Fighting for Reform of the Health Care System Is the Right Thing to Do for our Patients

Chicago – The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) today announced that Angela Gardner, MD, FACEP, an emergency physician from Galveston, Texas, was elected president-elect during the organization’s annual meeting and 40th anniversary celebration in Chicago.  Dr. Gardner was elected by ACEP’s Council to serve a one-year term and will assume ACEP’s presidency at next year’s meeting in Boston.   She will become the third woman to lead the 27,000 member medical organization.

Dr. Gardner played a key role in the passage of medical liability reform in her home state of Texas and sees tort reform as a crucial goal on the national level.

“Medical liability reform is not something the average patient sees as anything to do with themselves or their family,” said Dr. Gardner.  “But that has to change.  The issue is really about preserving patients’ access to quality emergency care.  If steps aren’t taken on a national level to further protect emergency physicians and specialists in the emergency department, emergency department doors will close and that would be a catastrophe for medical care in this country.” 

Dr. Gardner has served in numerous leadership capacities with ACEP on a national level and in the Texas chapter of ACEP.  She served on the ACEP Board of Directors for six years prior to her election as president-elect, and served as vice president of the ACEP Board of Directors this past year.  Dr. Gardner served in all chapter offices for Texas ACEP, including as president of the chapter in 2003. 

Dr. Gardner was chair of National Report Card Task Force in 2006, when ACEP presented the first-ever state-by-state look at the support for emergency medical services across the nation.  She is the Board’s liaison to the next Report Card, which will be released in December this year.

An active and energetic spokesperson on behalf of emergency medicine, Dr. Gardner is the author of “Gardner’s Gate,” a personal journal of her thoughts on emergency medicine issues which has been continually updated on ACEP.org since its first entry in 2006.  Recent entries have focused on the devastating consequences for her home Texas Gulf Coast area following hurricane “Ike” in September.

Dr. Gardner earned her medical degree at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas and completed her residency in emergency medicine at the Texas Tech Regional Academic Health Center in El Paso. 

ACEP is a national medical specialty society representing emergency medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies.

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