NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The American Medical Association (AMA) honored Alfred Gilchrist, chief executive officer of the Colorado Medical Society (CMS), with the Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors a medical association executive who has contributed substantially to the goals and ideals of the medical profession. 

“A brilliant leader, strategist, team builder, and advocate for patients and medicine, Alfred Gilchrist has led CMS through an unprecedented period of advocacy and growth,” said AMA President Barbara L. McAneny, M.D. “He succeeded in advocating for Medicaid expansion and stabilizing medical liability climates. And his tireless work to prevent insurance mergers that would have harmed patients and physicians alike, was instrumental in their defeat.”

Gilchrist earns the Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award for his 39 years of executive leadership in Colorado and Texas – a period in which he has guided, grown, and advocated for the medical profession daily.   

During his years of leadership at the CMS, Gilchrist has used his ability to form strong relationships and partnerships to secure numerous legislative victories in Colorado, while advancing the whole organization. In addition to his critical work on Medicaid expansion and insurance mergers, Gilchrist also designed the nation’s first standardized managed care contract law, requiring oversight of payer profiling and rating of physicians. He also played a critical role in securing grants and funding to improve care and ensure public health, including $1.5 million for pandemic flu preparedness.

The AMA presented the award to Gilchrist during the 2018 AMA Interim Meeting.