Michael Weaver, MD, Receives KCMS 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award; Other Awards Presented

Jim Braibish • Nov 05, 2021

The Kansas City Medical Society congratulates the following recipients of our 2021 Awards, presented at the 2021 KCMS Annual Meeting on October 26 :

(NOTE: Masks were worn at the meeting but removed for these presentation photos.)

Lifetime Achievement Award – Michael Weaver, MD, FACEP, CDM

Recently retired from  Saint Luke’s Health System , Dr. Weaver has been a pioneer locally and nationally in the development of emergency care services for victims of sexual assault as well as other forms of abuse. He was medical director of forensic care services for Saint Luke’s Health System for 41 years until his retirement in July 2021. He also was founding co-chair of the Forensic Section of the American College of Emergency Physicians from 2006 to 2010.

Throughout his career, Dr. Weaver has championed the advancement of African Americans in medicine. He was the first Black student to complete the University of Missouri-Kansas City six-year medical school curriculum in 1977. For the past 15 years, he has led the Critical Mass Gathering event for Black students at Kansas City’s three area medical schools. More recently, he founded and continues to lead  Mission Vision Project KC , a nonprofit that aims to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the Kansas City health care workforce.


Friend of Medicine Award – Ruth Ramsey

Since 2005, she has published  Our Health Matters ,  a magazine providing valuable preventive health information to a wide audience representing the diversity of Kansas City.  Our Health Matters  works to improve health literacy and empower people to take charge of their health. Recent topics covered include cancer treatment and early diagnosis, the science behind COVID-19 vaccines, and better sleep health. More people are taking better care of themselves as a result of the information they gain from  Our Health Matters.


Community Service Award – Todd Beardman, MD, and Denny Fugate, PharmD

North Kansas City Hospital  chief medical chief information officer Dr. Todd Beardman and senior director of pharmacy Dr. Denny Fugate made major contributions to implementing the Operation SAFE COVID-19 vaccination program in Clay County from February to May of this year. They helped ensure that nearly 100,000 people received vaccinations.


Rising Star Award – Andrew Schlachter, MD

Since joining  Saint Luke’s Hospital   in 2015, Dr. Schlachter, a critical care physician, has assumed positions of greater responsibility including medical director of Respiratory Services and the Neurosciences ICU. He also has represented the hospital in dozens of media interviews on COVID-19. He also is the Saint Luke’s representative on the KCMS Leadership Council.


Patient and Community Advocate Award – Amy Patel, MD

Over the past three years, Dr. Patel has championed Missouri legislation that has increased insurance coverage for screening mammograms, thus helping more women detect potential cancer. She is medical director of the Breast Care Center at  Liberty Hospital .


Innovation Award – John Hagan, III, MD, FACS, FAAO

Dr. Hagan is an ophthalmologist with  Discover Vision Centers . Working with fellow ophthalmologist Dr. Carl Migliazzo, Dr. Hagan has published articles and conducted studies to advance the use of beta blocker eye drops and nasal sprays to provide relief for victims of acute migraines. This promising therapy awaits FDA approval.


Exemplary Leadership Award – Maninder Pabla, MD

Dr. Pabla is the founder, president and CEO of  ConnectCare Hospitalists . She has led her group in maintaining a high level of care at the eight area hospitals they serve, overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

See a list of past honorees.

22 Jan, 2024
To Members of the Kansas City Medical Society: Greetings, My name is Greg Unruh , and I am honored to be the President of the Society for 2024. By way of a short introduction, I practice anesthesiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I have been involved in and have held leadership positions in local, state, and national societies of organized medicine throughout the years, both in anesthesiology and non-anesthesiology societies. I was an officer in the Wy-Jo Medical Society when we merged with the Kansas City Medical Society and have remained on the Board throughout all of the reorganization. I am very proud of how far we have come, It has put us in position to speak for physicians on both sides of the state line. We have expanded our Leadership Council, and we have passionate members of our Board of Directors. I want to commend our Immediate Past President, Dr. Carole Freiberger for her leadership in 2023. She provided us with an optimistic, can-do Presidency that advanced the Society and the practice of medicine in the KC area, so thank you Carole! In addition, we have welcomed the steady leadership of our executive director, Mr. Micah Flint. We appreciate him keeping us on track and organizing our many activities. Several of the things I mention will be dealt with in more detail throughout this communication, but I wanted to highlight some the several areas the Board has chosen for our work this coming year: Advocacy We want to advocate on both sides of the state line working with both the Missouri State Medical and Kansas Medical Societies (MMSA and KMS) on behalf of physicians. On the Kansas side, the legislature is working on many issues that affect us including scope of practice, vaccinations, Medicaid reimbursement and Medicaid expansion. We are working with KMS to provide testimony and influence our legislative representatives. Support for our Foundation We want to support our crown jewel whole heartedly, the Kansas City Medical Society Foundation which continues to be a model for advocacy and education, as well as our charitable care program which provides immense benefits for our uninsured or under insured patients. The Foundation supported expansion of Medicaid on the Missouri side and is advocating tirelessly for expansion on the Kansas side. Ms. Karole Bradford is our Executive Director. Opioid abuse We have been working to help stem the tide of opioid abuse through education and visibility. We are in the process of putting together TikTok videos about the dangers of opioid abuse produced by local high school students and targeted at high school students at their level and their preferred communication platform. We also have activities targeted to school district officials and several of our Board members and members provide advice around opioid use disorder and school policies. Wellness and Suicide Prevention Our focus has been on removing the stigma that sometimes attaches to physicians help-seeking. We have been advocating for health systems and hospitals to remove credentialing language that could impede a physician from seeking help. Several systems are reviewing their language and are now trying to focus on current, not historical, mental health issues or substance use that could affect safe practice. We are also working to participate in Physician Suicide Awareness Day in September. Welcoming New Members If you are a current member, thank you! I hope you have found our activities to be meaningful for you and your practice. Please consider asking your colleagues to join our collective voices. If you are not a member, please consider joining-we’d love to have you! In conclusion, I’m excited about the year to come and look forward to hearing any and all thoughts and ideas for the Society moving forward. Thanks, and best regards, Greg
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