Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

fulltime position of AAO-HNS/F EVP beginning in February 2000. Then-President John G. Campbell, MD, wrote in his February 2000 Bulletin column, “I cannot let this month pass without letting our membership know what a terrific job Neil O. Ward, MD, has done on our behalf. His skills and perceptions have been appreciated by staff at headquarters. His devotion to duty has kept him in colder climates than that of his Arizona home. He has executed the duties of this office in an exemplary manner, consistently. He has tackled some tough problems and resolved them. He has brought solid leadership to our forward progress into the year 2000.” Dr. Ward bid farewell as Interim EVP in the March 2000 Bulletin writing, “It has been my good fortune and great privilege to serve as your Academy’s Interim Executive Vice President for the past six months. I have deep appreciation and heartfelt admiration for the staff whose labor for and dedication to our specialty make so many good things possible in our professional lives.” He also offered a few lessons and insights garnered from his brief time in office: “Focus is essential. Our mission is straightforward. We make patients healthier.” “Priorities are important.” “Brevity is desirable. A one page letter is more likely to be read than a multipage communiqué.” “Change is inevitable. Expanding knowledge and advancing technology guarantee change in medicine.” “Integrity is more than a virtue.” And “the golden rule is golden. This holds true in medical practice as well as anywhere else. Perhaps it works best in medicine.” Following an organizational review conducted in the spring of 2000 by the American Society of Association Executives, it was determined that AAO-HNS/F could benefit from having a Deputy EVP for Special Projects and Dr. Ward was hired. The position transitioned to Deputy EVP at the end of 2000 and was held by Dr. Ward through October 2005. When Dr. Holt announced his resignation in December 2001, Dr. Ward once again filled in as Interim EVP until David R. Nielsen, MD, assumed the EVP role in July 2002. Fittingly, the AAO-HNS/F fifth-floor conference room in the Alexandria headquarters was named the “Barbara and Neil Ward, MD, MALS, Conference Center” to recognize and honor the couple’s years of hard work and dedication to the organization and its members, and for advancing the specialty.

as an Academy; for those without data are at the mercy of those with bad or misleading data.” “I got a call from [then-President Harold (Rick) C. Pillsbury III, MD] during that time, and I agreed to return to Alexandria as the Interim EVP, on Rick’s invitation,” Dr. Ward recalled when interviewed. “But I told Rick that I was not a candidate for the EVP and that I would come back for only two months during the EVP search. And of course, you know, that proved not to be true.” During his time as Interim EVP, Dr. Ward recognized that advancing technology, most notably in the form of the internet, and the vast expansion of knowledge would guarantee dramatic changes in medicine, otolaryngology, and the delivery of healthcare. With greater access to care, many physicians came to feel overwhelmed in their practices due to reduced time available to spend with each patient coupled with increased recording and reporting requirements. ENTLink, an AAO-HNS/F subscription-based, members-only website, was launched during this time. ENTLink provided members an interactive, branded portal or gateway to browse the internet. It also linked otolaryngologists to the public as well as to the profession by enabling an active communication channel to and from the Academy. The Search Committee, chaired by Dr. Pillsbury, selected G. Richard Holt, MD, MPH, to assume the months. I have deep appreciation and heartfelt admiration for the staff whose labor for and dedication to our specialty make so many good things possible in our professional lives.” It has been my good fortune and great privilege to serve as your Academy’s Interim Executive Vice President for the past six

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