AMDA names new officers, board members

AMDA—The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine has announced its 2015–2016 officers and board members.

“We are very fortunate to have such an excellent group of experienced, passionate and visionary leaders to move our organization forward in an evolving healthcare landscape in which we are confronted with unprecedented challenges and opportunities,” AMDA Executive Director Christopher Laxton, CAE, said in a statement.

Naushira Pandya, MD, FACP, CMD, is the 2015–2016 AMDA board president.

Pandya is a professor and chair of the Department of Geriatrics at Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine, Davie, Fla. She earned her medical degree at the University of London and completed her internal medicine residency at Maricopa Medical Center, Phoenix, and her fellowship in geriatrics and endocrinology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is board-certified in internal medicine, geriatrics and endocrinology. Active in her state chapter, the Florida Medical Directors Association, Pandya recently served on a panel of experts at a White House Conference on Aging regional forum in Tampa.

She has served in numerous leadership positions during her 15 years in AMDA, including chairing the organization’s Clinical Practice Guideline Steering and Clinical Practice committees. At the organization’s annual meeting in March, she called on attendees to work with her to raise the bar of quality care provided to post-acute and long-term care (PA/LTC) patients and residents. “I think we do well in PA/LTC medicine but could do even better with improving the care experience,” she said. “We can do so by communication with patients and families, timely assessment when patients decline, focusing on medication safety and appropriate use, interprofessional team-based care and discussion of goals of care.”

Other members of the 2015–2016 AMDA Board of Directors:

• President-elect: Susan M. Levy, MD, CMD, AGSF, Bethany Beach, Del.
• Vice president: Heidi K. White, MD, MHS, MEd, CMD, Durham, N.C.
• Immediate past president: Leonard Gelman, MD, CMD, Ballston Spa, N.Y.
• Chair, House of Delegates: Milta O. Little, DO, CMD, St. Louis
• Secretary: Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD, Levittown, Pa.
• Treasurer: Arif Nazir, MD, CMD, Indianapolis

State Presidents Council representatives to the board:

• Thomas Lehner, MD, CMD, Cleveland
• Meenakshi Patel, MD, CMD, FACP, MMM, CMD, Centerville, Ohio
• Karl Steinberg, MD, CMD, Oceanside, Calif.

Board representatives—House of Delegates:

• Michele Bellantoni, MD, CMD, Baltimore
• Kevin W. O’Neil, MD, CMD, Sarasota, Fla.
• Sabine von Preyss-Friedman, MD, CMD, Seattle

Lois Bowers

Lois A. Bowers was senior editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living from 2013-2015.