Dr. Ardaiz joined the U.S. Department of Energy as its first
Chief Medical Officer in 2008, having achieved board-certification
in the medical specialties of both Internal Medicine (IM)and
Occupational & Environmental Medicine (OEM) and practiced
for over 10 years, initially on the faculty of the Georgetown
University Medical Center and subsequently as a medical
officer in several Federal departments/agencies. He completed
his medical training at the George Washington University
School of Public Health and Health Sciences and the Johns
Hopkins University Occupational & Environmental Medicine
Residency, the latter including critical training at the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Currently, Dr. Ardaiz serves as the chief occupational and
environmental medicine physician for the Department in support
of over 50 occupational health facilities which in turn
provide healthcare over 100,000 DOE Federal and contractor
employees, as well as over 60,000 former DOE employees.
He is the principal advisor to senior level DOE officials
on matters pertaining to occupational and environmental
medicine, human reliability programs, and public health
activities. However, he also represents DOE in meetings
with organized labor and other Federal departments/agencies.
Functions
The CMO functions as an integral member of the Office of Health, Safety, and Security
(HSS) to provide mission support through the following:
1. Leadership support at DOE Headquarters enabling the communications to stakeholders both internal and external to the Department regarding both the effectiveness of and efforts to improve upon health-related services.
2. Technical support to field sites and operations which are dependent upon the Department's Occupational Medicine and allied health professionals for the delivery of a wide-range of health-related services.
3. Promotion of policy development and implementation which reflect the advancing standard of health care as a result of developments in the fields of biomedicine, information technology, and ethics, as well as collaboration with a variety of Federal partners through working groups and other opportunities.
4. Outreach efforts which solicit, discuss, and address topics and issues of interest to DOE managers and Labor Unions to further the improvement of health, safety, and security performance, as well as the sustainability of the Department's most vital asset, its workforce.
5. Identification and assessment of research priorities and activities which contribute to the advancing standard of health care in the occupational setting, while maintaining the highest standards of scientific rigor and human subject research protections.
OM-Related Services
OM-related services are generally employed in a graded manner whereby the scope and complexity of the services increase according to the number and nature of recognized hazards identified within the workplace. The services employed by any particular facility or program may therefore include of any or all of the following:
1. Clinical Occupational Medicine
2. Toxicology
3. Hazard Recognition, Evaluation, and Control
4. Public Health, Surveillance, and Disease Prevention
OM supports DOE health and safety through the prevention, as well as the management of injury and illness. When effectively coordinated with the services of other health and safety disciplines such as industrial hygiene and health physics, great gains can be achieved in various measures. OM also supports DOE security through the assessment of physical and mental suitability of personnel for security-related duties, including access to information and materials associated with national security. When health care providers serve as intermediaries between personnel and security program management, the required balance between confidentiality and the communication of medical conditions representing significant security risks can be achieved.
Michael Ardaiz, MD, MPH, CPH
Chief Medical Officer
1000 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20585
(202) 586-8758 (phone) Michael.Ardaiz@hq.doe.gov
Claudia Beach, RN, BA, COHN-S
Occupational Health Nurse
19901 Germantown Rd.
Germantown, MD 20874
(301) 903-9826 (phone) Claudia.Beach@hq.doe.gov
President Barack Obama speaks with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the Department of Health and Human Services (left), and Dr. Francis Collins, left, Director, National Institutes of Health (third from left).
The CMO and Dr. James Seward, Board-of-Directors member of ACOEM and LLNL Site Medical Director (right) participating in a panel discussion on the recent disaster in Japan during the 2011 American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC).
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) scientists prepare a patient for positron emission tomography (PET) scanning which measures the biochemical activity of the brain with potential applications for the study of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and other medical conditions. (Digital archive no 2006786)
The CMO touring a wind turbine research facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Denver, CO with Michael Stewart, Sr. Safety Specialist I (center) and Deb McCoy, R.N., BSN, COHN-S, Occupational Health Administrator (right).
Sandia National Laboratory's ACRR in September 1996 supporting the first U.S. large-scale production of molybdenum-99, the parent radioisotope of the short-lived gamma-emitting daughter radioisotope technetium-99m which is essential to functional imaging of the brain, myocardium, thyroid, lungs, liver, gallbladder, kidneys, skeleton, blood, and tumors. (Digital Archive No 2007268)
The CMO in October 2010 at the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG) Occupational Medicine meeting at Brookhaven National Laboratory with ADA and GINA expert Christopher J. Kuczynski, J.D., LL.M., Assistant Legal Counsel, ADA Policy Division (center), and Jamie Stalker, MD, EFCOG OM Chair and ANL Site Occupational Medical Director (right).
A surgical demonstration by the staff of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center and Training Site (REAC/TS) includes use of protective shielding in a surgical setting to protect medical staff from radiological contamination when responding to radiological events. (Digital Archive No 1001356)
The CMO attending Western Safety Committee Training of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA)
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) prototype of the "hospital in a box" developed under contract to the U.S. Army as a new concept in emergency medical care capable of being transformed into a fully-equipped operating room in less than 30 minutes. (Digital Archive No 2006161)
The CMO in January 2010 at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM with Ms. Claudia Beach, Occupational Health Nurse (center) and Ms. Maritza Skelton, Contractor Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Program Manager (right).
Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh, a member of ORNL's Life Sciences Division, holds the "DNA Biochip" which allows for instant blood test results for the AIDS virus, cancer, tuberculosis, and other diseases, changing the way the medical profession performs blood tests (Digital archive no 1001338).
The CMO demonstrating the concept of Health and Productivity Management.
