Olveen Carrasquillo, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Carrasquillo is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and is co-director of the General Medicine Fellowship Program. His areas of research include minority health, health insurance, access to care, and managed care issues. He has obtained grants from the National Institute of Aging to examine access to care among Latino elders and is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar. Dr. Carrasquillo is frequently appears in Latino media to discuss health issues relevant to the Hispanic community, and continues to practice part-time in the predominantly Latino community of Washington Heights in New York City. He obtained his MD from the New York University School of Medicine, and received his MPH from Harvard School of Public Health.
Claudia Fegan, M.D. — Immediate Past-President, PNHP
Dr. Claudia M. Fegan is a board certified internist who trained at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. She subsequently served as the medical director for Michael Reese after becoming board certified in quality assurance, risk management, and utilization review. Dr. Fegan left her successful private practice of 15 years to join the Cook County Bureau of Health Services in August of 2000. She currently serves as medical director for Fantus Health Center, a huge primary care clinic with more than 300,000 patient visits in 2004, part of the Ambulatory and Community Health Network of the Bureau. Dr. Fegan is the immediate past-president of Physicians for a National Health Program. She speaks extensively in this country and Canada about the impact of corporatization on the delivery of health care and the need for universal health care. She collaborated with Canadians Hugh and Pat Armstrong on Universal Healthcare: What the United States Can Learn From the Canadian Experience, published by the New Press in 1998.
Oliver Fein, M.D. — Chair, PNHP New York Metro Chapter
Dr. Oliver Fein is professor of clinical medicine and clinical public health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, where he serves as Associate Dean for Affiliations. Much of his work has focused on health system delivery reform. He was Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow during 1993-1994, where he worked as a legislative assistant for the Senate Democratic Majority Leader, George Mitchell. Dr. Fein has been concerned with access to health care for vulnerable populations and the role of the academic health center. He spent 17 years at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center developing ambulatory care practices. He is chair of the New York Metro Chapter of PNHP and immediate past-chair of the medical care section of the American Public Health Association.
John P. Geyman, M.D.
Dr. Geyman is Professor Emeritus in Family Medicine at the University Of Washington in Seattle. For his contributions to medicine, he has been the recipient of many awards, including the Thomas W. Johnson award for contributions in family practice education and most recently, Alumnus of the Year at the University of San Francisco, School of Medicine. He has also written numerous books on family practice medicine and the health care system including Falling Through the Safety Net: Americans Without Health Insurance (Common Courage Press, 2004) and Shredding the Social Contract: The Privatization of Medicare (Common Courage Press, 2006).
David Himmelstein, M.D. — Harvard Medical School, co-founder, PNHP
Dr. Himmelstein practices and teaches primary care internal medicine at the Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard. He was a co-founder of PNHP and one of two National Coordinators for the first five years of the organization. Dr. Himmelstein co-authored PNHP’s original proposal, its long-term care proposal, and its proposal for financing a national health program. He recently co-founded the Center for National Health Program Studies at Harvard. His research focuses on problems in access to care, administrative waste, health care financing, and the advantages of a national health program. He is the co-editor of the PNHP newsletter and the PNHP slide presentation, and is a frequent speaker to the public and the profession.
Don McCanne, M.D. — Senior Health Policy Fellow, PNHP, and author, “Health Policy Quote of the Day”
Dr. Don McCanne is a retired family physician in San Clemente, CA. For decades, Dr. McCanne allotted half of his practice hours to indigent patients, and he was cited by the San Clemente City Council as being “…outspoken, especially when it involves the elderly and under-privileged, because he believes that the ability to pay should not be the major criterion for receiving healthcare.” Dr. McCanne is a tireless supporter of single-payer and has spoken and written extensively on the uninsured, health care costs, and health care policy. He authors a popular health policy “Health Policy Quote of the Day” that is archived on the PNHP web site at www.pnhp.org
Deb Richter, M.D. — Founder, Vermont Health Care for All
Dr. Richter is a family practitioner in Montpelier, Vermont. A former President of PNHP, she is currently involved with Vermont Health Care for All (www.vthca.org), and is an outspoken advocate and coalition-builder for universal access to health care. She frequently appears in print, TV and radio to advocate for single-payer issues. Her years of experience caring for the uninsured and extensive knowledge of the Canadian health system make her an outstanding spokesperson, being described as “a force of nature” for her tremendous energy and organizing ability.
Gordon Schiff, M.D. — Past-President, PNHP
Dr. Gordy Schiff is a senior attending physician in the general medicine clinic at Cook County (Stroger) Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Rush Medical College. He is active in the American Public Health Association, the Society for General Internal Medicine, Dr. Schiff was part of the writing committee of PNHP’s original proposal in the New England Journal of Medicine. He was the lead author of PNHP’s proposal on quality assurance, “A Better Quality Alternative: Single Payer NHI Reform” (JAMA, 1994). Dr. Schiff’s major interests are in quality, prescription drug costs and safety, and medical malpractice, and he is a frequent speaker to student, medical, and grassroots audiences. He was selected by Modern Healthcare as one of the top 30 future leaders in healthcare, and was awarded the Insititute of Safe Medicine Practices (ISMP) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., MPH — Co-Founder, PNHP
Dr. Steffie Woolhandler is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and co-director of the Harvard Medical School general internal medicine fellowship program. She received a B.A. degree from Stanford University and an M.D. degree from Louisiana State University. Dr. Woolhandler completed her residency at Cambridge City Hospital. She worked in 1990-1991 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health policy fellow at the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. Congress. Dr. Woolhandler is a frequent speaker and has written extensively on health policy, administrative overhead, and the uninsured. A co-founder of PNHP and current board member, she co-edits PNHP’s newsletter and is a principal author of PNHP articles published in the JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Woolhandler is also co-author of the PNHP slideshow.
Quentin Young, M.D. — National Coordinator, PNHP
Dr. Quentin Young is an internist in private practice in Hyde Park, Chicago, and has served as the volunteer national coordinator of PNHP for over a decade. He graduated from Northwestern Medical School and completed his residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. During the 1970s and early 1980s, he was chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Cook County, where he helped establish the Department of Occupational Medicine. In addition to his distinguished career as a physician, Dr. Young has been a leader in publish health policy and medical/social justice issues. He served for many years on the Health and Public Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians. In 1997, he was inducted as master of the American College of Physicians, and in 1998 was elected president of the American Public Health Association. He may be reached in the PNHP national office on Tuesday and Thursdays at 312-782-6006.