Gayle Davies

Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology Committee
Joshua Rosenblum, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

Cardiac Surgery Committee
Michael Halkos, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr.
Allison Ward, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr.

Cardiovascular Committee
Puja Mehta, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr.
Amy Simone, PA-C, Chair Elect: 1 yr.
Kyle Fortman, MBA, PA-C, Member: 3 yr.

Critical Care Section Committee
Steven Hollenberg, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

Education Standards Committee
Priya Kohli, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

Health Affairs Committee
J. Jeffrey Marshall, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

Lifelong Learning Committee
Patricia Keegan, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

Membership Committee
Anekwe Onwuanyi, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

NCDR Clinical Committee
Vinod Thourani, MD, FACC, Member: 3 yr

NCDR EP Registry Committee
Faisal Merchant, MD, FACC, Chair Elect: 1 yr

Women in Cardiology Committee
Gina Lundberg, MD, FACC, Chair: 1 yr

At the House Health Appropriations Committee hearing, H.B. 874 passed the committee unanimously. Dr. Jonathan Kim did an excellent job representing the GA ACC as Chairperson of our Sudden Cardiac Arrest Committee which places AED’s in all Georgia Schools (K-12, see video below). Thank you to House Health Committee Chairman, Rep. Lee Hawkins, for his support. The bill now moves to the House rules committee.

Watch Video

#ACCAdvocacy joined clinicians & staff from other medical specialty organizations to discuss prior auth, clinician wellness, telehealth & more at @AmerMedicalAssn's State Advocacy Summit.

📸: Dr. J. Jeffrey Marshall & @DrAliceMann on panel talking non-compete reform legislation pic.twitter.com/qxgPUOgdSC

— ACC Advocacy (@Cardiology) January 16, 2024

Dear Georgia Chapter,

We had another exciting and impactful annual ACC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC from Oct 15-17. This year we had more than 400 attendees spanning the entire cardiovascular care team, including more than 130 first-time attendees and 9 members of our own Georgia Chapter! I had a great time co-moderating a lively discussion between former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill and former White House staffer Mary Matalin at our HeartPAC Fundraiser dinner on Sunday evening. On Monday we attended sessions covering the current political landscape, ACC’s advocacy priorities, and strategies for meeting with lawmakers. We then convened on Capitol Hill and met directly with nearly 300 congressional offices about policies impacting patient access to care, clinician well-being and workforce, and improving heart health for all.

I am proud of all we achieved there, including raising nearly $40,000 for HeartPAC, ACC’s political action committee, with over 80% of conference attendees contributing. We also had tremendous impact with our voices on Capitol Hill, with The Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act seeing an increase of 62.5% in congressional co-sponsors, and the GOLD Card Act with an increase of 37.5% in congressional co-sponsors immediately following the Conference.

If you are interested in learning more about advocacy for our cardiovascular patients and practices, HeartPAC will have a table later this month at our annual Chapter Meeting, or you can learn more about our legislative priorities or make a contribution here: https://www.heartpac.org/home.aspx. Please save the date for next year’s conference in DC from Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2024, and remember Georgia ACC will cover $1000 in travel expenses for all member attendees. Our goal is to double the size of the Georgia Delegation and we will need your help!

If you have any questions I would love to hear from you, and you may contact me via email at pschafer@augusta.edu.

Pascha E. Schafer, MD, FACC
Vice-chair, HeartPAC
Advocacy Chair and Secretary-Treasurer, Georgia Chapter

Byron R. Williams, Jr., MD | Emory Heart & Vascular Center

Dr. Byron R. Williams, Jr. is a native of South Carolina who received his undergraduate degree from The Citadel in 1970 and his medical degree from the University of Florida in 1974. He
 did his internal medicine residency at Carolinas Medical Center
in Charlotte, NC.

In 1977, he came to Emory University for his cardiology fellowship under the tutelage of Drs. Willis Hurst, Bruce Logue, Bob Schlant, Nanette Wenger and others. He also did a fellowship in the emerging field of nuclear cardiology at Yale University in 1979-80 with Drs. Barry Zaret and Franz Wackers.

From 1980-1984, he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory University’s Crawford Long Hospital where he helped establish their non-invasive cardiology program. From 1984 to 1993, he was a member of the Atlanta Cardiology Group at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. During that period in private practice, he remained on the Emory faculty and volunteered as an attending in the Grady Memorial Hospital cardiology clinic. In 1993, he returned to Emory Crawford Long Hospital (later renamed Emory University Hospital Midtown) and was named the Linton Bishop Professor of Medicine and served at the Chief of Cardiology. In 2002, he became the Martha West Looney Professor of Medicine and served as the Chief of Medicine at EUHM. In 2013, he returned to Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital and served as the clinical chief of cardiology until 2021.

He has mentored countless Emory medical students, internal medicine residents, cardiology fellows and junior faculty over his distinguished career. In 2012, he was awarded the Wadley R. Glenn, MD Award recognizing his contributions to EUHM and his distinguished service to Emory Healthcare. In 2018, he received the Napier Burson, MD Award for his years of distinguished service to Emory Saint Josph’s Hospital.

He has been married to the former Barbara Scanlon of Melbourne, FL since 1972. He is the proud father of five children and twelve grandchildren.

This award will be presented Saturday evening at the President’s Reception and Dinner.

Dear Georgia Chapter,

Congratulations! We have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen round of the HeartPAC March Mayhem Challenge. Thank you to all who have contributed thus far this year, and especially to those who have either given for the first time this year during the contest or encouraged your colleagues to do so. We are poised to win it all, including a full scholarship for a Georgia FIT to the annual Legislative Conference when we make the Final Four, and an opportunity for all chapter members to participate in an intimate advocacy discussion with our own members of Congress when we take the final prize.

There is still work to do for us to continue to advance, so please reach out to colleagues and encourage them to join in the competition. As reminder, no giving amount is too small, as advancement to the Elite Eight is based on the number of new contributors for this calendar year rather than dollar amount. Every single dollar contributed supports our advocacy efforts to improve patient access and outcomes and to sustain our practices. Make your contribution today at this link: https://auth.acc.org/ACCFederatedLogin/Login?src=DDC&SP=DDC&targeturl=https://www.heartpac.org/default.aspx#

Go ACC Georgia!

Sincerely,

Pascha E. Schafer, MD, FACC
Vice-Chair, HeartPAC
Secretary-Treasurer and Advocacy Chair, Georgia Chapter