The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) has announced the recipients of its 2015 Medal of Excellence.  The AAKP Medal of Excellence is the Association’s highest honor for health care professionals. The award recognizes visionaries whose insight and perseverance have led to dramatic advances that improve patient care.

For the first time in the Association’s history, the award program has expanded to include all members of the health care team.  The 2015 Medal of Excellence Award winners are:

• Alan R. Hull, MD (Fort Worth, TX)– Physician Category
• Alvin Moss, MD (Morgantown, WV) – Physician Category
• Gail Wick, RN (Atlanta, GA) – Nurse Category
• Rebecca Wingard, RN (Signal Mountain, TN) – Nurse Category
• Mark Neumann (Scottsdale, AZ) – Special Recognition Category

“This year’s Medal of Excellence Award winners represent the ingenuity and imagination that represent the great strides that have been made in the kidney health care arena”, stated AAKP President Paul Conway. “These individuals have been advocates for improving health outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction and making health care more assessable. We are proud to present these men and women with the AAKP Medal of Excellence Award.”

A selection committee comprised of highly renowned leaders in the renal community, members of the AAKP Medical Advisory Board and past Medal of Excellence recipients chose the honorees. Recipients are national and international figures who have been in the forefront of scientific advances in kidney care.

Alan R. Hull, MD is a recognized worldwide leader in the field of nephrology. Dr. Hull serves as President of Renal Management, Inc. and Chief Medical Advisor for NxStage Medical, Inc.  Dr. Hull’s medical career spans more than 50 years. He is a graduate of The University of Manitoba Medical School and he completed a medical residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver, CO. Dr. Hull has served as President of the National Kidney Foundation, Renal Physicians of Texas, and as public policy chairman with the American Society of Transplant Physicians.

Alvin H. Moss, MD, is the Director of the Center for Health Ethics and Law and a Professor of Medicine at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Moss is a practicing internist, nephrologist, and palliative care specialist. His interest in medical ethics grew out of his involvement with renal dialysis and transplantation. Dr. Moss is the Executive Director of the West Virginia Center for End-of-Life Care and is certified by the American Medical Association’s Education Program for Physicians in End-of-Life Care (EPEC). He chaired the working group of the Renal Physicians Association and the American Society of Nephrology that developed the clinical practice guideline, “Shared Decision Making in the Appropriate Initiation of and Withdrawal from Dialysis.”

Rebecca Wingard, RN is Vice-President of Innovations Group for Fresenius Medical Care North America. Ms. Wingard is a graduate of LaRoche College and received her Masters of Science in Nursing at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.  Ms. Wingard has been involved in patient care for more than 30 years.  She’s a tireless patient advocate and her compassion for patients has led her to work collaboratively with patients and fellow health care professionals to truly see patients as the most important member of the health care team, and she values their right to the highest quality of life possible.

Gail Wick, RN is a nephrology nurse with more than 40 years of experience in patient care and policy issues. Ms. Wick served as vice president for nursing services at DaVita, Inc., where she was responsible for the nursing staff, care and practice for more than 500 dialysis facilities. Ms. Wick also worked for Fresenius Medical Care North America as vice president of quality management.  Ms. Wick is an active member of the American Nephrology Nurses Association, serving as its President for two terms. Ms. Wick is the Secretary for the American Kidney Fund Board of Trustees.

Mark E. Neumann is the Executive Editor at Nephrology News and Issues (NN&I).  Using the power of the pen, Mr. Neumann has been a vehicle to inform patients and providers of the latest news and development in the kidney community.  For more nearly 30 years, Mr. Neumann and his colleagues at NN&I has provided a forum for the exchange of ideas among the professionals responsible for the delivery of care to kidney disease patients.  Mr. Neumann has led NN&I’s efforts to not only cover, but offer opportunities for commentary on stories while they are still developing, giving the renal community a resource for the latest developments in renal care.

The Medal of Excellence winners will be recognized throughout the 2015 year.  The first recognition event is the Medal of Excellence Award Dinner taking place at the Renal Physicians Association (RPA) Annual Meeting, Friday, March 20, at the Hilton Baltimore. This program will recognize Drs. Hull and Moss from AAKP’s Physician Category.  Tickets to attend the dinner may be purchased for $125/each on the AAKP website or by calling 813-400-2395.  Fellow colleagues, members of the renal community and RPA meeting attendees are encouraged to join in honoring the distinguished physician recipients and helping AAKP continue its mission to improve the quality of life for kidney patients through education, advocacy, and the fostering or patient communities.

For additional information on this year’s award recipients, recognition events scheduled to honor the awardees, or to sponsor the 2015 Medal of Excellence program, please visit www.aakp.org/community/programs-events or contact Diana Clynes, Director of Programs and Services, at dclynes@aakp.org or (813) 400-2391.

AAKP is a voluntary non-profit organization founded by kidney patients, which for 45 years, has been dedicated to improving the quality of life of kidney patients through education, advocacy and the fostering of patient communities. The programs offered by AAKP inform and inspire patients and their families to better understand their condition, adjust more readily to their circumstances, and assume more normal, productive lives in their communities.