The Physician Rehabilitation Committee was formed in 1977 at the semi-annual meeting of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland (Med Chi). The committee first met on October 10, 1977, under Dr. James Davis, the 1977-1978 President of Med Chi.
The planners included Drs. Joseph Berman, Maxwell Weisman, Charles Bagley, Joseph Chambers, and James Davis. The first chair was Jerome J. Coller, M.D., an internist from Pikesville. Dr Coller, a former chairperson of the Commission on Medical Discipline, could no longer without attempted intervention, accept physicians with treatable illnesses losing their medical licenses in Maryland. The committee was established at the direction of the Executive Committee of MedChi.
In 1978, the first full year of the Committee’s existence, they assisted thirty-five physicians with an average age of 53. These were primarily later-stage alcoholic, primary care practitioners who often had physical problems because of their drinking. Many required detoxification and inpatient rehabilitation. Several died of active illness, some retired, and a few left the state of Maryland. Still, most reached abstinence and a few entered true recovery.
Under Dr. Coller's energetic direction, physician assistance groups were formed in Baltimore, Bethesda, and on the Eastern Shore. Enthusiastic physicians on the Committee formed intervention teams, of two or three members each. The teams traveled from Oakland in Garrett County to Crisfield in Somerset County to try and help their troubled colleagues. These doctors were Robert McDermott, William Dixon, Leo Hennigan, Timothy Barilla, John Griswold, Robert Kent, Patrick Adams, Edson Moody, Edward Kitlowski, Michael Bisco, Michael Hayes, Richard Anderson, Irving Cohen, Robert McDaniel, and Martin Valaske. They all devoted countless, selfless hours to the recovery of their fellow physicians.
In time treatment contacts were organized, and procedures and guidelines were established. All the while, Ms. Constance Townsend, executive assistant to Med Chi's executive director, provided administrative support services to the committee. MedChi’s Executive Committee supported the committee, the county medical societies participated in the committee's activities, and the auxiliary had a representative. From 1977 to 1985, the Physician Rehabilitation Committee made a difference in the lives of over 200 physicians.
Chapter 2: Early Growth, A Program Develops - 1985-1990
Dr Michael Hayes an original committee member became chair. A part-time program director was hired in 1985 and became full time in 1986. Funding was obtained from a ten-dollar assessment on the medical society membership fee and more recently, from a yearly donation by the Medical Mutual Liability Insurance Society of Maryland. From the beginning, the services of the program were available to all licensed and non-licensed physicians and medical students in Maryland, as well as their family members, but funding was limited as was active outreach and meaningful preventive education.
A significant change came to the Program in 1990. In the 1990 legislative session, the State Legislature included, at the request of the Med Chi Executive Committee, an amendment to SB 138 (the Board of Physician Quality Assurance bill) assessing all licensed Maryland physicians a $50.00 pass-through fee to support the Physician Rehabilitation Program. The bill, supported by the chairman of the board of physician quality assurance and the board’s executive director, passed, and was signed by Governor Donald Schaefer. This provided a significant infusion of funds, and these resources marked a new era in the activities of the Physician Rehabilitation Program with the Physician Rehabilitation Committee serving in an advisory role. In 1992 the law was changed to allow for the use of these funds to support the Peer Review activities as well as to fund the Physician Rehabilitation Program.
Chapter 3: Establishing balance and moving Straight Forward - 1990–2000
A new and ambitious outreach effort saw the program develop a monthly newsletter sent to every physician in Maryland. Straight Forward a newsletter in the tabloid-style was mailed to every physician and hospital in the state of Maryland. Ahead of its time in many ways Straight Forward contained in its issues, in addition to physician health and wellbeing, discussion of such topics as, physician-assisted suicide, legalization of marijuana, professional burnout, and physician career satisfaction. Each issue had a dialectical and book reviews were frequently included. Over time the newsletter was reduced to a quarterly offering with a distribution of about 20,000 issues per quarter. During these years we had eighty-thousand pairs of eyes reading about the work of the program. A decision to redistribute funding led to a loss of staff and ability to continue our newsletter after a six-year run.
Chapter 4 - The Name Changes, But the Mission Remains the Same - 2000-2010
The program moved into the next millennia with a strong commitment to helping physicians and other healthcare professionals. Physician Assistants had come to the program in the early 90’s asking to receive assistance. It was in the early 2000’s that the program was cleared to work with PA’s. Changes at the Board of Physicians brought challenges to the program and in 2004 the supreme challenge of having our funding removed when the Board elected to keep the funds and begin a program of their own. The Board elected to continue using the name Physician Rehabilitation Program, so the “new” program became the Maryland Physician Health Program (MPHP). With the support of MedChi the MPHP continued to provide services to physicians and allied healthcare professionals. Maryland Hospitals, with the endorsement of the Maryland Hospital Association, provided financial support via payment of fees to the program. The fee established a relationship between the program and hospital allowing for us to provide information regarding the progress of a physician (or allied health professional) who had been referred to us. We also provide an annual presentation on physician impairment. Participating in the program allows hospitals to meet Joint Commission requirements for a non-disciplinary process to assist impaired physicians. The support from almost all hospitals allowed the program to continue providing service to Maryland’s physicians and allied health professionals.
Chapter 5: A New Model and New Horizons - 2010-Present
In 2009, the Board of Physicians put out an RFP seeking a contractor to operate the Maryland Professional Rehabilitation Program. The MPHP now under the MedChi 501C 3 affiliate Center for a Healthy Maryland (the Center) had found sound footing and was functioning in good stead. Previously, the program had both private, voluntary, participants and Board-ordered ones. As this had led to conflict in the past, we decided that it was time for a new approach. There would be two programs the MPHP, private and confidential and we would bid on the RFP and create the MPRP for board-referred physicians and professionals. The contract was awarded to the Center. The first participants in the MRPR came on-board in January 2010. The files of Board-referred participants would be separate from MPHP files and would be the property of the Board of Physicians. Under the Center these programs have served physicians and allied health professionals across the state of Maryland.
It is essential to mention that sadly during this part of our story that we suffered the loss of Dr Stanley Platman who had been chair of the Physician Health Committee for 35 years and the first medical director of the MPHP. Stan was a dedicated physician, psychiatrist, researcher, and friend to the cause of physician health. We felt his loss deeply.
In an effort to further expand our services and to broaden our reach in regard to helping health professionals, we created the Maryland Healthcare Professionals Program (MHPP). This program provides services to allied health professionals who seek help privately and are not under the auspices of the Board of Physicians. Additionally, MHPP services are available to podiatrists, chiropractors, and veterinarians. In October 2016 the MPHP and MHPP were recognized as “Safe Harbor” programs under Maryland Law. When physicians and allied health professionals are referred to either of these programs where a mandatory report would be usual, the report need not be made provided no patient harm had occurred. Efforts at further growth will be focused on other healthcare professionals and those in health services that may not meet the classical definition of health professional but clearly impact the delivery of health services each day in the state of Maryland.
As our journey continues, we look to grow and expand. Like a tree’s branches reaching out toward the sun, we to look to reach out and be available to an expanding group of human souls who simply need help. While we begin to explore where can we go, who can we help, we stand firm and remain ever committed to our roots, to our original mission, the health and wellbeing of the physicians of the State of Maryland.
Those who have come before – former program staff:
Robert White, MA, LCPC
Emily Ferris
Catherine Kowalewski, MS, CCDC
Thomas Dolan, Grad Cert, CCDC, CSC-AD
Cora Teter, MA
Karen Duszynski
Vivian Smith
Lori Robinson
Catherine Ketchum
Elaine Gisriel, MS
Shawn Thomas
Rhonda Sprout
Chae Kwak, LCSW-C
Susan Bailey, MD
Laura Berg, LCSW-C
Linda Rodriguez, LCSW-C
Frederick Gager, PsyD
Rachel Reisman
Katharine Hughes, PhD
Annie Norton, LCSW-C
Janice Whelchel
Paul McClelland, MD
Aisha Chaudhry
Tanya Bryant, LCSW-C
Matteo Ricci, MS, LCPC
Lonny Samuels, LCSW-C
Syeira Anthony, LMSW
Maureen McCarron, LCSW-C
Jennifer West, LCPC
Terrence Morgan, LCSW-C, LCADC
Lisa Joy, LCSW-C
Olivia Culotta, LCPC
Sarah Riggs, LCSW-C
Latasha Roles MEd, LGPC
Current Staff
Margaret Kroen LCSW-C, Program Director
Arthur Hildreth MD, Medical Director MPHP, MHPP
Martin Rusinowitz MD, Medical Director MPRP, MHPP
Astrid Richardson-Ashley LCSW-C, Senior Clinical Manager
Amber Thrasher LCSW-C, Clinical Manager II
Holly Wade MA, LCPC, Clinical Manager II
Domenica Stone, Chief Administrative Officer
Michael Llufrio, Director of Operations
Thanks to Mike Llufrio for writing this and to Meg Fielding for posting it.
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