FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 24, 2017
MAG HONORS ATLANTA PSYCHIATRIST FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
ATLANTA – Patrice A. Harris, M.D., received the Joseph P. Bailey Jr., M.D., Physician Distinguished Service Award during a ceremony that took place in conjunction with the Medical Association of Georgia’s (MAG) 163nd House of Delegates meeting in Savannah on October 21. The MAG award is given to a physician for distinguished and meritorious service that reflects credit and honor on MAG.
In nominating the Atlanta psychiatrist for the award, Medical Association of Atlanta (MAA) Executive Director David Waldrep emphasized that, “Dr. Harris has been an advocate for patients and physicians as a delegate to and Chair of the Board of the American Medical Association (AMA) and as a member of the Medical Association of Georgia’s Council on Legislation.”
Dr. Harris has made significant contributions as “a private practice physician, a public health administrator (in Fulton County), a patient advocate, and a medical society lobbyist.” She currently serves as the immediate past chair of AMA’s Board of Trustees.
In addition to holding numerous positions at MAG and AMA, Dr. Harris served as the president of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association. It is also worth noting that she was a founding co-chair of that organization’s political action committee.
Dr. Harris is a national authority on the opioid epidemic, health care reform, health care financing, insurance reform, health care disparities, juvenile law, children’s mental health, and addiction. She has also been a leading advocate in the fight against child abuse and neglect.
Dr. Harris has appeared on a number of local and national television and radio shows, including CNN and The Today Show on NBC.
Dr. Harris is now in private practice and consults on health service delivery and emerging trends in practice and health policy. She also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Dr. Harris has a medical degree from the West Virginia University School of Medicine – and she was inducted into the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2007.
With nearly 8,000 members, MAG is the leading voice for physicians in Georgia. MAG is an advocate for physicians in every practice setting and specialty. MAG’s membership has increased for seven years in a row. Go to www.mag.org for additional information.
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