May 16, 2019
The Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF) elected Houston and Austin-area physicians and a Fort Worth civic leader as its new officers to lead the foundation’s board for the next two years. They were elected on Thursday during TMA’s annual conference, TexMed, in Dallas. TMAF is the philanthropic arm of the Texas Medical Association (TMA), the nation’s largest state medical society.
TMAF supports statewide and local initiatives that focus on disease prevention and healthier lifestyles, and increasing access to health care. Long-standing programs the foundation funds include TMA’s Be Wise – ImmunizeSM, a program to provide vaccinations and increase vaccine awareness, and Hard Hats for Little Heads bicycle helmet giveaway program for Texas youth. TMA Foundation also supports other health improvement programs such as Walk With a Doc Texas, part of an international grassroots movement devoted to encouraging healthy physical activity and strengthening patient-physician relationships, and programs to grow the physician workforce.
Susan M. Pike, MD, a plastic and cosmetic surgeon based in Round Rock, was elected president. Previously vice president of the TMAF Board of Trustees, she has been a member of the board since 2012. She and her husband Harry Papaconstantinou, MD, are Major Donors at TMAF and past TMAF gala co-chairs.
“All Texans deserve access to quality care,” said Dr. Pike. “TMA and the TMA Foundation do a great service in fulfilling that mission, and I am honored to continue striving for a healthier Texas as the foundation’s new president.”
Dr. Pike chaired TMA’s Committee on Financial and Organizational Affairs, and is a former executive committee member of TMA’s Young Physician Section and represented the section in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates. Dr. Pike currently serves on the governing council of AMA’s Integrated Physician Practice Section. She also chaired TMA’s Patient-Physician Advocacy Committee and is a past president and member of the Williamson County Medical Society. She serves as chair of the credentialing committee, is a member of the medical executive committee, and director of the Plastic Surgery Section at Baylor Scott & White in Round Rock. Dr. Pike is still an active host of Walk With a Doc Texas events, which she helped launch eight years ago with TMA.
Dr. Pike is active in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American College of Surgeons, and the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons. She is a graduate of the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Illinois.
Michael E. Speer, MD, a neonatologist in Houston, was elected vice president. He just completed a two-year term as the foundation’s treasurer. He is a TMA past president, and a member of the TMAF Leadership Society. Dr. Speer is the medical director of the Mother-Baby Unit at Texas Children’s Hospital and a member of the Harris County Medical Society. He earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and is a professor of pediatrics and ethics at the college.
Angela Donahue of Fort Worth was elected secretary. She currently serves as an advisor on the TMA Alliance’s (TMAA’s) Board of Directors and is a TMAA past president. Ms. Donahue helped raise $250,000 for Be Wise – Immunize, Hard Hats for Little Heads, the TMA Minority (medical school) Scholarship Program, and other health projects as the 2010 TMA Foundation gala co-chair. She is also a member and past president of the Tarrant County Medical Society Alliance. Ms. Donahue graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. She is married to TMA physician member David J. Donahue, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon.
Gregory R. Johnson, MD, a hospitalist and family physician in Houston, was elected treasurer. In addition to serving on TMAF’s Board of Trustees, he is a member of the foundation’s Leadership Society. He is a former member of the TMA Board of Councilors ethical policymaking body. A former TMA Leadership College scholar, he also mentored later participants. He also chaired TMA’s Young Physician Section and Medical Student Section, and served on TMA’s Council on Legislation.
Dr. Johnson is the national chief medical officer of hospital medicine for Sound Physicians and medical director of the Clinical Decision Unit at Memorial Hermann Hospital-Southwest. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and American Academy of Family Physicians, and a senior fellow of hospital medicine designated by the Society of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Johnson is a member and past president of the Brazoria County Medical Society, where he remains on the board of censors. He earned his medical degree from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Shannon Hancher-Hodges, MD, a Houston anesthesiologist, was elected executive committee member-at-large and will serve a one-year term. She serves on the TMA Foundation’s Board of Trustees and is a member of the foundation’s Leadership Society. Dr. Hancher-Hodges also is a member of the TMA Patient-Physician Advocacy Committee and a graduate of the TMA Leadership College.
She is an assistant professor and assistant medical director for acute pain medicine at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Department. Dr. Hancher-Hodges is a member of the Harris County Medical Society. She earned her medical degree from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing nearly 53,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
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Contact: Brent Annear (512) 370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org
Marcus Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512) 650-5336; email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
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