Michigan Academy of Family Physicians Names Debra N. McGuire as CEO

Online, March 26, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The Board of Directors of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP)-the state's largest specialty physician association-has named Debra N. McGuire, MBA, IOM, CAE as its new chief executive officer. She will also serve as executive vice president of the MAFP Foundation.

McGuire comes to MAFP from the Michigan Townships Association where she served as director of communications and education for the past 13 years. Prior to her work there, she held key association management positions at the Michigan Manufacturers Association and the Michigan Pharmacists Association. She was also public relations specialist for Ingham Regional Medical Center (now McLaren-Greater Lansing Hospital, a subsidiary of the McLaren Health Care Corporation).

"We're delighted to welcome Debra McGuire to MAFP," said Dr. E. Christopher Bush, president of the Academy. "Her breadth and depth of experience in association management and communications should prove invaluable in achieving our goals, including the support of our members to continue their tremendous work in caring for millions of patients and the attraction of more physicians to family medicine at a time when Michigan faces a projected critical shortage of primary care doctors."

McGuire is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and currently serves as chairman of the CAE Commission in Washington, D.C. Previously, she chaired the CAE Item-Writing Committee and served on the CAE Exam Committee. She also was chairman of the American Society of Association Executives' Communication Section Council and has been recognized as an "Emerging New Leader" by the Michigan Society of Association Executives.

A graduate of Michigan State University's Honors College with a bachelor's degree from the College of Communications Arts and Sciences, McGuire was part of MSU's 1982 Women's Track & Field Big Ten Conference Championship Team, and she also competed internationally with the U.S. National Track & Field Team. McGuire holds a Master of Business Administration from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and was awarded the Institute of Organizational Management (IOM) designation in 2002, after completing the 4-year program offered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the University of Notre Dame.

"Having the opportunity to work with more than 3,000 dedicated family physicians throughout our state to help ensure the highest-quality, most cost-effective health care for patients is a role that I eagerly embrace," McGuire said. "Family physicians-working in concert with their patients and other stakeholders-are the key to keeping Michigan healthy as we usher in a new era in health care."

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For more information on the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians please visit us on the Web at www.mafp.com.