Harparminder Chadha, MD, FACEP, FRCS
TeamHealth Medical Director
Memorial Hermann Northwest
Houston, Texas
Dr. Harparminder Chadha guided a busy, high-acuity emergency department through the transition from another management group to TeamHealth in June 2007. During that transition, the team decreased bed-to-provider times from 160 minutes to less than 15 minutes, increased patient satisfaction from the 3rd percentile to the 66th percentile, decreased the left-without-treatment rate from 11 percent to less than 6 percent, and reduced door-to-intervention times for acute and minor patients from 160 minutes to 61 minutes.
These accomplishments are a credit to Dr. Chadha’s collaborative leadership and the value he places on working inclusively with all disciplines, gaining from the contributions and input of everyone involved in the care delivery process. He works closely with fellow physician colleagues and mid-level providers, the departmental nursing director, the hospital administrative team, and the medical staff. Memorial Hermann Northwest now has one of the lowest nursing turnover rates in the region and excellent staff satisfaction.
Angela Siler Fisher, MD
Attending Emergency Physician
Conroe Regional Medical Center
Conroe, Texas
Dr. Angela Siler Fisher is a rising star in emergency medicine, exhibiting leadership in emergency medicine beyond her years. She is very active in national, state and local emergency medical activities. While a resident, she was active in EMRA, serving as EMRA president. Since returning to Texas in 2006, Dr. Fisher has worked with TCEP leaders to surpass all previous records in membership and member involvement. In addition, Dr. Fisher has created and is directing a TCEP Leadership and Advocacy Fellowship, which grooms future Texas leaders in emergency medicine.
Dr. Fisher is also involved in her county medical society and the Texas Medical Association. She is very involved in ACEP and participates on the ACEP Council. As a recipient of the ACEP Council’s “Horizon Award,” she will be recognized as a “rising star” this year by the ACEP Council. The award recognizes physicians who are in their first five years of participation in the ACEP Council.
Diana L. Fite, MD, FACEP
Attending Staff Physician, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, Houston, TX
Attending Staff Physician, Christus St. Catherine’s Hospital, Katy, TX
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine Residency Program, University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Dr. Diana L. Fite, an emergency physician and mother of eight children, survived a stroke in 2006. She not only returned to work, but has spoken publicly about her experience for the “Give Me 5” stroke campaign.
Dr. Fite has served in many leadership positions in organized medicine, including being the first emergency physician to serve as president of the Harris County Medical Society. It is the largest county medical society in the nation, with more than 10,000 members. In the early 1980s, Dr. Fite recognized that a significant number of emergency patients were unrecognized as victims of domestic violence. She became the first physician member of the Houston Area Women’s Center board of directors and gave many lectures throughout Texas educating physicians on the subject in the years before awareness became widespread.
Juan F. Fitz, MD, FACEP
Assistant Director, Emergency Department, Covenant Medical Center, Lubbock, TX
Clinical Faculty, Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX
Medical Director and Chair, EMT Paramedic Program, El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX
Dr. Juan F. Fitz is active in promoting the field of emergency medicine, serving on ACEP’s Steering Committee and Air Medical Section, and as spokesperson of ACEP’s Public Relations Committee. He is also a board member of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians. He served on TCEP’s Legislative and Section Affairs Committee, was a past alternate and councilor for TCEP, and serves on the AMA’s Steering Committee for the Hispanic Physician Initiative.
Dr. Fitz says that it is a wonderful feeling knowing that the emergency medicine specialty has gained acceptance and respect in the house of medicine, and that emergency physicians are now called on as consultants by other specialties.
Raymond L. Fowler, MD, FACEP
Co-Director, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Section of EMS, Homeland Security and Disaster Medicine
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine/Surgery and Allied Health, UT Southwestern and Parkland Emergency Department, Dallas, TX
Dr. Raymond L. Fowler was one of the most productive and EMS-oriented Georgia ACEP presidents, as well as the original national program director for the Basic Trauma Life Support organization. He helped found the EMS State of the Science (“Gathering of Eagles”) conference, and the Eagles group created ACEP’s first-ever “Advanced EMS Medical Directors Course.” Dr. Fowler was named EMS Medical Director of the Year by the State of Texas, and received the prestigious national Neely Award from NAEMSP.
When 40,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees fled to the Dallas Convention Center, Dr. Fowler led the team that arranged their medical care. He and dozens of physician colleagues created a temporary hospital, pharmacy, eye clinic, mental health sector, rehab center, and pediatric care zone. Dr. Fowler is not only a tireless public servant and prolific medical educator, but he is also a humble, caring and sincere human being.
Andrea L. Green, MD, FACEP
Medical Director, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Emergency Center
The Woodlands, TX
Dr. Andrea Green had the privilege of training under and being inspired to leadership by John Wiegenstein, MD. She has been actively involved in the specialty, including development of training programs; serving national, state and hospital committees; serving medical missions; and participating in political advocacy. She served as president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians in 2005.
Dr. Green serves on the TeamHealth Medical Advisory Board and its Special Projects Group, as well as ACEP’s Steering, Reimbursement, and Coding and Nomenclature Committees. She developed training programs for physician assistant students and a physician tech program for pre-med students to assist emergency physicians. She helped develop the first hospital-based, freestanding emergency department in North Texas in 1999 and organized a church team of 25 automated external defibrillator responders in 2004. Dr. Green says that what she enjoys most about being an emergency physician is the opportunity to make a difference in health care.
Robert L. Levine, MD, FACEP
Professor, Neurosurgery and Emergency Medicine
Memorial Hermann Hospital
Houston, TX
Dr. Robert L. Levine has worked for more than 20 years to promote emergency medicine. Research published by Dr. Levine and others on cardiac arrest and resuscitation in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA helped move emergency medicine to the academic forefront. As part of the initial group of Emergency Medicine-Critical Care Medicine specialists, he has worked and continues to work with ACEP/ABEM to advance the case for CCM board eligibility for emergency medicine trainees.
One of Dr. Levine’s most significant contributions has been to stimulate young people to pursue emergency medicine as a career, and to help train emergency medicine residents to care for the sickest patients. He enjoys watching the residents he trains become masters of their craft, though his ultimate accomplishment is one that he shares with all who practice emergency medicine — to have truly saved lives.
Dighton C. Packard, MD, FACEP
Chairman, Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor University Medical Center
Chief Medical Officer, Emergency Medical Services Corporation
Dallas, Texas
Dr. Dighton C. Packard is most proud of serving the emergency needs of North Texas patients during the last 34 years. He has been an active ACEP member for more than 30 years, serving on ACEP’s board of directors from 1990 to 1996, and on ACEP’s Reimbursement and Finance Committees. He served as president of Texas ACEP from 1980 to 1981 and from 1989 to 1990. He has also actively served on various American Hospital Association and American Medical Association committees, and served as chairman of the MedicAlert Foundation’s board of directors from 2003 to 2004.
Dr. Packard says that working with Emergency Medical Services Corporation as its chief medical officer has allowed him the opportunity to positively impact the care given to more than 6 million emergency patients a year. He was recognized with the “James D. Mills Award for Outstanding Contributions to Emergency Medicine” in 1997.
Paul E. Pepe, MD, MPH, FACEP, MACP, FCCM
Professor of Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Public Health and
Chair, Emergency Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
and Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas, TX; and
Director, City of Dallas Medical Emergency Services
for Public Health, Public Safety and Homeland Security
Dr. Paul Pepe is a global lecturer and author of hundreds of pace-setting scientific papers, including landmark studies in multiple disciplines. Often featured in network news and prime-time broadcasts such as ABC News Nightline, McNeil-Lehrer & Larry King Live, he has been called a “mentor to millions” and an “advocate for the injured.” A world leader and innovator in CPR, trauma, emergency ventilation and disaster care, he serves as emergency medicine trauma consultant for many notable entities, including the NIH, White House Medical Unit, U.S. Secret Service and NBA trainers.
Dr. Pepe has won numerous health policy, community service, academic and professional society awards, including formal recognition for courage and lifetime public service in the U.S. Congressional Record. He received the 2005 “National ACEP Emergency Medical Services Award” and founded ACEP’s Advanced EMS Medical Directors Course and Workshop. He was also the first nationally elected president of the National Association of EMS Physicians.
Edward Racht, MD
Medical Director, City of Austin/Travis County EMS System, Austin, TX
Chair, Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council – State of Texas
Dr. Edward Racht has guided many students to emergency medicine through his knowledge, attitude, unique teaching abilities, and passion for the art and science of emergency medical services. He has served as chairperson of the Governor’s EMS and Trauma Advisory Council for the State of Texas for nine years and has been actively involved in the evolution of EMS throughout the nation. In the late 1990s, he and his colleagues helped develop Regional EMS Training Centers throughout the former Soviet Union. He has also been involved in many national initiatives to improve overall morbidity and mortality through effective development of clinically sophisticated EMS systems.
Dr. Racht is best known for his tireless efforts to develop true partnerships throughout the emergency health care spectrum. The Austin/Travis County EMS System was noted to be an example of effective collaboration in the Institute of Medicine report “Emergency Medical Services at the Crossroads.”
Arlo F. Weltge, MD, FACEP
Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Attending Emergency Physician, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, TX
ACEP Council Vice-Speaker
Dr. Arlo F. Weltge is one of the pioneer emergency physicians in Texas. He served as president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, with multiple other positions in TCEP and the Texas Medical Association. He has tirelessly taught and advocated on behalf of EMS in the Houston area, and was selected to establish an emergency medicine residency program at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He co-founded the Houston Society of Emergency Medicine in 1986, and established emergency medicine as a recognized specialty in the Texas Medical Association.
Dr. Weltge has received many awards associated with emergency medicine, including the “ACEP Council Meritorious Service Award” in 2004. He has chaired several ACEP committees, including the Finance Committee. Dr. Weltge is currently vice-speaker of the ACEP Council. He is well-known and respected as an outstanding teacher of medical students and residents and as an ethical and excellent emergency physician by his peers and other physicians throughout the state.
James M. Williams, MS, DO
Staff Emergency Medicine Physician, Methodist Healthcare System; Former Medical Director, Emergency Department, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital; Chief of Staff, Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital, San Antonio, Texas
Dr. James M. Williams’ passions are quality improvement, process improvement and resuscitation. Throughout Methodist Healthcare System’s five hospitals, the committees on which Dr. Williams has served have instituted proactive initiatives that significantly benefit patients, including the implementation of a Rapid Response Team (RRT). During the RRT’s first year, code survival increased from 13 percent to 53 percent, while survival to discharge increased from 8 percent to 28 percent.
Dr. Williams is active in Texas ACEP and national ACEP. He has served as an ACEP councillor since 2003 and a TCEP board member since 2004. He currently serves as TCEP secretary and on ACEP’s Public Relations Committee. Dr. Williams was recently elected to the board of Bexar County Medical Society. He is a previous co-chair of Methodist Healthcare System’s Quality Improvement Committee and is chairman of Methodist’s Resuscitation Committee. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including “Physician of the Year” from Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital.
