Catching up with our CHEST Past Presidents

Publish date: March 10, 2017
By
James A.L. Mathers Jr., MD, FCCP

 

Where are they now? What have they been up to? CHEST’s Past Presidents each forged the way for the many successes of the American College of Chest Physicians, leading to enhanced patient care around the globe. Their outstanding leadership and vision are evidenced today in many of CHEST’s strategic initiatives. Let’s check in with Dr. Mathers.

President 2008-2009

It was a great honor to be inaugurated as President of the American College of Chest Physicians at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. My chosen vocation was community-based private practice, and from my early years in practice, I found the opportunity to interact with the clinically oriented scholars of CHEST invaluable. My wife Susan and I fondly remember activities with staff, others in leadership, and their families. My immediate goals for my presidential year were to ensure the financial security of the College, in light of the evolving restrictions on industry funding, and to raise the profile of telemedicine for the care of patients with chronic conditions and the critically ill. However, that year is probably most remembered for the unanticipated need to formulate a step-down agreement with then-CEO Alvin Lever, who had served the College for the preceding 17 years.

Dr. James A.L. Mathers Jr.

To assist with financial planning, we were able to engage Master’s degree candidates from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to perform a detailed cost and benefit analysis of our programs and to help develop recommendations for streamlining and improving our budgeting process. In partnership with the American Thoracic Society, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, we developed a grant proposal to host a multisociety conference to examine the use of telemedicine for the care of critically ill patients. The grant was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the results of the conference were published in CHEST. Following my presidential year, I continued to speak at numerous meetings about the potential for telemedicine to improve the care of patients with pulmonary disease. I retired from my community-based private practice at the end of 2010. Susan and I divide our time between Richmond, Virginia., engaging with our grandchildren, and the west coast of Florida, where I am working on my saltwater fly-fishing credentials. Regular rounds of golf with former colleagues, some retired and some still in practice, keep me abreast of the pressures on and changes in the clinical environment.

Early in my practice, I became interested in addressing federal policies that interfered with the ability to provide state-of-the-art care to my patient population. My first committee appointment with CHEST was the Government Relations Committee. Our activities were closely coordinated with the National Association for Medical Direction of Respiratory Care (NAMDRC) and the American Thoracic Society. During my year as Immediate Past President of the College, I was approached by NAMDRC and invited to write their monthly publication, The Washington Watchline. I have continued to enjoy that opportunity, as well as interacting with their membership. When called upon by NAMDRC, I travel to Washington, DC, to meet with Medicare staff to discuss policy issues important in the care of pulmonary patients.

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