The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians enthusiastically supported the appointment of Brian L. Bachelder, MD, to the American Academy of Family Physicians Commission on Governmental Advocacy (CGA) or to another commission to which the subcommittee on screening feels he would contribute.
Dr. Bachelder’s national service already includes a five-year term on the AAFP Commission on Quality (fifth year as chair) and a three-year term on the AAFP Commission on Membership and Member Services. An OAFP past president (2002-03), Dr. Bachelder served five years as alternate delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates from Ohio, is currently serving as president of the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA), and is an at-large director on the OAFP Board of Directors.
After 25 years in solo rural practice (his practice was a designated rural health clinic), Dr. Bachelder is now clinical associate director of family medicine at the Center for Family Medicine at Akron General Hospital. He has been an active member of the OAFP Advocacy Committee (now Public Policy Committee) for decades. His record as a proven advocacy leader is probably best evidenced by his selection, in 2004, as the recipient of the OAFP’s first-ever Torchlight Leadership Award. His selection recognized his relentless and passionate advocacy that resulted in passage of Ohio’s tort reform legislation. In 2003-04 as a physician in rural practice, he was forced to discontinue delivering babies due to spiraling malpractice insurance rates and he became the face of the issue at the Statehouse and with the statewide media.
In his letter of chapter support, OAFP President Ryan Kauffman, MD, stated, “Dr. Bachelder is a creative thinker and an exceptionally hard worker who always goes the extra mile to get the job done. His advocacy experiences with the OAFP and the OSMA make him exceedingly well prepared to serve on the CGA.”
Dr. Bachelder chaired the OAFP Foundation (2005-06) and was named OAFP Foundation Philanthropist of the Year in 2012 in honor of his generous support of Foundation programs. He has served in many public policy roles including membership on the Ohio Medical Care Advisory Committee (2008-10), the Ohio Medicaid Managed Care Work Group (2005-07), the Ohio Medicaid Clinical Advisory Group (2015) and the Governor’s Office of Health Transformation PCMH Model Design Team (2015). Dr. Bachelder represented the OAFP and the OSMA on the board of the Ohio Health Information Partnership (2010-15), a non-profit entity whose mission is to assist physicians and other providers with the adoption and implementation of health information technology throughout Ohio.
Dr. Bachelder attended Dartmouth College, receiving his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. He completed his family medicine residency at St. John’s Hospital at the University of Minnesota. During residency, he completed a Master’s of Science degree focused on farming accidents.
Good luck, Dr. Bachelder!