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MSMA Constitution & Bylaws/Policies

In 1850, when the inhabitants of Missouri were fighting scourges of typhoid, malaria, smallpox, and diphtheria, physicians assembled to “devise a plan by which the entire medical profession of the State can be brought together.” Matters of importance that year were the passage of a good medical practice act; the establishment of a uniform system of registering births, marriages, and deaths; the control of dispensing impure drugs and competent inspections of medicines; and a liberal preliminary education for those entering the study of medicine.

Since MSMA's creation, the Constitution and Bylaws and Policy Manual have reflected the changes and modernization of Missouri's medicine.


Meet MSMA's President and Leadership

MSMA 2023-2024 President: Lancer G. Gates, DO, FACOI

Lancer G. Gates, DO, FACOI, Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Internists, will serve as President of the Missouri State Medical Association in 2023-2024. He was formally in Kansas City, Missouri, April 1, 2023, during MSMA’s 165th Annual Convention.

Dr. Gates was born and raised in Columbia Cross Roads, Pennsylvania, the son of public school educators Wayne and Juanita Gates. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine from Pennsylvania State University. He matriculated medical school at the Andrew Taylor Still University in Kirksville, Missouri, obtaining a Doctor of Osteopathy degree in 1996. Dr. Gates then completed his internal medicine residency training at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Johnson City, New York. He is board certified in internal medicine by both the allopathic and osteopathic accrediting bodies.

Dr. Gates began general medicine practice in 1999 as an employed physician of Lourdes Hospital at Vestal Medical Associates in Vestal, New York, providing both outpatient and inpatient patient care. In 2001, Dr. Gates moved back to Missouri to provide inpatient and outpatient patient care at the Boulware Medical Clinic in Liberty, Missouri. His wife, Stacey, helped him incorporate Gates Hospitalists, and in December of 2002 this private hospitalist group began providing hospitalist care for patients at Liberty Hospital and North Kansas City Hospital. For the first year, he practiced alone 24/7 caring for patients while Stacey served as the practice manager. About a year later, his friend and medical school classmate, Rusty Bergman, DO, joined him, and together they continued to build the group. Nearly 21 years later the practice has grown to 11 board certified physicians, all MSMA members.

Dr. Gates has been a proponent of independent physician practice and was a founding member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Physicians Association (KCMPA). He served on the charter committee of CENTRUS, a quality initiative including KCMPA, North Kansas City Hospital, AdventHealth, and the University of Kansas Hospital. Today, he serves on the CENTRUS Health Payment Transformation Committee and is the co-chair of the CENTRUS Health Performance Improvement Sub-committee.

As an educator, Dr. Gates each year serves as a preceptor to nearly 20 third and fourth year medical students from the Kansas City University for their rotation in internal medicine. He has also served as a hospitalist consultant for Berkshire Hathaway’s Medical Protective medical malpractice insurance company.

A long time public servant, he served on Missouri Governor Matt Blunt’s Health Care Stabilization Fund Feasibility Board from 2007-2010. He served on the Clay County Judicial Selection Committee from 2008-2013. Since 2021 he has served as an elected member of the Clay County Public Health Department Board of Trustees.

Dr. Gates is a champion of organized medicine. Shortly after arriving back in Missouri in 2001, he became active in the Kansas City Medical Society. He was awarded the KCMS Doctor of Distinction 2007, and served as the KCMS President in 2014. He has been an active member of MSMA, serving as Councilor, Vice-Speaker, and Speaker of the House. He sits on the MSMA Legislative Affairs Committee and also is chair of the MSMA Insurance Agency Board of Directors. Sitting on the on the Editorial Board of MSMA’s journal Missouri Medicine, he represents hospitalist medicine. He is active in the Kansas City Regional Osteopathic Medical Association, serving as President in 2018-2019 and an active member of the Missouri Association of Physicians and Surgeons (MAOPS). He was awarded the MAOPS Physician of the Year in 2008.

He has been married for 25 years to Stacey, a Cornell Law School graduate and the business manager of Gates Hospitalists. They are the parents of three daughters (Ava, Ella, and Scarlett) and three sons (Ethan, Carson, and Mason). In his free time he enjoys ballroom dancing with his wife, and playing tennis with his daughters and sons. In 2022, he self-published The Parent’s Guide to Youth Tennis, Volumes I & II.

His goal for his year as President of the MSMA is to grow and engage its membership, while preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship.

 



MSMA Past Presidents: 1850-Current

(click on image below)


Difference Between the Years of MSMA Existence

and the Number of Its Presidents 

(click on image below)



2023-2024 MSMA Leadership

OFFICERS

 

President

Lancer Gates, DO

Kansas City

Internal Medicine


President Elect

David Pohl, MD

St. Louis

Diagnostic Radiology


Secretary

Ellen Nichols, MD

Joplin

Neurological Surgery


Treasurer

Elie Azrak, MD

St. Louis

Cardiovascular Disease


Immediate Past President

George Hubbell, MD

Lake Ozark

Obstetrics & Gynecology


1st Vice President

James DiRenna, Jr., DO

Kansas City

Family Practice


Honorary Vice President

Jeffrey Copeland, MD

St. Peters

Plastic Surgery


Honorary Vice President

Alexander Hover, MD

Ozark

Gastroenterology


Speaker

Tim Swearengin, DO

Springfield

Anesthesiology


Vice Speaker

M. Laurin Council, MD

St. Louis

Dermatology


COUNCILORS


Council Chair (8th District)

Brian Biggers, MD

Springfield

General Surgery


Council Vice Chair (4th District)

Kevin Weikart, MD

Lake St. Louis

Internal Medicine


1st District

Chakshu Gupta, MD

St. Joseph

Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine


2nd District

Hossein Behniaye, MD

Hannibal

Family Medicine


3rd District

Erin Gardner, MD

St. Louis

Dermatology


Inderjit Singh, MD

St. Louis

Nephrology


Christopher Swingle, DO

St. Louis

Nuclear Medicine


Jenny Page, MD

St. Louis

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation


5th District

Lisa Thomas, MD

Columbia


Psychiatry

Amy Zguta, MD

Columbia

Ophthalmology


6th District

Lirong Zhu, MD

Clayton

Sleep Medicine


Dorothy Munch, DO

Poplar Bluff

Family Practice


7th District

Betty Drees, MD

Kansas City

Endocrinology


Fariha Shafi, MD

Overland Park, KS

Internal Medicine


Joanne Loethen, MD

Kansas City

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics


8th District

David Kuhlmann, MD

Sedalia

Sleep Medicine


Organized Medical Staff Section

Amy Patel, MD

Kansas City

Radiology


International Medical Graduate Section

Louis DelCampo, MD

Springfield

Anesthesiology


Young Physician Section

Rachel Kyllo, MD

Arnold

Dermatology


Women Physicians Section

Kelly Schmidt

Columbia

Otolaryngology


Resident & Fellow Section

Rachana Raghupathy, MD

St. Louis

Internal Medicine


Medical Student Section

Jay Devineni

University of Missouri-Columbia

VICE COUNCILORS

2nd District

Barbara White, DO

Hannibal

Pediatrics


3rd District

Ramona Behshad, MD

St. Louis

Dermatology


4th District

Keith Ratcliff, MD

Washington

Family Medicine


5th District

Jennifer Powell, MD

Osage Beach

Family Practice


6th District

Nathaniel Barbe, DO

Mountain Grove

Family Practice


7th District

Sarah Florio, MD

Lee’s Summit

Internal Medicine


8th District

Tim Swearengin, DO

Springfield

Anesthesiology


Organized Medical Staff Section

Albert Hsu, MD

Columbia

Reproductive Endocrinology


International Medical Graduate Section

Raghuveer Kura, MD

Poplar Bluff

Nephrology


Young Physician Section

Sara Hawatmeh, MD

St. Louis

Internal Medicine


Resident & Fellow Section

Julia Dmowska, MD

Columbia

Otolaryngology


Women Physicians Section

Adriana Canas-Polesel, MD

St. Louis

Obstetrics & Gynecology


Medical Student Section

Lacey Raper

University of Missouri-Columbia


AMA DELEGATES

Elie Azrak, MD

St. Louis

Cardiovascular Disease


Peggy Barjenbruch, MD

Mexico

Internal Medicine


Edmond Cabbabe, MD

St. Louis

Plastic Surgery


Joseph Corrado, MD

Mexico

General Surgery


Betty Drees, MD

Kansas City

Endocrinology


Charles Van Way, III, MD

Kansas City

Thoracic Surgery


AMA ALTERNATE DELEGATES

George Hruza, MD

Chesterfield

Dermatology


Ravi Johar, MD

Chesterfield

Obstetrics & Gynecology


Joanne Loethen, MD

Kansas City

Internal Medicine/Pediatrics


Kayce Morton, DO

Springfield

Pediatrics


Charlie Adams

Kansas City University


AMA Past President

David Barbe, MD

Mountain Grove

Family Medicine


ADDITIONAL MSMA LEADERSHIP

Alliance President

Sana Saleh

Kansas City


Alliance President Elect

Donna Corrado

Mexico


Missouri Medicine Editor

John C. Hagan, III, MD

Ophthalmology


Contact Cheri Martin at cmartin@msma.org or call 573-691-4502.

HEADQUARTERS

Missouri State Medical Association

113 Madison Street | P.O. Box 1028

Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: (573) 636-5151

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