Awards Program
As part of our mission the Foundation recognizes the outstanding contributions of our members to post-acute and long-term care medicine with the following annual awards:
- Clinician of the Year Award
- Medical Director of the Year Award
- William Dodd Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service
- James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education
Each award has its own nomination and selection criteria and procedures. Please visit each individual award for more information.
Award Nominations opening soon.
2027 Award Winners will be announced at PALTC27 – PALTmed’s Annual Conference , Spring 2027.
2027 Nominations are opening soon and run until September 30, 2026.
Clinician of the Year Award
Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP
The Clinician of the Year Award is the newest of the Society honors, designed to recognize interdisciplinary team members in PALTC settings. It specifically honors a licensed healthcare practitioner who is directly involved in treating and caring for people in this care setting and embodies care excellence.
The recipient of this year’s award is Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP.
Dr. Galik is a nurse practitioner in long-term care and community-based settings through clinical practice with the Sheppard Pratt Health System. In addition, she is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, where she teaches in the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program and conducts research to improve care practices for older adults with dementia and their caregivers in long-term care. She has written for a wide variety of publications and served as editor-in-chief of Caring for the Ages from 2020 to 2025.
Like her fellow award recipients, Dr. Galik is honored and humbled to be selected as Clinician of the Year. She notes, “My clinical practice with older adults living with dementia in post-acute and long-term care settings has always inspired and informed my scholarly and educational pursuits. Working with residents, families, and the interdisciplinary team has been the highlight of my career, and to be recognized for this work by a professional organization that values clinical practice is truly meaningful.”
2025 AWARD WINNER VIDEO
PAST WINNERS
Recipients of the Clinician of the Year Award
2026 Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP
2025 Howard Finger, DO
2024 Lisa Lind, PhD, ABPP
2023 Vikas Reddy, MD
2022 Nicole Brandt, PharmD, MBA, CGP, BCPP
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
- PALTmed member in good standing
- Licensed practitioners providing direct care in PALTC settings including physicians, advanced practice providers, mental health practitioners, social workers, physical or occupational therapists (ie. Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, PharmD).
- Settings of practice including skilled nursing facility, private practice/practice management group, assisted living, or Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
HOW TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 Clinician of the Year award by completing the information requested below. Nominations for the Clinician of the Year award are due September 30, 2025.
Nomination letters should be submitted in a Word document, double-spaced using Arial font size 11, not to exceed 3 pages. Once complete, you may upload this with the nominee’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV) on the nomination site at paltcfoundation.org.
To aid you in the preparation for your nomination, it is recommended that you contact the nominee to inquire into the specific activities or examples as required in clinical skills, collaboration, advocacy, and leadership, and to obtain their
current CV.
- Narrative & Nominee Professional Information (Required): Please list address the categories listed below with specific examples thathighlight why this person should be selected.
- Clinical skills– competence through continuing education, including ethical and social issues, exemplary
interaction with patients/residents and families - Collaboration with other members of the team
- Advocacy
- Leadership
- Please include quotes or information from others in support of your nomination.
CLINICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD APPLICATION
*Required: You may nominate an individual for the 2026 Clinician of the Year Award by completing the information requested below.
Clinician of the Year 2026 Nomination Form
Medical Director of the Year Award
Iris Boettcher, MD, CMD
The Medical Director of the Year Award recognizes those individuals whose vision, passion, leadership, knowledge, and commitment succeed in taking patient care to exceptional levels of quality, excellence, and innovation.
Iris Boettcher, MD, CMD, is the recipient of the 2026 Medical Director of the Year Award.
A past president of PALTmed – Michigan (formerly known as MIMDA), Dr. Boettcher serves as a medical director at a number of facilities, including The Inn at Freedom Village in Holland, MI, and Corewell Health West (formerly Spectrum Health) Rehab and Nursing Centers. She is also a clinical associate professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Medicine, College of Human Medicine.
“I am humbled to receive this recognition from the Foundation for PALTC Medicine. I joined AMDA as a fellow in geriatric medicine in 1989 and have gained so much from this organization we now call PALTmed,” Dr. Boettcher says. “It is an incredible honor to be named Medical Director of the Year. It is, in my opinion, one of the highest awards to be given to a physician in long-term care medicine.”
2025 AWARD WINNER VIDEO
PAST WINNERS
Recipients of the Medical Director of the Year Award
2026 Iris Boettcher, MD, CMD
2025 William Carl Mercer, MD, CMD
2024 Dallas Nelson, MD, FACP, CMD
2023 Rani Rao, MD, FMCP, CMD
2022 Swati Gaur, MD, MBA, CMD
2021 Leslie Beth Eber, MD, CMD
2020 Fred Feinsod, MD, CMD
2019 Charles Crecelius MD, PhD, CMD
2018 Eric Hasemeier, DO, MBA, CMD
2017 Joshua Schor, MD, CMD
2016 David A. LeVine, MD, CMD
2015 Patricia A. Chace, MD, CMD
2014 Sandra Liliana Oakes, MD CMD
2013 Rocco Vivenzio, MD, CMD
2012 Noel DeBacker, MD, CMD
2011 Sabine von Preyss-Friedman, MD, CMD
2010 Robert Schreiber, MD, CMD
2009 Rebecca L. Ferrini MD, MPH, CMD
2008 J. Kenneth Brubaker, MD, CMD
2007 Timothy Malloy, MD, CMD
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
- A physician in good standing with the community and profession
- A PALTmed member
- A Certified Medical Director (CMD)
- An experienced medical director (3 or more years)
- An experienced attending physician in a nursing facility(ies)
- A proven team leader
- A proven clinical leader
- Involved in community activities
- An effective educator
HOW TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 Medical Director of the Year award by completing the information requested below. Nominations for the Medical Director of the Year award are due September 30, 2025.
The nomination letter should be submitted in a Word document, double-spaced using Arial font size 11, using this form as a guide to complete and not exceed three pages. Once complete, you may upload this with the nominee’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Narrative:
- Experience in Years
- Service History – Facilities served and dates of service as medical director.
- Include quotes or information from other facility leaders (e.g., Administrator and DON) in
support of your nomination application. - Incorporated psych-emotional components (e.g., How he/she makes staff, colleagues, and
patients feel)
Describe in detail activities and examples of success with measured outcomes when available in each of the categories.
- Medical Director Activities –: team leader, clinical leader, staff education, and community involvement
- Team leadership – e.g. established a wound care team
- Clinical leadership – e.g. implemented practice guidelines on falls prevention
- Education of facility staff – e.g. in-service topics, state or national presentations
- Community involvement – e.g. represents and supports the facility in the broader medical community, holds monthly advance directives clinics at the local senior center
To aid you in the preparation for your nomination it is recommended that you contact the nominee to inquire into the specific activities or examples as required in clinical skills, collaboration, advocacy, and leadership, and to obtain their CV.
Before you get started, consider the following:
- Review PALTmed’s Role and Responsibilities of the Medical Director and compile examples of how your medical director fulfills these.
- Cite examples of how your medical director collaborates with the interdisciplinary team.
- Gather examples of the everyday contributions he/she makes as well as extraordinary and exceptional contributions.
MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD APPLICATION
*Required Fields
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 Medical Director of the Year Award by completing the information requested below.
Medical Director of the Year 2026 Nomination Form
William Dodd Founder’s Award
2026 William Dodd Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service
Thomas Lehner, MD, FAAFP, CMD
The William Dodd Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service recognizes significant contributions to building the Society’s organizational strength, image, and mission by promoting the development of competent, compassionate, and committed health care practitioners. It is named for the Society’s founder, William Dodd, MD, CMD, who also served as the organization’s first president in 1978.
Thomas Lehner, MD, FAAP, is the recipient of the 2026 William Dodd Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service.
With more than 34 years of experience in primary care and post-acute and long-term care
medicine, Dr. Lehner is currently a medical director for Buckeye Health Plan and Gentiva Hospice. He has been a member of PALTmed/AMDA since 1996 and has served on the Board of Directors and the Governance and Finance Committees. He is a past president of OMDA – The Ohio Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine and is the co-CMO of the Ohio Department of Aging’s R3AP Program.
“I was without words when I learned that I was the recipient of the William Dodd Founder’s Award. I am deeply honored to be recognized by my colleagues at PALTMed and very grateful for this special award. I never imagined being chosen to receive this award from among so many dedicated and deserving colleagues,” Dr. Lehner says. “PALTmed has been my professional home for almost three decades. I appreciate the opportunity to have served and worked with so many professionals over the years who are dedicated to caring for the patient population that we serve, and who make a difference in their lives.”
2025 AWARD WINNER VIDEO
PAST WINNERS
Recipients of the William Dodd Founder’s Award for Distinguished Service
2026 Thomas Lehner, MD, FAAFP
2025 Victoria Walker, MD, FAAFP, CMD
2024 Alice Bonner, PhD, RN, FAAN
2023 Arif Nazir, MD, CMD
2022 Michael Wasserman, MD, CMD
2021 Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP
2020 Keith Rapp, MD, CMD
2019 David Smith, MD, CMD
2018 Paul Katz, MD, CMD
2017 Jonathan Musher, MD, CMD
2016 Karyn Leible, MD, CMD
2015 J. Kenneth Brubaker, MD, CMD
2014 Jeffrey Burl, MD, CMD
2013 Paul Drinka, MD, CMD
2012 Steven Levenson, MD, CMD
2011 William D. Smucker, MD, CMD
2010 Charles Crecelius, MD, PhD, FACP, CMD
2009 Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD
2008 Charles A. Cefalu, MD, MS
2007 Daniel Osterweil, MD, MscEd, CMD
2006 Leonard Gelman, MD, CMD
2005 James E. Lett II, MD, CMD
2004 Randall Huss, MD, CMD
2003 Dennis Stone, MD, MBA, CMD
2002 Keith Krein, MD, CMD
2001 Cheryl Phillips, MD, CMD
2000 Eric Tangalos, MD, CMD
1999 Monte J. Levinson, MD, CMD
1998 Nicholas Owen, MD, CMD
1997 William Dodd, MD, CMD
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
- A physician, physician assistant, or advanced nurse practitioner in good standing with the community and profession.
- Active in the field of post-acute & long-term care.
- PALTmed member in good standing.
- Not a current officer on the PALTmed or Foundation boards.
HOW TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 William Dodd Founder’s Award by completing the nomination form. The 2026 Dodd award will be presented at PALTC26 – PALTmed’s annual conference.
Nominations for the William Dodd Founder’s Award are due September 30, 2025.
Nomination letters should be submitted in a Word document, double-spaced using Arial font size 11, using this form as a guide to complete and not to exceed 2 pages. Once complete, you may upload this with the nominee’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Narrative: Provide specific contributions and examples that the nominee has made to build the organizational strength, image, and mission of PALTmed, and advance the Association’s goals to improve care delivered to patients throughout the long-term care continuum. Include quotes or information provided by others in support of your nomination as appropriate.
To aid you in the preparation for your nomination it is recommended that you contact the nominee to inquire into the specific activities or examples as required in this nomination and leadership, and to obtain their CV.
WILLIAM DODD AWARD APPLICATION
*Required Fields*
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 William Dodd Founder’s Award by completing the information requested below.
William Dodd Founders Award 2026 Form
James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education
2026 James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education
Sing Palat, MD, CMD
The James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education recognizes significant contributions to enhance PALTmed’s educational structure and framework, to advance education specific to PALTC practice, and to promote PALTmed leadership via educational endeavors within the LTC continuum. It was established to honor James Pattee, MD, CMD, the father of the PALTmed Certification Program and the Core Curriculum program.
Sing Palat, MD, CMD is the 2026 recipient of the James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education.
Dr. Palat is a medical director with Senior Community Care for Optum Health and an attending physician at LTC Rehab Consultants. She is active on several PALTmed committees and subcommittees and has been president of PALTmed – Colorado since 2021, and has co-chaired the state organization’s annual conference for the last few years. In addition, the PALTmed Choosing Wisely 2025 recommendations were created under Dr. Palat’s leadership. She also supports clinical education for practitioners in Colorado and nationally, and is an associate adjunct professor for the University of Colorado Division of Geriatric Medicine.
“Nelson Mandela said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ I wish that the mentors and educators who have influenced my journey knew how much they mean to me,” Dr. Palat notes. “In my community, education ranges from gestures of ‘Let me know if I can help’ to brilliant publications and webinars shared nationally. I love that PALTmed members teach and inspire each other, our patients, and the community. Thank you for this award.”
2025 AWARD WINNER VIDEO
2025 James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education – Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD
PAST WINNERS
Recipients of the James Pattee Award for Exellence in Education
2026 Sing Palat, MD, CMD
2025 Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD
2024 Charles Crecelius, MD, PhD, FACP, CMD
2023 Philip Sloane, MD, MPH and Sheryl Zimmerman, Phd
2022 Peter Jaggard, MD, CMD, FACP
2021 Michele F. Bellantoni, MD, CMD
2020 Robert Kaplan, MD, CMD
2019 Naushira Pandya, MD, CMD
2018 Jeffrey B. Burl, MD, CMD
2017 Matthew S. Wayne, MD, CMD
2016 Verna Reynolds Sellers, MD, CMD
2015 Jonathan Evans, MD, MPH, CMD
2014 Heidi White, MD, MHS, MEd, CMD
2013 Leslie S. Libow, MD, CMD
2012 Paul Katz, MD, CMD
2011 John E. Morley, MB, BCH
2010 Cari Levy, MD, PhD, CMD
2009 Cheryl L. Phillips MD, CMD, AGSF
2008 Leonard Gelman, MD, CMD
2007 Daniel L. Swagerty, MD, MPH, CMD
2006 Catherine Kiley, DO, CMD
2005 David Brechtelsbauer, MD, CMD
2004 Janice Knebl, DO, CMD
2003 Michael Maddens, MD, CMD
2002 Jonathan Musher, MD, CMD
2001 Alva Baker III, MD, CMD
2000 David A. Smith, MD, FAAFP, CMD
1999 Larry Lawhorne, MD, CMD
1998 Steven A. Levenson, MD, CMD
1997 James Pattee, MD, CMD
AWARD ELIGIBILITY
- A physician, physician assistant or advanced nurse practitioner in good standing with the community and profession.
- Active in the field of post-acute & long-term care.
- PALTmed member in good standing.
- Not a current officer on the PALTmed or Foundation boards.
HOW TO SUBMIT A NOMINATION
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education by completing the nomination form. The 2026 Pattee award will be presented at PALTC26 – PALTmed’s Annual Conference.
Nominations for the James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education are due on September 30, 2025.
Nomination letters should be submitted in a Word document, double-spaced using Arial font size 11, using this form as a guide to complete and do not exceed 2 pages. Once complete, you may upload this with the nominee’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Narrative: Provide specific contributions and examples that the nominee has made to advance the educational goals of PALTmed, and as a leader in PALTC education across the PALTC continuum. Include quotes or information provided by others in support of your nomination as appropriate.
To aid you in the preparation for your nomination it is recommended that you contact the nominee to inquire into the specific activities or examples as required in this nomination and leadership, and to obtain their CV.
JAMES PATTEE AWARD APPLICATION
*Required Fields
You may nominate an individual for the 2026 James Pattee Award for Excellence in Education by completing the information requested below.