[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Sarah McConnell
Marketing & Communications Manager
813-400-2394
[email protected]
AAKP Names National Award Winners
Awardees Include National Leaders in Patient Advocacy, Government, Health-Care Policy and Medicine
Nashville, TN: The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) formally announced its slate of national health and advocacy award winners. AAKP is the nation’s oldest and largest independent kidney patient organization and works across the renal community to recognize excellence and commitment to patient care.
AAKP’s awards encompass two major categories. The first category includes Legacy Awards – awards that AAKP has extended to organizations and professionals for several decades. The second category encompasses Patient Engagement and Advocacy Awards – awards created over the course of the past several years through AAKP’s new Center for Patient Engagement and Advocacy as a means of recognizing the increased influence patients have on national policy-makers and healthcare deliberations.
“The patients and medical professionals that we have recognized through our Legacy and new Patient Engagement Awards are committed extending the lives and bettering health outcomes for all kidney patients. We honor and call attention to their service because we believe that everyone should be aware of the selfless service these individuals and organizations perform every day,” stated AAKP President Paul T. Conway.
Richard Knight, Vice President of AAKP and Chair of AAKP’s Policy Committee added, “excellence in the kidney community is defined by the characteristics of honesty, collaboration and sincere commitment to serving the best interest of patients and each of our 2016 award winners embodies these characteristics.”
The awards were presented at the 2016 AAKP National Patient Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Nearly 200 people including patients and healthcare professionals attended the meeting. The event featured renowned speakers from across the U.S. including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Board of Internal Medicine, Rogosin Institute, Vanderbilt University and many more. Throughout the meeting, the Association presented its annual awards to some of the most influential people within the kidney community.
Legacy Awards:
President’s Award
Mr. Rob Blaser, Renal Physicians Association
Samuel J. Orenstein Award
Lisa Hall, MSSW, LICSW
Peter Lundin, MD Award
Lou Diamond, MD
Dominick Gentile, MD Memorial Award
ESRD Network V
Kidney Patient Support Group of the Year Award
Bay Area Association of Kidney Patients
New Patient Engagement and Advocacy Awards:
AAKP National Media Award
Mr. Jerome Bailey, Assistant Communications Director at the National Coordinating Council for the End State Renal Networks and the former Director of Communications for AAKP was the recipient. Mr. Bailey was highly influential in AAKP’s efforts to gain Congressional approval of the HOPE ACT, legislation that provides for the transplantation of HIV positive organs into HIV patients
National Social Media Education & Advocacy Award
Mr. Kevin Fowler is the President of The Voice of the Patient, Inc. a Chicago-based organization Kevin founded to increase the influence of patients in rare disease research, clinical trials and national policy. Kevin has proven himself to be a social media influencer through his outstanding use of Twitter and other platforms.
National Patient Engagement & Advocacy Awards
Public Service – Dr. Priti R. Patel, MD, MPH, Medical Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dialysis Activity Leader within the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. Dr. Patel is responsible for the establishment of a new national coalition which will have a major beneficial effect on patients in the United States—the Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition – and oversees the Dialysis Event Surveillance system in NHSN and is a co-founder of CDC’s Dialysis Bloodstream Infection Prevention Collaborative.
Individual – Mr. David White, Chairs of the Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition (MARC) Patient Advisory Committee and a new AAKP Board member received the National Patient Engagement and Advocacy Award in the individual category. Mr White has been a tireless advocate on Capitol Hill and has served on several Technical Expert Panels for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Assistance (CMS) and the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Health Initiative’s Patient and Family Partnership Council.
Organization – HealthInsight ESRD Network 16, under the leadership of Executive Director Stephanie Hutchinson was the recipient. ESRD Network 16 serves 5 states in the Pacific Northwest, and is recognized for its commitment to patient centered care, improved clinical outcomes, and community relationships.
For more information about AAKP and its programs, visit www.aakp.org or call 1-800-749-2257.
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Founded in 1969, AAKP is the largest and oldest independent kidney patient organization in America. Governed by a patient-majority Board of Directors, AAKP conducts national education programs designed to better inform kidney patients, care-givers and policy-makers about the true impacts of kidney disease, prevention efforts and treatment methods. AAKP publishes RenalLife Magazine which has a circulation of over 20,000 and appears in over 5,000 dialysis centers. The organization executes a national advocacy strategy in conjunction with allied kidney organizations designed to insert the patient voice into proposed policies, research efforts and care deliberations before the Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
