Javette Orgain, MD Installed as First African-American President of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians

CHICAGO - Chicagoans and IAFP leaders gathered to give the next IAFP president a warm welcome and salute as she takes the helm of the Academy for the next year.

Javette C. Orgain, MD, MPH was installed as president of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians on November 18th by AAFP

Dr. Orgain is a family physician at Mile Square Health Center (MSHC), South Shore satellite office and the first AfricanAmerican elected president of IAFP.

Dr. Orgain, a native Chicagoan, is a board-certified Associate Professor of Clinical Family Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine (UICCOM) in the Department of Family Medicine and Assistant Dean of the UICCOM Urban Health Program. She was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health in 2003 and has served as the chair of the Board since 2004. She also served as the 100th President of the National Medical Association (NMA) in 2000.

Dr. Orgain has been an active leader with the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians since she was a family medicine resident in 1982. She has been a leader on urban health issues and an active advocate in the Academy's government relations activities. In 2002, Dr. Orgain was first elected to the IAFP board of directors.

Over 100 people joined in the celebration at the Harold Washington Library in downtown Chicago. Some notable names included Chicago Health Commissioner Dr. Terry Mason and state representatives Marlow Colvin (D-33) and Constance Howard (D-34). Rep. Howard had the honor of presenting a copy of the House of Representatives Congratulatory Resolution (HR 1590) that she introduced on November 14th to honor Dr. Orgain on the House floor.

IAFP leaders past and present came to show their support, including outgoing president Steven D. Knight, MD of Harrisburg, first vice-president Patrick Tranmer, MD of Chicago, second vice-president David Hagan, MD of Gibson City, resident board member Helen Williams, MD of Chicago. Past presidents on hand were Ronald Johnson, MD of Pittsfield, Carolyn Lopez, MD of Chicago, Tim Vega, MD of Peoria and Ellen Bruii, MD of Glen vie w.

Several special guests provided personal tributes to Dr. Orgain during the evening, including Willarda Edwards, MD president-elect of the National Medical Association and NMA board chair Niva LubinJohnson, MD.

With a packed house of her family and friends and a gathering of health care and policy leaders, Dr. Orgain renewed the call for family physicians to redefine themselves and their place at the helm of healthcare reform. "Family physicians know our patients and we know what must be done to make this nation healthier again. We are always educating ourselves to become better physicians, to practice smarter, and to help our patients take better care of themselves," she said. "We are reinventing the family medicine practice, through the patient-centered medical home, while remaining true to our mission to care for families... the entire person... from cradle to grave. We are collaborative leaders making the changes Illinois needs!"

More about Dr. Orgain:

In 2003 she received an IAFP President's Award for her work on the Campaign for a Healthy, Smoke-Free Chicago, which led to a landmark increase in the Cook County cigarette tax. Since then, she has spoken at numerous press conferences and government hearings advocating for tobacco prevention and cessation programs along with responsible public health policies at the local and state level.

In 2003, Dr. Orgain was recommended by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and honored by the National Library of Medicine and the American Medical Women's Association as a

"Local Legend".

She is the chairperson of the African American Health Care Council in Chicago and has held various leadership posts in the Cook County Physicians Association including the position of president.

Dr. Orgain served on the Advisory Board: for the Increasing Outreach and Decreasing Disparities among African Americans (IODA) project of the American Cancer Society; for the UIC College of Nursing Integrated Health Care at Thresholds project; and for the University of the Transkei (Umtata, South Africa) Community Based Infrastructure Development Project.

She is a member of the Appointed Local School Council for the CPS Daniel Hale

Williams Preparatory School of Medicine.

She has traveled extensively to lead health delegations and examine other health systems, visiting China, South America, East, West and Southern Africa, the Caribbean, France, Cuba, Laos, and Myanmar (formerly Burma) and to make a contribution through service to the healthcare delivery systems in those nations.

The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians represents more than 3,800 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students dedicated to excellence in family medicine and the patients they serve. Visit www.iafp.com.for more information