American Association for Physician Leadership® announces new members of the board of directors, new board chair

TAMPA, Florida – The American Association for Physician Leadership® announces three accomplished physician leaders have been elected by the membership as new members of its board of directors and a new physician leader will take the helm of the board. The announcements came April 18 during the association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hoda Asmar, MD, MBA, CPE, FACPE, FACP, will be chair of the board of directors. Asmar is a senior physician executive who has held chief medical officer positions for health systems across the United States. Most recently, she held the role of senior vice president and chief medical officer for Comprehensive Pharmacy Services, based in Memphis, Tennessee. She served previously as vice chair of the board.

The new board members are:

Bret Burton, MD, MBA, CPE, FACPE, commander, 375th Medical Group, Scott Air Force Base, St. Clair County, Illinois

Laura Clapper, MD, MPPA, CPE, regional VP medical executive, Anthem Inc., San Diego, California

Greg Jolissaint, MD, MS, CPE, FACPE, director of quality, safety and improvement, Maryland Veterans Administration Health Care System, Baltimore, Maryland

“We are pleased to have this talented group of physicians add to the strength of our board,” said Peter Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, MCCM, president and CEO of the association. “This election continues to reinforce our goal of having the many skills represented within health care reflected in our board.”

The board of directors is made up of fellows or distinguished fellows of the association or members attaining a master’s degree with an association partner university. Candidates are nominated by their peers. A slate of candidates is brought before the membership in an online election in the first quarter of the year. Board members serve four-year terms.

***

About Bret Burton

Burton, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, is CEO of the 375th Medical Group, a multi-specialty ambulatory care center that serves beneficiaries in the metro St. Louis area. He also oversees graduate medical residencies in general dentistry and family medicine and provides global medical support to the U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command for the Defense and State departments. He is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He earned his MD at the University Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, Texas, and trained in pediatrics at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, San Antonio.

About Laura Clapper

Clapper is regional vice president for the western division of health insurer Anthem Inc., based in San Diego, California. She is responsible for its population-based strategy and oversight of medical management programs. She also is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at UC San Diego Medical Center. She previously served leadership roles in medicine and technology at clinics, hospitals, medical groups and health plans. She served in the U.S. Navy. She earned her MD at the Uniformed Services University and master’s in health economics from Claremont Graduate University in California.

About Greg Jolissaint

Jolissaint joined the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System as director for quality, safety and improvement in January. He previously was chief medical officer and senior clinical advisor for the military and veterans health services sector of General Dynamics Information Technology in metro Washington, D.C. He served in the Army stateside and abroad as an executive and operational medicine physician, retiring as a colonel. He earned his MD at the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. His MS is from Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, in Washington, D.C.

– About the American Association for Physician Leadership®

The American Association for Physician Leadership® is the preeminent U.S.-based organization for physician leaders worldwide. The association, formerly known as the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE), serves physicians at all stages of their careers through leadership education, career support and policy advocacy. Since its founding in 1975, it has grown to more than 11,000 members, including CEOs, chief medical officers and other top leaders. They hail from 46 nations worldwide. The association is known for its award-winning bi-monthly magazine, PLJ, and its other publications as well as for world-class leadership education, available to member and nonmember physicians. Its continuing medical education (CME) courses, offered online and at live conferences, can be applied to advanced degrees and certifications and are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Learn more online at physicianleaders.org, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., on Twitter at @physicianslead or call 800-562-8088.