The following awards were presented at the MMA’s 155th Annual Meeting.

Distinguished Service Award
G. Richard Geier, M.D., Rochester surgeon was presented with the MMA's Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed on a colleague by the MMA. The physician who receives the Distinguished Service Award must have made outstanding contributions to medicine and to the MMA.  G. Richard Geier, M.D., was president of the MMA from 2006 to 2007, while the organization was advancing two very significant public health issues, banning smoking in the workplace and creating a framework for statewide health care reform. He has served as chair of the MMA Board of Trustees and of the board of directors of The MMIC Group, which was founded by the MMA. A native of Evansville, Indiana and graduate of DePauw University and Northwestern University Medical School, G. Richard Geier, M.D., joined the Olmsted Medical Center in Rochester in 1974. He served as the center's president and CEO from 1984 until 2000. He retired in 2007. Geier has been an MMA delegate since 1982. He has served on the MMA Professional Liability Committee, the Committee on Quality Assurance and Data Utilization and the Committee on Committees, Bylaws and Membership and chaired the Committee on Medical Practice and Planning. He continues to serve the MMA today as chair of the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee.  He has been the president of the Minnesota Surgical Society, and of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Surgeons.

Physician Communicator Award
Frank A. Bures, M.D., for his weekly “Healthful Hints” column for the Winona Daily News. The Physician Communicator award honors an MMA member who has shown exemplary skills in communication with the public.

MMA Physician Leadership in Quality Award
Brian J. Anderson, M.D, a Minneapolis internist and cardiologist, for his leadership in quality improvement. Anderson, an internist and cardiologist, was given the award because of his passion for teaching health care executives about quality improvement, his work improving the quality and safety of rural hospitals, his leadership in the development of the Minnesota Hospital Quality Report, and his support of measurement and transparency via MN
Community Measurement, a nonprofit that provides public reports about the performance of provider groups and clinics. Since 1999, Anderson, in partnership with Stratis Health, has used his expertise in quality and safety to help rural hospitals, known as critical access hospitals, improve the quality of the care they provide, particularly regarding heart failure and stroke.Anderson was also a key contributor to the development of the Hospital Quality Report, a joint project by the Minnesota Hospital Association and Stratis Health launched in 2005. In addition to this work, Anderson has also served on the board of MN Community Measurement, since its inception in 2004, promoting the need for physicians to measure the quality of their care and make improvements based on those scores. He is currently serving as chair of the board.

Minority Affairs Meritorious Service Award
Charles E. Crutchfield Sr., M.D., of St. Paul, a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist, for his service to the African-American community and his support of African-American physicians in Minnesota. Crutchfield, a practicing OB/GYN, has been a strong advocate for and mentor to Minnesota’s African American physicians and medical students. Fellow physicians say Crutchfield was always available to assist, encourage, and mentor his African American colleagues during the more than 30 years he practiced medicine in St. Paul. In addition to being an MMA member, Crutchfield has also been active in the National Medical Association, a national medical association for African American physicians, and served as president of the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians. Crutchfield has also been a leader in improving the health and welfare of St. Paul and the surrounding communities. Crutchfield, a native of Jasper, AL, graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School and is the first black obstetrician to practice in Minnesota. He has delivered more than 9,000 babies during his career. Dr. Crutchfield is past chair of the OB/GYN Departments at United Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul.

MMA Community Service Awards
The MMA's Community Service Award, honoring MMA physicians with an outstanding record of community service.

Fred T. Nobrega, M.D., of Rochester for service as executive director of the Zumbro Valley Medical Society, chair of Citizens for a Smoke-Free Rochester, and member of the Olmsted County Community Health Advisory Committee. He opposed a tire-burning facility in Preston and helped pass Olmsted County’s ban on smoking in the workplace. Since retiring from his internal and preventive medicine practice at Mayo Clinic, Nobrega has been active as executive director of the Zumbro Valley Medical Society, as chair of Citizens for a Smoke Free Rochester, and as a member of the Olmsted County Community Health Advisory Committee. Nobrega testified before the Minnesota Pollution Control Aency on the proposed tire burning facility in Preston, and before the State Senate committee and his county's Board of Commissioners on the smoke-free law. His advocacy efforts contributed to Olmsted County passing a ban on smoking in the workplace.

Gene F. Kishel, M.D., of Virginia for his tireless work to protect the public’s health as a leader with the Smoke-Free Coalition of Northern St. Louis County.

MMA President’s Award
Three members were recognized for their MMA service. 

John W. Larsen, M.D., of Edina has been a member of the MMA Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, a delegate, speaker, and vice speaker to the MMA House of Delegates.

David L. Estrin, M.D, of Edina is an alternate delegate to the AMA House of Delegates. He was the secretary of the MMA for three years, and was elected to the MMA Board of Trustees in 2002. He has been a delegate to the MMA
House of Delegates since 1995. He has served on the MMA Governance Task Force.

Stephen L. Hadley, M.D., of Duluth has been an active member and a valued leader in both the MMA and the Lake Superior Medical Society.

MMA Medical Student Award
Andrew P. Landstrom, a sixth-year medical student at the Mayo School of Medicine in Rochester, received the MMA's Medical Student Award, given annually to a Minnesota medical student who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the medical profession. In 2006 Landstrom was medical student member of the MMA Board of Trustees. He was a delegate from the Zumbro Valley Medical Society to the Annual Meeting the past two years. He has also served as chair of the MMA's Medical Student Section.

Excellence in Medical Journalism Award
The Excellence in Medical Journalism Awards honor medical reporting that contributes to a better public understanding of medicine and health in Minnesota.

Chen May Yee, health care reporter for the Star Tribune, won for her feature “Five Drops of Blood: Invasion of Privacy?” in the November 10, 2007 newspaper, which examined the controversy surrounding the state's newborn medical screening program that detects if a newborn baby has any of 50 rare hereditary conditions. The story is available in PDF form at this link.

Marc Sanchez, staff writer for American Public Media's Weekend America program, was given the award for his radio feature "Donation Day," an on-air memoir about his own involvement in the National Marrow Donor Program. The feature was broadcast May 17, 2008, and is available in text form at this link. The first-person recollection article raised public awareness about bone marrow donations.