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Celebrating Women in Medicine

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Please join the Los Angeles County Medical Association starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 28, for a very special event at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica – our annual Celebration of Women in Medicine! 

Sponsored by the Women Physicians Issues and Advocacy Committee (WPIAC), this event will honor women physicians in Los Angeles who have distinguished themselves in service to their patients and their profession. Our keynote speaker will be Valencia Walker, MD, MPH, the Assistant Dean of Equity and Diversity Inclusion at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. A neonatologist by training, Dr. Walker is a past president of the Association of Black Women Physicians, and has chaired the CMA Council on Legislation. She is a nationally recognized expert on the subject of unconscious bias.

This year’s honorees include:

  • Anna Yap, MD, a resident in emergency medicine at UCLA Ronald Reagan - Olive View, will receive the “Rising Star of Physician Leadership Award” for her work as an active participant and upcoming leader in organized medicine. Currently, Dr. Yap serves as the Member at Large of the American Medical Association Resident and Fellows Governing Council, Executive Committee Member of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), At-Large Officer of the California Medical Association Resident and Fellow Governing Council, President-Elect of Cal-ACEP/EMRA, and will soon start her term on the California ACEP Board of Directors and the Los Angeles County Medical Society Board of Directors.
  • Elaine Batchlor, MD, MPH, will receive the Rose Talbot Bullard Award as a “Woman Physician Champion and Trailblazer.” She is the founding chief executive officer of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, which opened in 2015. Dr. Batchlor was the driving force behind the effort to open the new, community-oriented, safety-net hospital providing compassionate, quality care to improve the health of the South Los Angeles community. Throughout her career, Dr. Batchlor’s priority has been to improve access and quality of care for underserved communities, and her work has been recognized as an example of leading best practices and adopted throughout California.
  • Christina Ghaly, MD, will receive the award for “Extraordinary and Inspirational Achievement”. Dr. Ghaly, an internist, was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors as the Director of the Department of Health Services (DHS) on September 25, 2018 after having served in the role as Acting Director since October 2017. In this capacity, Dr. Ghaly has had responsibility for overseeing the operations of the County’s four public hospitals and 23 outpatient clinics. She leads strategic, operational, and clinical/financial initiatives critical to DHS’ financial health and continued transformation in an era of health reform.

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Wells Fargo

Cooperative of American Physicians

Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital

The Institute for Medical Leadership

WESTPAC Wealth Partners

This event is free to members of LACMA; $25 for guests of members; $50 for nonmembers. Please contact Lisa Le, lisa@lacmanet.org, for further information and to RSVP for the event.