Waltham,
Mass. – March 9th – Concord resident Francis X. Van Houten, M.D. has been honored
by the Massachusetts Medical Society as the 2017 recipient of its Lifetime
Achievement Award, the Society’s most prestigious honor. The award is given to a member of the Society
who has made lasting contributions to the practice of medicine over a lifetime
in health care delivery, patient care, education, and administration and who
has made significant contributions to the goals of the Society. He will receive
the award at the organization’s annual meeting in Boston on April 28.
In
nominating him for the award, his colleagues noted that Dr. Van Houten had a
“profound impact on the Massachusetts Medical Society and the profession,” that
his leadership at the Society was “marked by intelligence, effectiveness, and
humility,” that he “lived a career of selfless service to his profession,
patients, and his community at large,” and that he “earned the admiration of
scores of leaders of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Medical
Association.” Five former society presidents were among the eight physicians
nominating him for the honor.
Since
joining the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1968, Dr. Van Houten has served
the state organization in a number of capacities. He was President of the Society from
1994-1995, following successive terms as President-Elect and Vice President,
and he has been a long-time member of its Board of Trustees and House of
Delegates. He has chaired the Committees
on Finance, Health System Reform, and Long-Range Planning, and served as a
member of the Committees on Nominations, Administration, Legislation, and
Publications. From 1982-1984, he was
President of the Middlesex Central District Medical Society.
He has
been a member of the Executive Committee on the Massachusetts Radiologic
Society since 1990 and a member of the American Medical Association’s House of
Delegates since 1995.
Dr. Van Houten was also a board
member of both the American Medical Association Charitable Foundation and the
MMS and Alliance Charitable Foundation for nearly a decade.
From
1974-2003, Dr. Van Houten was on the active staff of Emerson Hospital and
served as Chief of Radiology, President of the Medical Staff, and a member of
the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He served as President and
member of the Board of Directors of the Northeast Medical Provider Organization
from 1985-1987 and was a Partner and President of Concord Radiologic Associates
from 1986-2003. From 2004-2006, he was Medical Director for Radiology at UMass
Memorial Medical Center.
In the
early 1980’s he was a founding member of the Western Suburban Imaging Center,
which brought MRI services to the western suburbs of Boston and eventually
bringing a physician-owned and operated MRI unit to the campus of Emerson
Hospital in Concord.
In 1995
he was a founding board member of ProMutual Group (renamed Coverys in 2011), a
physician-led and leading provider of professional liability insurance
nationally.
Dr. Van
Houten received his B.S. cum laude
from the College of the Holy Cross and his M.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Medical School. He is a Fellow
of the American College of Radiology, a Diplomate of the American Board of
Radiology, a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the National Jesuit Honor Society, and
Alpha Omega Alpha, the National Medical Honor Society.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with some 25,000
physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for
the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices
of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global
medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering
13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education
providing accredited and certified activities across the globe for physicians
and other health care professionals.
Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical
society in the country. For more information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.
