Newswise — NEW ORLEANS — Oct. 15, 2014 – The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) announced today the election of Jeffrey S. Plagenhoef, M.D., to first vice president of the ASA Executive Committee during the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
“It’s an honor to be elected to ASA’s Executive Committee as first vice president,” said Dr. Plagenhoef. “I pledge to give all that I can in focused commitment to the leadership of ASA and the medical specialty of anesthesiology during what is the most challenging time in the history of medicine. The patients we are blessed to serve need us protecting them now more than ever.”
Dr. Plagenhoef has served ASA in numerous roles, including most recently as ASA assistant secretary. He was the inaugural chair of the Anesthesia Quality Institute’s Board of Directors and chair of ASA’s Committee on Anesthesia Care Team. For his leadership on ASA Political Action Committee’s Executive Board and advocacy efforts, he was awarded the ASA Excellence in Government Award. Dr. Plagenhoef has been an influential leader of the Alabama State Society of Anesthesiologists since 1997, where he has served as president, payer liaison, legislative liaison and member of its executive committee and board of directors.
The ASA Executive Committee consists of the president, president-elect and first vice president. The Executive Committee expedites, executes and administers the policies adopted by the ASA House of Delegates and ASA Board of Directors. The committee also publishes and implements positions or statements on behalf of ASA when they are proven to be in the Society’s best interests.
Dr. Plagenhoef is originally from Kalamazoo, Mich., and graduated with high honors from Michigan State University, East Lansing. He received his doctorate of medicine from the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, and completed his anesthesiology residency focusing on cardiac anesthesia at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). After being elected chief resident his final year at UAB, he moved to Dothan in 1991, where he has served in numerous leadership capacities within his group and on the medical staff of Southeast Alabama Medical Center (SAMC). He currently serves as president of Anesthesia Consultants Medical Group, P.C., and as chair of SAMC’s Quality and Peer Review.
Dr. Plagenhoef’s wife, Debbie, also is a physician anesthesiologist and a leader in organized medicine. She currently serves as treasurer of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, and recently she became one of the first physician anesthesiologists to earn board certification in pediatric anesthesiology. They have six children: Nick, Madelin, Alex, Drew, Kenzie and Sydney. The focus of Dr. Plagenhoef’s free time is his family. He and his wife are passionate about physical fitness. His hobbies include triathlon and Crossfit-influenced athletic training, food, wine, cooking and mentoring young people interested in health care careers.
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS®Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 52,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring that physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during, and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care that every patient deserves.
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter and use the hashtag #ANES2014.
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