GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — Each year, AMDA – the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine honors leaders who follow in the footsteps of its founding fathers. This year, the William Dodd Founder’s Award went to Paul Katz, MD, CMD, and the James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education went to Jeffery Burl, MD, CMD. Dr. Katz is chair of the Department of Geriatrics at Florida State University’s College of Medicine. Prior to that, he was vice president of medical services and chief of staff at the Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System and a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. During his work in Toronto, he helped lead the way to increase the Society’s international presence. Dr. Katz has been a Society member for about 30 years, as he mentioned when he accepted his award. He is a popular presenter, a prolific author, and he is often quoted on a variety of clinical, management, and industry topics. He has served on the Society’s Board of Directors as president, and more recently he led the Foundation Board as chair. In both these roles he was praised for providing exemplary leadership and playing a strong role in strategic planning. In recent years, his work in co-chairing the Competencies Curriculum has supported the organization’s mission and vision of including all practitioners who work in the post-acute space. “I’ve worked with compassionate and visionary leaders, and I have no doubt that our Society has never been in a better position to take on the challenges of ensuring the very best care for our patients and residents,” he said. “I look forward to many more years of long phone calls and weekend retreats,” he joked. Dr. Burl is a physician with the Reliant Medical Group (formerly the Fallon Clinic) in Worcester, MA, where he is known as a “go-to guy” who believes in innovation and education, and dives into every challenge and every opportunity with commitment, energy, and expertise. He also has held many positions in the Society over the years. He has worked on the Board of Directors as secretary and as state chapter board representative. He has been a faculty member for the Core Curriculum since 2004 and served as chair from 2011 to 2014. He’s been on the finance, education, and program committees. He is a popular presenter at Society annual conferences, has published in JAMDA, and has presented webinars for the Society. Alice Bonner, RN, PhD, accepted the award on Dr. Burl’s behalf. “It’s special for me to have been asked to accept this award on his behalf because I was the first geriatric nurse practitioner — the first of many — to be welcomed into his practice, to be mentored and coached, by Jeff’s kind and patient teaching,” Dr. Bonner said. “And in 20 years of collaboration, he was the best teacher of geriatric principles and long-term care foundations that I ever had. l wish he were here today because I know how much this award means to him; it’s only the third annual conference in 25 years that Dr. Burl hasn’t been able to attend,” she said. Dr. Burl had prepared remarks, which Dr. Bonner shared with the audience: “I’m truly honored to be chosen as this year’s recipient of the Pattee Award. When I was asked in which capacity I contributed the most, I unequivocally and wholeheartedly cite my 20 years as faculty in the Core Curriculum. This has given me the most professional satisfaction in my many years as clinician and mentor.” Senior contributing writer Joanne Kaldy is a freelance writer in Harrisburg, PA.
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Feb 1, 2019
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