Washington, D.C., August 27, 2007 – Modern Healthcare magazine has named Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (Emeritus), executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA), as one of the 100 most powerful people in health care for 2007. Dr. Benjamin joins former APHA President Quentin Young, MD, and Ron Anderson, MD, president and chief executive officer of Parkland Health & Hospital System, as current APHA members included on the list.
In its sixth year of publication, the annual “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare” list is compiled through Modern Healthcare reader nominations and votes. Over 12,000 individuals were nominated for inclusion and just under 265,000 votes were cast. Recurring themes in this year’s list included the prevalence of cross-sector coalitions and a growing consensus for the need to reform the current health care system.
“It is an honor to have Dr. Benjamin and others working in the public health sector recognized among the most powerful in health care,” said Patricia Mail, MPH, PhD, CHES, chairperson of the APHA Executive Board. “Their inclusion indicates an increasing awareness that public health’s message of prevention is essential to health care and reinforces the fact that universal health care has become a national priority.”
Dr. Benjamin has been the executive director of APHA since December 2002. He came to the post from his position as secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he played a key role in implementing Maryland’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Dr. Young served as president of APHA in 1998 and has been a leader in public health policy and medical and social justice issues for more than 50 years. He founded and is currently chairman of the Chicago-based Health & Medicine Policy Research Group. Dr. Young also serves as the national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program.
Dr. Anderson, a longstanding APHA member, has served as the president and chief executive officer of Parkland Health & Hospital System since 1982. In 1985, he played a major role in the passage of landmark legislation concerning indigent health care in Texas.
The list of health care leaders was published in the Aug. 27, 2007 issue of Modern Healthcare and can be found at http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=100mostpowerfulpeople2007