*This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.
1994.03.07 : Appointments to Practicing Physicians Advisory Council

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     Contact: Anne Verano
Monday, March 7, 1994                              (202) 690-6145


     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the appointment
of four physicians to the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council. 

     The new appointees, who were selected from more than 130
nominees, are Catalina Esperanza Garcia, M.D., Dallas, Texas;
Sandral Hullett, M.D., Eutaw, Ala.; Katherine L. Markette, M.D.,
Missoula, Mont.; and Kenneth M. Viste Jr., M.D., Oshkosh, Wis. 
They replace four members whose terms expired on Feb. 28. 

     The 15-member council, established by Congress in 1990, meets
quarterly to advise the HHS secretary on proposed changes in
regulations and carrier manual instructions which relate to
physicians' services under Medicare.

     "These four distinguished physicians will bring diverse
strengths and different geographic perspectives on rural and urban
health care to the council," Secretary Shalala said.  "Three of
these doctors are devoting their careers to providing quality care
to Americans living in rural areas.  The other is concentrating her
efforts in one of our major cities.

     "The council has a valuable contribution to make to the
department's regulatory process, and I look forward to working
closely with them on proposed regulations," said Secretary Shalala.

     Under the 1990 law, the advisory council must include both
Medicare participating and nonparticipating physicians, and
physicians practicing in rural and underserved urban areas.  All
members must have submitted at least 250 claims for physician
services under Medicare in the previous year.

     "The appointment of these four outstanding members will help
HCFA and the council continue to untangle the red tape, so
physicians can spend their time and talent helping patients," said
Bruce C. Vladeck, administrator of the Health Care Financing
Administration.

     Garcia, a Dallas anesthesiologist, has been in private
practice for 20 years.  She is a member of the Texas State Board of
Medical Examiners and a trustee of the Women's Foundation of Texas. 
She is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and
received her medical degree from Southwest Medical School of the
University of Texas in Dallas.

    Hullett is currently health services director of West Alabama
Health Services, a community health center in Eutaw in rural west
Alabama. Her education includes a bachelor's degree from Alabama
A&M University in Normal, Ala., a medical degree from The Medical
College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a master's degree in
public health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  For
her efforts in rural health, she was named Rural Practitioner of
the Year in 1988 by the National Rural Health Association.

     Markette, who has been a radiation oncologist in Missoula
since 1985, is medical director of St. Patrick Hospital Cancer
Center in Missoula.  She received a bachelor's degree from Montana
State University, a master's degree from Colorado State University
and her medical degree from the University of Washington.  Markette
is licensed to practice in the states of Montana and Washington.

     Viste has a private practice in neurology in rural Wisconsin. 
A former president of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, he
currently serves as the medical director of the neurorehabilitation
units of several central Wisconsin hospitals.  He is  president-
elect of the American Academy of Neurology, a member of the
American Medical Association's Council on Legislation and Executive
Council, and chairman of the Wisconsin Health Reform Task Force. 
He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois
and his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School
in Chicago.

     HCFA is the federal agency which administers the Medicare and
Medicaid programs that help pay the medical bills of 67 million
Americans.  HCFA's estimated fiscal year 1994 expenditures will
total more than $250 billion.