PNHP

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New York Information

Contact Information

PNHP-New York Metro
Address: 131 W. 33rd St., 4th floor, New York, NY 10001
Phone: (646) 866-7671
Website: pnhpnymetro.org
Email: info@pnhpnymetro.org

Capital District (NY) Chapter
Email: pnhpcapitaldistrict@gmail.com

Finger Lakes Chapter
Email: PNHPRochester@aol.com

PNHP of Central New York
Contact: Jen Muniak
Email: jennifer.muniak@gmail.com

Single Payer New York
Website: singlepayernewyork.org
Email: singlepayernewyork@gmail.com

Media Contacts

Andrew D. Coates, M.D., F.A.C.P.
(518) 475-4257
esquincle@verizon.net

Dr. Andy Coates is president of Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Coates is chief of hospital medicine at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, New York, and an assistant professor of medicine and psychiatry at Albany Medical College. Board certified in internal medicine as well as hospice and palliative care medicine, Dr. Coates graduated from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Coates is a co-founder of the Capital District chapter of PNHP and founder of Single Payer New York. He previously served on the statewide executive board of the Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO. He provides commentary on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Oliver Fein, M.D.
(212) 746-4030
ofein@med.cornell.edu

Dr. Fein is a past president of PNHP. A general internist who is active in clinical practice, he is also professor of clinical medicine and clinical public health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, where he serves as associate dean responsible for the Office of Affiliations and the Office of Global Health Education. Dr. Fein has advocated for an expanded role for primary care, for academic health centers in urban health care delivery systems, and for national health system reform. He was Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow during 1993-1994, when he worked in the office of Senate Democratic Majority Leader George Mitchell. He spent 17 years at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center developing community-based ambulatory care practices and the Division of General Medicine. He is chair of the NY Chapter of PNHP and immediate past vice president of the American Public Health Association.

Mary O’Brien, M.D.
(212) 854-9842
meo1@columbia.edu

Dr. O’Brien graduated from Harvard Medical School, trained at Columbia Presbyterian in internal medicine, and is double boarded in Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine. Dr. O’Brien has practiced medicine in NYC for the past 30 years and is on the faculty at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. O’Brien is on the board of NY Metro chapter of PNHP and chairs the Media/Communications Committee. She has co-edited “10 Excellent Reasons for National Health Care,” a small pocket book which will be out in late July early August, 2008

Laura S. Boylan, M.D.
(212) 263-3029
laura.boylan@med.nyu.edu

Dr. Laura S. Boylan is member of Physicians for a National Health Program, a non-profit research and education organization of 17,000 physicians, medical students and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at New York University School of Medicine and practices at the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and in Pennsylvania. She completed her medical training at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.

Elizabeth Rosenthal, M.D.
(914) 834-3025 – home
(914) 552-4042 – mobile
betsyr@optonline.net

Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal is a retired dermatologist residing in Westchester County, where she practiced from 1976 until 2011. She also served on the volunteer faculty of Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1974 to 2018, where she supervised residents and students in the pediatric dermatology clinic. Dr. Rosenthal comes from a family of doctors and graduated from NYU Medical School. She completed her postgraduate training in Syracuse, Detroit, and Boston. Dr. Rosenthal is a member of the executive committee of the New York Metro chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.

David Himmelstein, M.D.
(617) 665-1032

Dr. David Himmelstein is professor in the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, adjunct clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He has served as chief of the division of social and community medicine at Cambridge Hospital.

Dr. Himmelstein has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal articles and three books, including widely cited studies of medical bankruptcy and the high administrative costs of the U.S. health care system. His 1984 study of patient dumping led to the enactment of EMTALA, the law that banned that practice.

A co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, Dr. Himmelstein co-edits PNHP’s newsletter and is a principal author of PNHP articles published in the JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine in conjunction with Dr. Steffie Woolhandler.

Dr. Himmelstein received his medical degree from Columbia University and completed internal medicine training at Highland Hospital/University of California San Francisco and a fellowship in general internal medicine at Harvard.

Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., MPH
(617) 665-1032
swoolhandler@challiance.org

Dr. Steffie Woolhandler is a practicing primary care physician, professor in the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College, adjunct clinical professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School, where she co-directed the general internal medicine fellowship program and practiced primary care internal medicine at Cambridge Hospital.

Dr. Woolhandler earned her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University; her medical degree from Louisiana State University; and her master’s degree from the University of California. 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. She has authored more than 150 journal articles, reviews, chapters, and books on health policy. A co-founder and board member of Physicians for a National Health Program, Dr. Woolhandler co-edits PNHP’s newsletter and is a principal author of PNHP articles published in the JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine in conjunction with Dr. David Himmelstein.

State Organizations Endorsing HR676

  • Ithaca, NY
  • Cortland County legislature, NY
  • Ulster County, NY

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • New York Professional Nurses Union, New York, NY
  • Troy Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Troy, NY
  • United University Professions, Local 2190 AFT, New York State United Teachers, Albany, NY
  • Local 21 NABET/CWA, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET)/Communications Workers of America (CWA), Albany, NY
  • 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, MD, DC, NY State, MANew York, NY
  • PEF/encon Albany Steward Council (Public Employees Federation/encon) representing Professional, Scientific and Technical employees at the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
  • Local 1000, American Federation of Musicians (AFM), New York, NY
  • Local 524, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE), Glens Falls-Saratoga, NY
  • Albany Central Federation of Labor, Albany, NY
  • Solidarity Committee of the Capital District, Albany NY
  • Organization of Staff Analysts (OSA/RT), New York, NY
  • District Council 37, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)New York City, NY
  • Theatrical Protective Union (TPU) Local One, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE), New York City, Westchester and Putnam Counties
  • Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation, Newburgh, NY
  • Lodge 1145, IAM, Selkirk and DeWitt, NY
  • Local 2334, AFT, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY, New York City, NY
  • Local 1549, AFSCME, representing 19,000 clerical and administrative workers for the City ofNew York
  • Local 1180, Communications Workers of America (CWA), New York, NY
  • Retirees Association of District Council 37, AFSCME, New York, NY
  • CIRSU, New York, NY
  • Greater Glens Falls Central Labor Council, Glens Falls, NYWarren, Washington, Hamilton, and Northern Saratoga Counties
  • Central New York Labor Council, Utica, NY
  • Rochester and Vicinity Labor Council, Rochester, NY
  • Rochester and Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation
  • Transit Workers Union Local 264 (TWU)
  • New York State Nurses Association
  • Northeast Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, Plattsburgh, NY
  • Capital District (NY) Area Labor Federation
  • AFM Local 802, Association of Musicians of Greater New York
  • International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council #4

New Jersey Information

Contact Information

Email us for information on local activists.

Media Contacts

Alan L. Kenwood, MD, FACEP

Dr. Alan Kenwood has been a practicing emergency physician for over 30 years. More than any other specialists, emergency medicine physicians see the faults of our health care system.  Prior to becoming an emergency physician, he served in the US Army Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As a member of PNHP-NJ Dr. Kenwood has spoken all over the state about the benefits of single payer healthcare.

William Thar, MD, MPH
908-693-3426
wethar@gmail.com

Dr. Thar is a physician who has experience in many sectors of health care. A graduate of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, he did his residency at the University of Michigan, where he also received his MPH in Health Care Administration and Epidemiology. He has operated a private primary care practice, been the Medical Director of rural public health programs, directed epidemiology programs at a major U.S. corporation, where he also provided medical consultation to their health care benefits programs, and was a developer and Medical Director of a health care management company before his retirement. Dr. Thar has seen the fragmented, expensive, and highly variable care provided in the United States and is committed to the development of a National Health Program based on HR 676 that can serve all of the people of the United States.

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • Local 825, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), River Edge, NJ
  • Bergen County Central Trades & Labor Council, Paramus, NJ
  • Retirees Council, Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Paramus, NJ
  • Local 1L, Amalgamated Lithographers of America, Graphic Communications Conference/International Brother of Teamsters (GCC/IBT Local 1L), New Jersey
  • Mercer County Central Labor Council, Mercer County, NJ
  • Burlington County Central Labor Union, Riverside, NJ
  • Essex-West Hudson Labor Council AFL-CIO, Newark, NJ
  • Local 9, Plumbers and Pipefitters, UA, Englishtown, NJ
  • Passaic County Labor Council
  • Hudson County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO, Jersey City, NJ
  • Middlesex County AFL-CIO Labor Council, North Brunswick, NJ
  • New Jersey State Industrial Union Council

Pennsylvania Information

Contact Information

Philadelphia Area Committee to Defend Health Care
Website: http://phillyhealth.blogspot.com/

Media Contacts

Walter Tsou, M.D., M.P.H.
(215) 242-6272
macman2@aol.com

Dr. Tsou is a nationally known consultant on public health and health care reform. Currently, he is on the visiting faculty of the University of Pennsylvania. He was President of the American Public Health Association in 2005. He served as Health Commissioner of Philadelphia from April 2000 to February 2002. Prior to his appointment, he was the founding Deputy Director for Personal Health Services and Medical Director of the Montgomery County (PA) Health Department from 1991-2000. Before 1991, he was the Clinical Director in the Division of Ambulatory Health Services for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. He has extensive experience in public health and has lectured widely on public health and health disparities.

He is a founding member of the National Board of Public Health Examiners and the national board of Physicians for a National Health Program. His medical degree is from the University of Pennsylvania; his MPH is from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and he has an honorary Doctorate in Medical Sciences from Drexel University.

Judith Albert, M.D.
info@pnhp.org

Dr. Judy Albert is a reproductive endocrinologist and medical director at Reproductive Health Specialists. She is also clinical assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a leader of Physicians for a National Health Program’s Pittsburgh chapter.

Dr. Albert received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, completed her residency training in OB/GYN at Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and her fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Albert’s experience includes practicing and teaching at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Magee-Womens Hospital, where she served as medical director of the in vitro fertilization program and as a medical executive committee member). She is currently involved in several research projects investigating patient fertility evaluation.

In addition to membership with the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Albert is a member of the Society of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (SART) validation committee. She holds current board certifications in both OB/GYN and REI.

Dr. Albert and several other physicians chartered the new Pittsburgh chapter of PNHP in 2017 and also attended the PNHP Leadership Training Institute in Atlanta in the same year. She participated in numerous forums and presentations in 2018.

Tim Lachman, M.D.
(267) 294-1287
tim.lachman@tuhs.temple.edu

Dr. Lachman graduated from Antioch College with a BA in Philosophy in 1963. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine from 1963 to 1967, he interned at Pennsylvania Hospital. He was selected for the US Public Health Service, and was stationed for two years on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. He was a neurology resident at the Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital from 1970 until 1973 and a fellow in clinical neurophysiology at the Mass General Hospital from 1973 until 1975.

In 1975, he joined a private practice in the Philadelphia area. He joined the neurology faculty at Hahnemann University from 1978 to 1982, when he returned to solo private practice at Lankenau Hospital. In December, 2006 he became a full-time faculty member in the Department of Neurology at Temple University School of Medicine.

Scott Tyson, M.D.
(412) 5617541
styson@pediatricssouth.com

Dr. Scott Tyson, is the CEO of Pediatrics South. He received his training at Columbia University, and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Tyson completed his residency at Bellevue/Upstate and is board qualified.

William R. Davidson, Jr., M.D.
(717) 867-2492
billdavidsonjr@comcast.net

Dr. Davidson is a board certified Cardiologist who has been practicing in central Pennsylvania for nearly 30 years. After 8 years of undergraduate and medical training at the University of Virginia, he completed an Internship and Medical Residency in Baltimore. Prior to his Fellowship in Cardiology at the Hershey Medical Center, Dr. Davidson spent 3 years doing “whatever was needed” at a general hospital in rural Tanzania. The immediate past-president of the Good Samaritan Hospital, Dr. Davidson spends a lot of his spare time writing newspaper articles and giving lectures promoting Single-Payer healthcare reform.

Thomas R. Comerci, M.D.
732.221.5348
trcomerci@verizon.net

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State Organizations Endorsing HR676

  • Allegheny County Council, PA
  • Erie, PA
  • Wilkinsburg, PA
  • Chester County Pennsylvania Democratic Committee

 

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • AFGE Local 2028, Pittsburgh, PA
  • United Electrical Workers Local 506, Erie, PA
  • Independent State Store Union, Harrisburg, PA
  • United Electrical Workers (UE)
  • National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 84, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Allegheny County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), Chapter 20-20, Aliquippa, PA
  • Beaver-Lawrence Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Beaver, PA
  • Pittsburgh Airman Lodge 1044, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), Pittsburgh, PA
  • Greater Westmoreland County Labor Council, Greensburg, PA
  • Butler County United Labor Council, Butler, PA
  • Pittsburgh Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Pittsburgh, PA
  • Philadelphia Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Philadelphia, PA
  • Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, State Convention, April 6, 2006.
  • District 1199P, SEIU, Harrisburg, PA
  • Local 544, United Auto Workers (UAW), Fisher Body, West Mifflin, PA
  • Local 668, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Harrisburg, PA
  • Local 3, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Pittsburgh, PA
  • Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council
  • United Labor Council of Reading & Berks County
  • Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP)

Delaware Information

Contact Information

Coming soon

State Organizations Endorsing HR676

  • Wilmington, DE
  • Peace, Living Wage, Universal Health Care Coalition (Wilmington, DE)

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • Local Union 1183, United Automobile Workers, Newark, DE
  • Delaware State AFL-CIO, Newark, DE, endorsed August 2006

Maryland Information

Contact Information

Maryland PNHP
Website: md.pnhp.org
E-mail: hchrmaryland@gmail.com

Health Care is a Human Right Maryland
Website: hchrmd.org
E-mail: brittany@hchrmd.org

Media Contacts

Eric Naumburg, M.D., M.P.H.
(443) 562-6562
HCHRMaryland@gmail.com

Dr. Eric Naumburg is co-chair of the Maryland chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program and works as an advocate for a national single-payer health care system. For more than a decade he taught pediatrics at the University of Maryland Medical School. He remains a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics. He obtained his medical degree from Mt. Sinai Medical School in New York City and his masters in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. He is on the steering committee of Healthcare is a Human Right Maryland, which he help found.

Margaret Flowers, M.D.
(312) 782-6006
mdpnhp@gmail.com

Dr. Flowers is a Maryland pediatrician with experience as a hospitalist at a rural hospital and in private practice. She is currently working on single-payer health care reform full-time. In addition to her activity as co-chair of the Maryland chapter and national board advisor for PNHP, Dr. Flowers is on the board of Healthcare-Now! and on the steering committee of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care. Dr. Flowers obtained her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and did her residency at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Deborah Schumann, M.D.
(301) 229-6084
dschumannmd@gmail.com

Dr. Schumann received a B.A. in chemistry from Smith College and an M.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. After internship and residency she practiced ophthalmology for 25 years in various practice settings including private, group, Kaiser Permanente and volunteer positions. She has been a member of PNHP since its founding in 1987 and since retiring from practice she has been an active advocate for reform of the U.S. health care system. Currently, Dr. Schumann is active in Health Care NOW of Maryland as well as Physicians for a National Health Program. She is a multi-instrumentalist musician and lives in Bethesda with her coonhound Ellie.

State Organizations Endorsing HR676

  • Baltimore, MD

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • Western Maryland Central Labor Council
  • SEIU 32 BJ (Baltimore)
  • GCC-1 Brotherhood of Teamsters (Baltimore)
  • International Organizations of Masters, Mates, and Pilots, (Linthicum)
  • United Steelworkers, Local 8-116 S (Baltimore)
  • Baltimore Filbey Area Local of American Postal Workers Union (Baltimore)
  • UNITE — Here, Mid Atlantic, Baltimore City Branch, NAACP, International Association of Machinists (Upper Marlboro)
  • AFSCME Local 1535 (Baltimore)
  • United Transportation Union (Frostburg)
  • IBEW (Cockeysville)

Washington, D.C. Information

Contact Information

Washington, D.C. Chapter Chair: Dr. Robert Zarr

Media Contacts

Robert Zarr, M.D.
(202) 550-1740
rlzarr@yahoo.com

Dr. Robert Zarr is a board-certified pediatrician at Unity Health Care in Washington, DC, where he cares for a low-income and immigrant population. He is president of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Dr. Zarr is a past president of the DC Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and he holds adjunct professorships at Children’s National Medical Center and George Washington University. He also co-directs the Washington, DC chapter of PNHP. He is “physician champion” of DC Park Rx, a community health initiative to prescribe nature to patients and families and encourage time in one of 350 parks and green spaces in Washington, DC.

Dr. Zarr is fluent and literate in Spanish and has worked in the U.S. and abroad with Spanish-speaking populations. He is active in Washington, DC, in a variety of quality improvement initiatives including asthma management, injury prevention, literacy promotion, breastfeeding awareness, youth advocacy, tuberculosis prevention, and compliance with early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment standards.

Dr. Zarr received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his pediatric residency at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. He also has a master’s degree in public health, specializing in international health, from the University of Texas School of Public Health.

Harvey Fernbach, M.D.
(301) 345-1919
hfernbachmd@aol.com

Dr. Fernbach is a board certified Psychiatrist. He recieved his training at Yale University, and the State University of New York. He was a Clinical Associate at the National Institute of Mental Health and serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Psychiatric Society.

David Rabin, M.D.
(202) 687-1608
Rabind@georgetown.edu

David Rabin is a Research Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown University. He also directs the Division of Community Health Care Studies activities in Community Medicine and Public Health Research, including studies on long-term care, etiology of chronic diseases, prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, he has been prominently involved in the development of a multi-disciplinary Global Health Education Program at GU. He received his education at Washington University and at Harvard.

E. James Lieberman, MD
(301) 983-1237
ejl@gwu.edu

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, George Washington University School of Medicine, retired from private practice in Washington, DC, 2006. Commander (Ret.) USPHS; served 7 years at NIMH; last postion: Chief. Center for Child and Family Mental Health. Former Board Member, National Council on Family Relations. Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association. Fellow, American Public Health Association. Active in patients’ rights issues in family planning, sex education, and end-of-life care. Editor, Mental Health: The Public Health Challenge (APHA); co-author Like It Is: A Teen Sex Guide.

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • Coalition of Labor Union Women, Washington, DC
  • Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
  • National Education Association (NEA), July 2006
  • National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), International Union, Washington, DC
  • Committee of Presidents, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Washington, DC

Ohio Information

Contact Information

PNHP Ohio
Dr. Johnathon Ross: drjohnross@ameritech.net

Single-Payer Action Network, Ohio
Website: http://www.spanohio.org
E-mail: span@spanohio.org

Media Contacts

Johnathon Ross, M.D., MPH
(419) 536-3879
drjohnross@ameritech.net

Dr. Johnathon Ross is a past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, a national health reform group with over 17,000 members (PNHP). He is a graduate of Cornell University and received his medical degree in 1975 from the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo. In addition to his medical degree, he has a master’s degree in health policy and administration from the School of Public Health of the University of Michigan. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Toledo and currently practices and teaches general internal medicine at St Vincent Mercy Medical Center, a 500 bed center city teaching hospital in Toledo, Ohio. He has served as a family physician in a small rural community in upstate New York as a member of the National Health Service Corps. He has served as medical director for several organizations including: a local industrial medicine concern, the local visiting nurse service, a charitable HMO established by his Catholic hospital system and currently a center city adult medical clinic. He has served as chairman of the department of Internal Medicine at St. Vincent. He has been a member of the executive committee of medical staff of St Vincent, a board member of its PHO, and as chairman of several committees of the hospital, the HMO and the PHO focused on quality improvement. He has served as a member of the Ohio State Medical Board and helped to establish the educational requirements and scope of practice for licensed physician assistants in Ohio. His experience inside the health insurance industry convinced him of the logic and need for a national health insurance program.

Alice Faryna, M.D. | 614, 249-2667 | alicyna@yahoo.com
Dr. Faryna is certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. She has 40 years of experience including private practice, Neighborhood health centers, the VA. Associate professsor of Medicine at the Wright State University School of Medicine (now the Boonshoft School of Medicine) for 14 years, and 8 years as Medical Director for Medicare Part B, Ohio and West Virginia.

Andrei Vermont, M.D.
216.491.7004
vermonta@yahoo.com

Dr. Vermont is a Radiologist who completed his post graduate training at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution. He now practices in the Cleveland Clinic and has taught on the faculty of SUNY University Hospital, University of North Carolina, Michigan State University, and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Mary Jo Groves, M.D., FAAFP
937-215-6940
mjgroves1@gmail.com

Dr. Groves received her training at Ohio University, and Ohio State University, with clinical honors in internal medicine, OB/GYN, pediatrics and psychiatry. She is Board certified in family practice, and a Fellow, American Academy of Family Practice. She currently is the Director of Community Mercy Urgent Care in Springfield.

Thomas Pretlow, M.D.
216.368.8700
tgp3@cwcru.edu 

Dr. Pretlow is Professor in the Departments of Pathology, Oncology, Urology, and Environmental Health Sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Since becoming Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Pretlow has spent a year or more on the faculties at Harvard, Stanford, and Case Western Reserve. He was Visiting Professor for a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Center at Harvard.

State Organizations Endorsing HR676

  • Lorain, OH
  • Oberlin, OH
  • Lorain County, OH
  • Single-Payer Action Network (SPAN), Ohio

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • USWA Local 1375, Warren, OH
  • Division 4, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Rail Conference, IBT, Toledo, OH
  • Lorain County AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, Lorain, OH
  • Cleveland AFL-CIO Retiree Council, Cleveland, OH
  • Toledo Area Jobs with Justice, Toledo, OH
  • Ashtabula AFL-CIO Retiree Council, Ashtabula, OH
  • Ashtabula AFL-CIO Labor Council, Ashtabula, OH
  • Cleveland Painters District Council 6 Retiree Council, Cleveland, OH
  • AFSCME Retirees, Chapter 1184, Sub-Chapter 109, Northwest Ohio
  • Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, Cleveland, OH
  • Ohio State Legislative Board, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET), Rail Conference, IBT, Columbus, OH
  • Toledo Area AFL-CIO Council, Toledo, OH
  • Dayton, Springfield, Sidney, Miami Valley AFL-CIO Regional Labor Council, Dayton, OH
  • Local 50, Plumbers and Steamfitters, United Association (UA), Northwood, OH
  • Ohio AFL-CIO, July 19, 2006, at Convention in Cincinnati
  • Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA), State Convention, September 2006
  • Ohio Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR)
  • Local 546M, Graphic Communications Conference, GCC/IBT, Cleveland, OH
  • Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council
  • International Association of Machinists and Aerspace Workers (IAMAW) District Lodge 34

West Virginia Information

Contact Information

PNHP-WV Statewide Chapter
Email: pnhp.wv@gmail.com

PNHP-WV Chapter Contact
Dan Doyle, M.D., Senior Organizer
(304) 573-1798
doyledan348@gmail.com

PNPH-WV Chapter Website
pnhpwestvirginia.org

Chapter Leadership

  • Ken Wright, M.D., Chair
  • John Aldis, M.D., Treasurer
  • Agnes Franz, M.D., Secretary
  • Dan Doyle, M.D., Senior Organizer

Medicare Advantage Resolution (April 2025)

This resolution was adopted unanimously by the West Virginia Academy of Family Physicians Board in April 2025, and was sent to the American Academy of Family Physicians for consideration at their October 2025 national conference.

Local Unions Endorsing Single Payer

  • Local 995, United Steelworkers (USW), Follansbee, WV
  • West Virginia AFL-CIO
  • West Virginia Brooke-Hancock Central Labor Council
  • Local 5668, United Steelworkers (USW)

Georgia Information

Contact Information

Email: pnhpgeorgia@gmail.com
Twitter: @PNHPGeorgia
Facebook: PNHP Georgia

Steering Committee

Co-chaired by: Mindy Guo, M.D., M.P.H. and Toby Terwilliger, M.D.
Social Media/Communications Correspondent: Elizabeth McCord, M.D.
Founding Member: Henry Kahn, M.D.

The Steering Committee of the Georgia Chapter of PNHP includes physicians and other health care advocates. Each has their own story of how their social justice advocacy efforts led them to see that expanded and improved Medicare for All is the most cost effective and just pathway to universal health insurance coverage in the U.S.

Jack Bernard 

Jack Bernard was the first Director of Health Planning for the State of Georgia. He then entered the private sector and served as a senior level executive with national health care firms including Humana, NME (now Tenet), Premier, and MedAssets. Jack has also been a local activist, serving on the Jasper (GA) County Board of Commissioners from 2005 through 2012. He has been on numerous other committees and boards, including the Jasper County Board of Health and the Fayette County Board of Health, where he is now Chair. He is also on various state and national health boards. He has been a mentor/counselor with SCORE (an SBA affiliate) since 2008, concentrating on the SCORE region for the Atlanta multi-county area south of I-20. He is an editorial writer having written over 1,250 columns specializing in health care, social, and political issues.

Mindy Guo, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Mindy Guo is a family medicine physician with Emory University and has lived in New Mexico, California, Missouri, and now Georgia. She completed residency training in 2021 as well as her Masters in Public Health in 2022. She is a fierce advocate for patients and for public health, and believes that access to health care is a right that must be established for all Americans.

Karen Hochman, M.D.

Dr. Karen Hochman is originally from Winnipeg, Canada where she grew up, attended medical school, completed residency training, and practiced full time child and adolescent psychiatry for three years before relocating to Georgia. She has lived and worked in Atlanta as a psychiatrist since 1999 and holds an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine. She has worked in a variety of practice settings including: Emory Healthcare, Grady Health Center, Georgia State University Counseling Center, and the Veterans Administration health system. She is a fierce advocate for single-payer health care with lived experience in both the U.S. and Canada as a physician and patient.

Henry Kahn, M.D.

Dr. Henry Kahn, an early chapter leader, is now a retired internal medicine physician, an Emeritus Professor at Emory University School of Medicine, and an adjunct faculty member at Morehouse School of Medicine and the Rollins School of Public Health. He moved to Atlanta to join the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (1972-1974), later returning to CDC as a full-time epidemiologist of chronic diseases (2001-2018). As a volunteer physician in 1973, he was Emory’s first faculty member appointed in primary care. He played a major role in developing the neighborhood health centers associated with Grady Hospital. He has been involved in social justice advocacy efforts since high school and was one of the founding members of PNHP national.

Kieran Kristensen, M.D.

Dr. Kieran Kristensen is a current Emergency Medicine resident at Emory as well as an Atlanta native. In training at Grady, Atlanta’s county hospital, he has seen the harms that our for-profit health care system leads to for Atlanta’s poor and underserved communities. It has only strengthened his belief that health care should be a public service, not a business. 

Jay Mainthia, M.D. candidate

Jay Mainthia was born and raised in Smyrna, Georgia. He is a 4th year medical student at the Morehouse School of Medicine. He is dedicated to health justice, single-payer advocacy, and primary care. 

Chris Masi, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Christopher Masi is a general internist who practices at Emory University, where he is a Professor of Medicine and Vice Chair of Quality and Clinical Effectiveness in the Department of Medicine.  He has conducted research on social determinants of health and strategies to improve quality of care.  He is eager to improve access to care for all populations and views a national health plan as the best way to achieve this goal.

Belinda McIntosh, M.D.

Dr. Belinda McIntosh is originally from Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. as a child.  She has lived in New York, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Georgia. She completed residency training in psychiatry in 2003 and has worked in a variety of clinical settings including private practice, the Veterans Administration, and Student Health Services at Georgia Tech and Emory University, where she held an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is a staunch supporter of single-payer health care.

Elizabeth McCord, M.D.

Dr. Elizabeth McCord is originally from New Orleans, but has found her permanent home in Atlanta. She completed both her internal medicine / psychiatry residency and addiction psychiatry fellowship at Emory University. She is a proud advocate of U.S. health care reform through a single-payer system and supports other local advocacy groups that fight for human rights.

Maureen Miller, M.D. M.P.H.

Dr. Maureen Miller is a board-certified pathologist and epidemiologist. She moved to Atlanta to complete a clinical fellowship in blood banking and transfusion medicine with rotations at Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Grady Memorial Hospital. As a medical student and resident at New York University, she was a member of PNHP-NY, Healthcare for the 99% at Occupy Wall Street, and the New York Doctors’ Coalition. She is currently working on a novel about the epidemic of physician suicide inspired by her studies of worker safety while studying at the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. She believes health care is a human right, and health care workers cannot give humane care or care for themselves without nationalized health care.

Toby Terwilliger, M.D.

Dr. Toby Terwilliger is an Assistant Professor in Emory University School of Medicine’s Division of Hospital Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital. Originally from upstate New York, Dr. Terwilliger completed his medical school coursework in New York City before moving to Newark, N.J. for residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. After residency, he and his wife moved to Atlanta for her sports medicine fellowship and fell in love with the city. Dr. Terwilliger first became involved in PNHP while caring for underserved patients at our nation’s oldest public hospital, Bellevue, in NYC, and has since worked in safety net hospitals, where the patients he treats have been victimized by the U.S. healthcare non-system for most of their lives. Dr. Terwilliger is currently in the Society of General Internal Medicine Leadership in Health Policy (LEAHP) scholars program, where he hopes to gain the knowledge and skills to advocate more effectively for an equitable, universal health care system.

Rita Valenti, R.N.

Rita Valenti is a Registered Nurse, now retired from Grady Health Systems after 28 years of service. She worked in Trauma, Surgical Intensive Care, and the Grady Infectious Diseases Clinic. Rita was elected to the Georgia State Legislature in 1990 after door-to-door campaigning with nurses and community activists. As part of Georgians for a Common Sense Health Plan, she introduced legislation for a single-payer system in Georgia in 1992. She is a founder and member of Project South and on the Board of Healthcare-NOW. She is active with National Nurses United and the Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective, and is a current advisor to Health Students Taking Action Together. She is a passionate fighter for health justice and Medicare for All.

Ben Williams, M.D. candidate

Ben Williams is a medical student at Emory University School of Medicine and founding president of the Emory SNaHP chapter. He is passionate about developing a robust single-payer health care system in the U.S.

Florida Information

Support student activists in Florida!

Medical and health professional students represent the future of our movement! PNHP Florida has launched a student fund to support local members of Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP).

We will underwrite Fla. student participation in PNHP’s Northern New England Summer Internship program; help fund scholarships for the PNHP Annual Meeting and SNaHP Summit; and generally support new and established SNaHP chapters throughout the state.

Donate to the PNHP Florida Student Fund HERE!

Chapter Contacts

Leonardo Alonso, D.O.
(904) 994-0857
rlalonso@comcast.net

I completed my medical school in 1989 at NOVA Southeastern and did a one-year osteopathic internship in Chicago upon graduation. I moved to Bakersfield, CA to complete my residency in Emergency Medicine at Kern Medical Center, then returned to Jacksonville, FL, my home state, with my new family, Alejandro and Gwendolyn. I was drawn to Emergency Medicine, partly for the immediacy of rapid results that impact people’s health but also by the legislated open door policy that we must treat everyone who enters our department regardless of their financial status. I began exploring health systems, became aware of PNHP, and have been a member for over 20 years. I was the director of the Emergency Department at Orange Park Medical Center and learnt much about how the for-profit hospital and physician contract groups operate.

My wife, Reagan, and I met in the Peace Corps in the early 1980’s (after college) where we served in Honduras. I am of Cuban descent and fluent in Spanish, which helps me better serve the Hispanic community locally. She is an RN and we both have volunteered for many years in medical missions on an annual basis to Honduras, plus at a local free clinic for the working uninsured called Volunteers in Medicine (Primary Care Clinic), where I was Chairman of the Board for several years. I am currently working with a team of Emergency Medicine physicians from UCLA trying to start our specialty in Honduras, where it is nonexistent. We are collaborating with the dean of the medical school in Tegucigalpa. I have also worked as a locums tenem physician in Vermont, West Virginia, Georgia, and Oregon, which has given me a better understanding of health care on a rural and national level.

I am excited about the formation of the Florida Chapter of PNHP and hope to be an active member.

Greg Silver, M.D.
(727) 712-3280
drsilver@drsilver.net

Dr. Silver is a solo, practicing family physician in Clearwater, Florida. He has been an active lecturer and consultant in the areas of healthcare reform, electronic medical records and the adoption of new medical technologies.

Howard A. Green, M.D., FACP, FAAD | 561-659-1510 | hag2@comcast.net
Dr Green received his education at George Washington University and The Boston University of Medicine. He did his post doctoral work at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and at Harvard Medical School.

Local Unions Endorsing Single Payer

  • United Association of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 630, West Palm Beach, FL
  • North Central Florida Central Labor Council, Gainesville, FL
  • Steelworker Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) Chapter 9-36 F 5, Cape Coral, FL
  • North Florida Central Labor Council, Jacksonville, FL
  • District Lodge 112, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers(IAM), Jacksonville, FL
  • Florida State Alliance for Retired Americans
  • Lodge 721, IAM, Jacksonville, FL
  • Local Union 295, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA), Daytona Beach, FL
  • Florida AFL-CIO
  • West Central Florida Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Tampa, FL
  • Local 2779, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
  • Palm Beach-Treasure Coast AFL-CIO

Michigan Information

Contact Information

Email us for information on local activists

Media Contacts

Jim Mitchiner, M.D., M.P.H., FACEP

Dr. James Mitchiner is currently an attending emergency physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In addition, he has an academic appointment at the University of Michigan Medical School. He is Past President of the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians and has served in the American College of Emergency Physicians as the Chair of its State Legislative and Regulatory Committee, and as a member of the Task Force on Health Care and the Uninsured. A longtime single-payer advocate, he is active in Physicians for a National Health Program, which has 18,000 members nationwide. Dr. Mitchiner received his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and received a master’s degree in health management and policy from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

John Cavacece, D.O. | cavacecj@trinity-health.org

John Cavacece has been a family physician, practicing full spectrum family medicine, for 18 years. He received his D.O. degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1986. He has been Associate Director of the Grand Rapids Family Medicine Residency since 1996. John spent ten years as an Air Force physician as both a staff physician and faculty at Air Force residencies before taking his present position in Grand Rapids. A Society for Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) member since 1993, John is currently the Chair of the Group on Family, a subgroup of STFM. His interests are primarily in behavioral medicine, teaching the concepts of Relationship-Centered Care to residents. He has been a member of Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP) since 2002.

Tim Lambert, D.O.
(231) 935-8016
TLAMBERT@mhc.net

Dr. Lambert is a family physician and faculty member of the Munson Medical Center Family Practice Residency Program in Traverse City. He has worked in the community with the migrant health clinic, the Grand Traverse Band Native American health clinic and most recently with the Grand Traverse Regional Health Care Coalition Board (Vice-President 2004-2006)

Local Unions Endorsing HR676

  • UAW Local 6000, Region 1A Retiree Chapter, Michigan
  • Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO Central Labor Council
  • Local 829 United Steelworkers (USW), Owosso, MI
  • Local 2-591 United Steelworkers (USW), Riverview, MI
  • Local 6000, United Auto Workers (UAW), Michigan State Employees, Lansing, MI
  • Local 196, United Steelworkers (USW), Trenton, MI
  • Branch 3126, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Royal Oak, MI.
  • Local Lodge 141, International Association of Machinists (IAM), representing airline workers at Northwest, United, Southwest, and Alaska. Detroit, MI
  • American Postal Workers Union (APWU), Michigan State Convention, May, 2006
  • United Automobile Workers, International Union Convention, June 2006
  • Local 547, International Union of Operating Engineers, Detroit, MI
  • Jackson/Hillsdale Counties Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Jackson, MI
  • Michigan State AFL-CIO Women’s Council
  • Local Union 176, United Steelworkers (USW), Rochester, MI
  • Local Union 314, United Steelworkers, (USW), Detroit, MI
  • Local Union 389, United Steelworkers (USW), Detroit, MI
  • Local Union 2659, United Steelworkers (USW), Southgate, MI
  • Local Union 9491, United Steelworkers (USW), Hamburg, MI
  • Monroe/Lenawee County AFL-CIO Council
  • Detroit A. Phillip Randolph Institute
  • Greater Lansing Labor Council, Lansing, MI
  • UAW Local 909