News/Press Releases

• Dr. J. Eugene Lammers, clinician-educator recognized for building interprofessional collaboration when caring for older adults, named @AmerGeriatrics Clinician of the Year at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/s1zb30jbjL1

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today named J. Eugene Lammers, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF, its 2018 Clinician of the Year. Dr Lammers is Medical Director and Primary Care Physician at Mercy LIFE of Alabama, where he is part of an interdisciplinary team caring for 175 older adults. Dr. Lammers will be honored at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.).

“Dr. Lammers has led care at health systems across the U.S., and has consistently been recognized for seeking out better means to deliver care in his communities,” noted Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair. “That desire to improve person-centered care for us all as we age is a hallmark of the AGS, just as Dr. Lammers is an exemplar of what we value in exceptional geriatrics clinicians.”

“I have been so fortunate throughout my career to work with peers in nursing, social work, rehabilitation, pharmacy, and other fields that have made it possible to provide the highest quality of care for frail older adults,” observed Dr. Lammers.

• Prestigious Nascher/Manning Award presented by @AmerGeriatrics to two #geriatrics pioneers: @AGSJournal’s @WApplega_Bill, VA’s Dr. Thomas Edes http://ow.ly/IQz030jbkc4

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this year honor not one but two pioneers of geriatrics expertise with the prestigious Nascher/Manning Award given biannually at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; held this year May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.). William Applegate, MD, MPH, MACP, AGSF—Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) and a renowned clinician-educator at Wake Forest Health and the Wake Forest School of Medicine—and Thomas Edes, MD, MS—Executive Director of Geriatrics & Extended Care Operations for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—now join a cadre of less than 20 geriatrics healthcare professionals recognized with the Nascher/Manning Award since its inception in 1987.

A professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dr. Applegate has long been instrumental in leading change and innovation, particularly at the AGS. An AGS member since 1984 and a former Society President, Dr. Applegate has twice anchored JAGS as Editor-in-Chief, having returned most recently in 2016 following an earlier tenure from 1993 through 2000.

• Dr. John Burton of @HopkinsMedicine, Dr. George Drach of @PennMedicine & @UofA honored for commitment to #geriatrics expertise, education at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/rvU330jbkro

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this May honor two of the field’s most seasoned clinician-educators with one of the Society’s highest accolades. John R. Buton, MD, AGSF—Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) in Maryland—and George W. Drach, MD, AGSF—Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona—will be recognized for decades of commitment to community service and geriatrics education when they receive the David H. Solomon Public Service Award at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.

“Dr. Burton and Dr. Drach exemplify two pillars of geriatrics: Our commitment to educate more of the experts we all will need as we age and our promise to ensure that all our doctors, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other health professionals understand what makes our care unique as we age,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair.

• Dr. Heather Whitson, leading #geriatrics clinician-investigator in promoting resilience and recovery as we age, to deliver prestigious @AmerGeriatrics Yoshikawa Lecture at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/ahSB30jbkEl

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the AGS Health in Aging Foundation today announced that Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Ophthalmology at the Duke University School of Medicine and Deputy Director at Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, will be honored with the 2018 Thomas and Catherine Yoshikawa Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement in Clinical Investigation. A past program chair for the AGS annual conference, Dr. Whitson will deliver a plenary presentation on individualizing health and promoting resilience in medically complex older adults as part of the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.).

“Dr. Whitson is not only recognized nationally as a leading geriatrics researcher but also as a creative and compassionate clinician,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair. “That blend of expertise at the lab bench and in the clinic and classroom reflects everything we have come to expect from AGS members.”

• At #AGS18, innovation for “young & young at heart” finds common home at Disney & in #geriatrics http://ow.ly/3XLU30j3MKW
• What do #geriatrics & @Disney have in common? More than you might think thanks to @AmerGeriarics’ #AGS18 http://ow.ly/3XLU30j3MKW

New York (March 20, 2018)—Home to the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), the Walt Disney World Resort® in Orlando, Fla., has long been a place for the “young and young at heart”—but it shares more with geriatrics, the health specialty dedicated to expert care for older adults, than you might think.

In the same year that Walt Disney announced plans for his iconic theme park, then-President Lyndon Johnson proposed an equally ambitious program, Medicare, to ensure older Americans like Disney could continue contributing to our communities for as long as possible. Since then, the same creativity and innovation that helped Disney change the landscape of central Florida has also helped geriatrics shape a more supportive landscape for clinical practice, public policy, and public and professional education serving us all as we age—something more than 2,500 geriatrics health professionals and advocates will revisit at #AGS18, held May 3-5 (pre-conference day May 2) at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort®.

Geriatrics health professionals remain concerned that increasing costs for people in their 50s and 60s and expanding access to insurance lacking minimum protections could raise costs and jeopardize care quality.

New York (Mar. 13, 2018)—Experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed concern over recent proposals by the Trump Administration to increase health insurance costs for older adults purchasing coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace and to expand so-called “short-term,” limited-protection health insurance. Such coverage—which would not be subject to important protections under present law safeguarding essential benefits and coverage for pre-existing conditions—risks increasing costs and the stability of health coverage at a time when more Americans than ever before are poised to benefit from increased longevity thanks to better care.

“We oppose changes that increase costs and impede access to key services for older Americans, families, and caregivers,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA. “We agree that health care can be improved, but that can’t happen with ‘short-term’ solutions that short-change our options, benefits, and costs.”

New York (Feb. 16, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed deep disappointment with proposed cuts that could curtail training for the health professionals we all will need as we age, as well as impede a range of services for older adults—all outlined by President Trump in his budget plan for 2019.

Among several concerns, the AGS noted that the budget would eliminate $451 million from training programs that educate family caregivers, as well as our doctors, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, and many other health professionals essential to our care as we grow older. While Congress has ultimate say on spending, the Trump proposal is already premised on a flawed assumption that “[t]here is little evidence that these programs significantly improve the Nation’s health workforce.”

The AGS remains especially concerned about the potential impact of cuts to the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) under Titles VII and VIII. This is the only federal program aimed at improving the quality, safety, and affordability of our care by increasing the number of professionals with the skills needed to preserve and promote health, safety, and independence for all older Americans.

• Read more about For 260,000 Older Adults Hospitalized with Hip Fractures, New Virtual Platform Gives Local Roots to AGS CoCare: Ortho Program

With Congressional vote expected early next week, experts at AGS continue to voice concerns about how tax reform bill lacked transparency in development and could jeopardize care for us all as we age.

New York (Dec. 15, 2017)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) continues to voice strong opposition to the Tax Cuts and Job Acts, the tax reform bill that could jeopardize care for millions of older adults and caregivers if it passes a Congressional vote planned for early next week. Since developing their own plans earlier this fall, House and Senate leaders have been working to reconcile independent versions of their proposals, neither of which have been open to considerable public comment or scrutiny. While it remains unclear what will be included in the final tax reform proposal, the AGS remains concerned that several flawed proposals under serious consideration could curtail supports for millions of older Americans and threaten important gains securing health coverage for us all, according to independent analyses.

Following passage of the Senate tax reform proposal, experts at the AGS continue to voice serious concerns about how the proposal could jeopardize care for us all as we age.

New York (Dec. 4, 2017)—Disappointed by Senate passage of a tax reform proposal that could curtail critical supports for older Americans and threaten important gains securing health coverage for more Americans, experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) continued to voice strong opposition to the bill and its impact on millions of older adults and caregivers.

“We remain deeply concerned about the impact of this flawed proposal—not only on federal programs important to older Americans but also on the availability of high-quality, person-centered, and affordable health care for us all as we age,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy Lundebjerg, MPA. “We at the AGS will continue to work tirelessly for solutions that can improve health, independence, and quality of life for all older Americans—despite the absence of these goals in the present proposal.”