MINNEAPOLIS, September 19, 2008—The Minnesota Medical Association elected its officers for 2008-2009 Friday at the MMA’s 155th Annual Meeting in St. Paul. 

The MMS House of Delegates elected the following MMA officers for 2008 to 2009:

President: Noel R. Peterson, M.D.
President-elect: Benjamin H. Whitten, M.D.
Secretary-treasurer: David E. Westgard, M.D.
Speaker of the House of Delegates: Lyle J. Swenson, M.D.
Vice Speaker of the House of Delegates: Karen K. Dickson, M.D.

Noel R. Peterson, M.D., was elected and assumed the presidency of the MMA at the 2008 Annual Meeting. A urologist at Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester, Peterson is a member of the MMA Board of Trustees and has served on many MMA committees and task forces. He was the treasurer of the MMA from 1995 to 1999.

Benjamin H. Whitten, M.D., who was chosen president-elect, will assume the presidency of the MMA at the 2009 Annual Meeting. Whitten, an internist at Abbott Northwestern General Medicine Associates in Edina, is an alternate delegate to the AMA House of Delegates and chair of the MMA Committee on Legislation. He has served on the MMA Board of Trustees and several MMA committees.

David E. Westgard, M.D., was elected secretary-treasurer. Westgard, a family physician and chief medical officer for the Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester, has been an active member of MMA, serving on several committees.

Lyle J. Swenson, M.D., was reelected speaker of the MMA House of Delegates. A specialist in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular diseases at St. Paul Cardiology, Swenson has served as president of the Joint Services Organization for the MMA and has been the vice speaker of the MMA House of Delegates.

Karen K. Dickson, M.D., was reelected vice speaker of the MMA House of Delegates. Dickson is a private practice psychiatrist with Family Life Medical Center in Coon Rapids. She has served on the MMA Board of Trustees.

American Medical Association Delegation

Kenneth W. Crabb, M.D., was reelected a delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates. A specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, Crabb, practices at Advanced Specialty Practice for Women, PA, in Woodbury.

Paul C. Matson, M.D., was elected an AMA delegate. An orthopedic surgeon with the Orthopaedic & Fracture Clinic, in Mankato, Matson, has served the MMA as president and as chair of the Board of Trustees. He is currently an alternate delegate to the AMA.

John M. Van Etta, M.D., was reelected an AMA delegate. Van Etta practices internal medicine at St. Luke's Internal Medicine Associates in Duluth. He is a past president of the MMA, and has served as an alternate delegate to the AMA.

Blanton Bessinger, M.D., was reelected an alternate delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates. A retired pediatric cardiologist, Bessinger is a past president of the MMA and is currently a member of the AMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws.

David D. Luehr, M.D., was elected an AMA alternate delegate. Luehr practices family medicine at the Raiter Clinic in Cloquet. He is a past president of the MMA, and currently serves as a member of the Quality and Health Care Committee.

Benjamin H. Whitten, M.D., who was chosen president-elect at the Annual meeting, was also reelected an AMA alternate delegate.

MMA Board of Trustees

The House of Delegates has chosen six members to serve the MMA Board of Trustees.

Michael P. Heck, M.D., was reelected to represent the MMA's Northeast Trustee District.

Donald M. Jacobs. M.D., was reelected, to represent the West Metro District.

Beth A. Baker, M.D., was reelected to represent West Metro District.

Aaron Friedman, M.D., was elected, as an at-large trustee.

Daniel E. Maddox, M.D., was reelected, to represent the Southeast District.

Wade T. Swenson, M.D., was elected, to represent the North Central District

Charles G. Terzian, M.D., was reelected, to represent the East Metro District.

Douglas L. Wood, M.D., was elected to represent the Southeast District.