Colleen Kraft makes bid for AAP presidency
Colleen Kraft, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and medical director of the Health Network by Cincinnati Children’s is hoping she’ll get your vote this fall. She is running for president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Her opponent is Michael T. Brady, MD, FAAP, professor of pediatrics and associate medical director at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Kraft has practiced pediatrics for 26 years and has a broad range of experience, including chairing the advisory board for the AAP’s Head Start National Center on Health. She also serves on the AAP Task Force on Pediatric Practice Change and the National Medical Home Initiative Project Advisory Committee. Before coming to Cincinnati Children’s, she was president of the AAP Virginia Chapter (2006-‘08), during which she worked with state lawmakers to boost Medicaid reimbursement rates for pediatric services.
Most importantly, she has been a primary care pediatrician who understands the challenges she and her colleagues face.
“The rate of childhood poverty is at its highest in two decades,” says Kraft. “Families are struggling with increasing economic and environmental threats. Pediatricians feel discouraged by all these changes, including excessive data entry in systems that do not communicate; programs designed to improve care that actually distract from care; measures dissociated from how pediatricians practice; screening for multiple determinants while developing a therapeutic relationship with a family; and managing all this in an era of increasing market competition from sources of questionable quality.
“My goal is to empower pediatricians on behalf of kids.”
You can read more about Kraft and Brady in AAP News, including their complete position statements. The election will be conducted online only beginning Friday, October 21, through Monday, November 21, at noon (CT). Voting information and a personalized link to the election ballot will be emailed in October. If you have questions about election procedures, contact Katie Friedman at kfriedman@aap.org or 800-433-9016, ext. 4296.
