Physicians vote for officers in first all-member election

Thursday, September 01, 2016 12:37 PM

by CMS Staff Report

During the month of August, all CMS members had the opportunity – for the first time ever – to vote for the 2016-2017 CMS officers. All ballots were cast electronically through the third-party company Survey & Ballot Systems. The all-member election is a significant part of The New CMS. CMS is pleased to announce the 2016-2017 officers.

M. Robert Yakely, MD, President-elect
Yakely is a retired urologist and longtime CMS leader. He most recently served as Speaker of the House of Delegates (since 2011) and on the CMS Board of Directors (since 2006). He has worked on numerous CMS committees, commissions, councils and task forces, including the governance reform task force that developed The New CMS plan and the committee that revised the CMS bylaws. He also served as president of the Clear Creek Valley Medical Society and the Rocky Mountain Urologic Society, and as chair of the CMS Council on Legislation.

“I believe that my many years of experience working in many positions in the
Colorado Medical Society are an asset,” Yakely wrote in his candidate statement. “Over the years I’ve learned a few things about working with my colleagues to get things done. I have a thorough knowledge of the issues in which CMS is currently representing the best interests of Colorado physicians.”

Lee Morgan, MD, AMA Delegate
Morgan, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has served Colorado physicians in multiple capacities over the past 29 years. She served as president of the Colorado Medical Society, the Pueblo County Medical Society, and the Colorado Gynecology and Obstetric Society. She has also participated on every major council of CMS. She currently serves as chair of the Council on Legislation and is a past chair of the COMPAC Board of Directors. She served on the Physicians Congress and the ad hoc Committee on Patient Safety and Physician Accountability, to mention a few.

She has been a member of the AMA since 1978 and an active member of the AMA delegation for 13 years. She served as co-chair of the Colorado delegation to the AMA for two years and four years as its chair. At the AMA she has been active within the Western Mountain States Conference, serving as treasurer and chair, and on the executive committee.

“I believe that, with your support, I can continue to contribute significantly to organized medicine on a local, state and national level,” Morgan wrote in her candidate statement.

Katie Lozano, MD, FACR, AMA Alternate Delegate
Lozano has served on the CMS Board of Directors since 2008, as CMS treasurer from 2010-2015 and as president-elect since September 2015. She will be installed as CMS president during the 2016 Annual Meeting, Sept. 16-18, in Keystone. On the national level, she served as delegate and chair of the AMA Young Physicians Section from 2008 to 2013.

“My service to the medical profession through my work with numerous boards, committees, commissions, task forces and legislators is carefully considered as an investment in enhancing communication between and amongst those organizations and the people and patients involved,” Lozano wrote in her candidate statement.

Affirming The New CMS
A total of 201 members voted. This newly elected slate of officers, joined by the other members of the Colorado delegation to the AMA and Immediate Past President Mike Volz, MD, will continue to oversee the transition to The New CMS, a more horizontal governance process that aims to engage all members. We thank them for their leadership.

CMS especially appreciates your participation in this new process and we ask you to consider seeking an officer position in the next round of the nomination process. The nomination period will be open Jan. 1-31, 2017, and CMS seeks nominations for president-elect (one position), AMA delegate (three positions) and AMA alternate delegate (three positions). More information will be made available on www.cms.org. Questions? Contact Dean Holzkamp at dean_holzkamp@cms.org or 303-748-6113.