care environment. Dr. Deaton was involved in its evolution to the thoroughly up-to-date, evidence-based ICU care that now is available 24/7 in all Central Texas hospitals.
Aware that medicine does not operate isolated from the political, economic, and social milieu of America, Dr. Deaton also embraced the role of advocate for his profession and patients. In that capacity, he served as President of the Texas Thoracic Society, Delegate to the Texas Medical Association for two decades, President of TAIM and Board of Directors of TAIM (2000-2002), President of the Travis County Medical Society, Chief of Medical Staff of several hospitals, board member of the Austin Hospital Authority, member of the TAIM Delegation to Washington, member of the Board of Counselors of the Texas Medical Association, Chair of Critical Care Councils and of Travis County Ad Hoc Committee on Indigent Care, and inveterate writer to political representatives.
At the top of Dr. Deaton’s advocacy priority is the education of medical students so that the lessons they learn today will allow them to remain on the forefront of medicine tomorrow. Dr. Deaton is proud that Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital’s internal medicine training program, though not university affiliated until the last three years, has had a near 100 percent pass rate for American Board of Internal Medicine. He continues daily rounds with medical students from UTMB, interns, and residents.
Dr. Deaton’s wife of 37 years, Patti, passed away in 2006. He enjoys the company of his attorney daughters, Carolyn and Christina, and No. 1 grandson William Michael Atkinson, 11 months old and “already a scholar.”
TAIM is proud to recognize William J. Deaton, MD, with the TAIMS Chumley/Snyder Advocate of the Year Award.
Spencer R. Berthelsen, MD, FACP
Dr. Spencer R. Berthelsen, MD, FACP, is the 2007 recipient of the Chumley/Snyder Advocate of the Year Award. Dr. Berthelsen has been an outstanding steward of advocacy for the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine (TAIM) over many years and truly represents the idea of "servant leadership."
Dr. Berthelsen was raised in Houston Texas and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bellaire High School. He attended Rice University and graduated AOA from Southwestern Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California in San Diego and has been in practice with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Houston since 1980. Dr Berthelsen now serves as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of this prestigious Houston clinic.
Dr. Berthelsen has served with distinction on the Texas Medical Association Council on Legislation since 2000 and was Council Chair from 2003 through 2005 during two very contentious legislative sessions. Several factors presented a considerable challenge to realizing medicine's initiatives in 2003: a new speaker of the house, new lieutenant governor, more than 25 freshman members, and the biggest budget deficit in more than a decade. Despite these challenges, Dr. Berthelsen led the charge while medicine achieved landmark legislation on tort reform and prompt pay during the 78th Legislative Session.
As Council Chair during the 2005 Legislation Session, Dr. Berthelsen led medicine's defense against threats of taxation of health care services, broadening of allied health practitioners' scope of practice, more funding cuts for the state's health care safety net, and rollbacks of investments in medical education.
Dr. Berthelsen served on the TAIM Board of Directors from 2000 through 2003 and was our own TAIM Services President in 2002. He has been active on the local and state levels, and has been a faithful champion for the rights of our patients and the needs of our internists.
As TAIM's delegate to the Governor's Ad Hoc Committee on Collaborative Practice, Dr. Berthelsen was an influential member of the committee created as a part of a legislative agreement during the 1995 Texas Legislature for the purpose of providing a forum for nursing, physician assistants, and physicians, to discuss practice and delivery system issues. The Committee was composed of five advanced practice nurses, five physician assistants, and five physicians (one each appointed by TAFP, TAIM, TSA, TAOG, and TPS). The 1997 and 1999 Legislatures enacted "agreed to" legislation as a result of the Committee's work. Because of this approach, novel among the states, the three professions worked in tandem on a variety of additional issues, such as ending the Medicaid fee freeze, managed care reform, and protecting tobacco settlement dollars from non-health related interests, to name several.
Dr. Berthelsen was recently appointed to serve on the Texas Health Care System Integrity Partnership Committee which is a newly created advisory board to the State of Texas. It is charged with improving patient safety and healthcare affordability for Texans.
Dr. Berthelsen continues to pursue scholarly activities and is currently Professor of Internal Medicine at both Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. He has two children and presently lives in Sugar Land with his wife Linda.
The Board of Directors of the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine Services is pleased to congratulate Dr Berthelsen on being named the 2007 Advocate of the Year!
Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr., MD, FACP
Carlos Hamilton graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1966 and trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts General Hospital. He was chief medical resident and assistant professor at Hopkins and later became director of the Endocrine Research Laboratory at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio.
Dr. Hamilton went on to became a partner in the Medical Clinic of Houston and clinical professor at Baylor College of Medicine. In 2001 he joined the UT Health Science Center at Houston as professor of medicine, vice president of clinical affairs, and chairman of UT Physicians, the faculty practice plan. In 2002, he was named executive vice president for external affairs.
Dr. Hamilton has been a true advocate for internal medicine on the local, state, and federal levels. He has attended innumerable meetings with legislators and government officials to fight for patient rights and advocate for medicine.
In 2004, Dr. Hamilton accompanied TAIM Immediate Past President Joe Cunningham, MD, FACP, to meet with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst about the Texas Senate’s position on medical liability and tort reform. His influence helped facilitate the passing of Proposition 12. In a year of enormous budget cuts, Dr. Hamilton also championed protection of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with the Texas Legislature.
On the national level, Dr. Hamilton has served his TAIM constituents well. He served on the ACP Health and Public Policy Committee with Drs. Lynne Kirk and Wayne Riley. In 1997, he served on the local merger task force of the ASIM. He received the ACP’s Top Ten Key Contact Award at the 1999 Leadership Day in Washington, D.C.
In 2003 Dr Hamilton received the prestigious Laureate Award from the Texas ACP Chapter for his dedication to TAIM.
He has served as president of Harris County Medical Society and TAIM. He has special interest in Boy Scouts of America and has been a leader in the founding of the Houston Museum of Health and Medical Science. Dr. Hamilton currently serves on the World Anti-Doping Agency, an international sports organization.
Dr. Hamilton and his wife, Carolyn, are proud parents of Dr. Carlos Hamilton III an interventional radiologist, and Patricia Bivins, who practices law. They have four grandchildren and all reside in Houston.
TAIM is proud to recognize Carlos R. Hamilton, Jr., MD, FACP, with the TAIMS Chumley/Snyder Advocate of the Year Award.
Delbert L. Chumley, MD, FACP
Dr. Del Chumley sets the standard as a TAIM Services advocate, serving tirelessly as champion for TAIM Services, medicine, and most importantly, the patients of Texas. As an ACP and TAIM Key Contact, Dr. Chumley has been highly effective and active in communicating the message of internal medicine to local, state and federal legislators. Dr. Chumley worked relentlessly in lobbying for medical liability/lawsuit abuse reform in Texas during the 2003 Legislative Session. His enthusiasm and efforts continued after the session to help ensure passage of the constitutional amendment to cap non-economic damages in medical liability cases.
Dr. Chumley serves by example with regard to grassroots activism on the local level. He and his wife, Louise, were ever present mainstays of the Texas Medical Association's First Tuesdays at the Capitol both in the 2003 and 2005 legislative sessions. Together they were responsible for bringing dozens of Bexar County physicians to Austin to lobby on healthcare issues. Dr. Chumley is active in the Bexar County Medical Society and has been responsible for arranging numerous meetings with influential legislators and candidates for office. Dr. Chumley exemplifies what it means to serve as a leader in political and legislative advocacy, as well as grassroots activism.
Dr. Chumley earned a B.S. degree in Zoology from Texas A&M University in College Station in 1967. He went on to earn his M.D. from The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, in 1971. Dr. Chumley completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at UTMB in 1976.
Dr. Chumley is active in many professional organizations including the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine, where he served on the TAIM board of directors from 2000-2003. He served as TAIM Services President-elect from 2001-2002, and President from 2002-2003. Dr. Chumley is a Fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology, and member of the American Gastroenterology Association, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Texas Medical Association, Bexar County Medical Society, and the Texas Society for Gastroenterology and Endoscopy.
Dr. Chumley and his wife Louise have three children.
Ned Snyder, III, MD, FACP
Dr. Ned Snyder espouses the very best qualities of a TAIM Services advocate. As a Key Contact for ACP and TAIM, Dr. Snyder has been very effective, thanks to his personal relationships on the state and federal level, representing the views of our membership and our patients in Washington and Austin. In addition, Dr. Snyder and influential members of his immediate family continue to be active on the local level. He did not hesitate to answer a call from the ACP when a Texas internist was needed to opine on the most recent presidential election. He was published in a "point-counterpoint" editorial piece in the October 2004 ACP Observer with his thoughts on President George W. Bush's tenure as Governor of Texas and his first term as President. Dr. Snyder serves as an example of the successes that can be garnered through the development of personal and professional relationships. He exemplifies what it means to serve as a leader in political and legislative advocacy, as well as grassroots activism. His wife, Dot, shares his passion for politics and grassroots activism.
Dr. Snyder earned a B.A. in History from Yale University in 1966. He continued on with medical studies earning his M.D. from The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston in 1970. He completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at UTMB in 1974.
Dr. Snyder is active in many professional organizations including the Texas Academy of Internal Medicine, where he served on the Board of Directors from 1998-2001. He served as TAIM President-elect from 2001-2002 and as President from 2002-2003. Dr. Snyder is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the American Gastroenterological Association, American Medical Association, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Alpha Omega Alpha, American Federation of Clinical Research, William Beaumont Society of Gastroenterologists, Texas Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Texas Club of Internists, Texas Medical Association, and American College of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Snyder and his wife Dot have two children.