Message from the President

As I begin my new role as president of the Medical/Dental Staff of Kaleida Health, I would like to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy New Year. I am very much looking forward to this new role, advocating on your behalf and partnering with Kaleida Health’s administration and Board of Directors to navigate the new challenges of the evolving healthcare landscape.

I have been a member of the Medical Executive Committee (MEC) for the past decade, and I am honored to continue on as president for the next two years. I would like to extend a large debt of gratitude to our outgoing president, Dr. Peter Winkelstein, for his tireless and innovative leadership these past four years.

Kaleida Health has grown tremendously in recent years, but the organization remains focused on its mission and providing the highest quality, safest patient care. Moving forward, we will only sharpen that focus. This will require a unified medical/dental staff, with a commitment to innovation, standardized processes and provider wellness to name a few. The unremitting, ever escalating pressures on health care require an environment where creative models are necessary to ensure sustainable growth.

To this end, the newly-formed Horizon Planning Committee of the MEC, under the guidance of chairman Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg, will bring together a group of thought leaders at Kaleida Health to "evaluate high level healthcare trends and technologies impacting significant segments of system operations and patient populations in a prospective fashion."  Our goal is to proactively position our organization and providers for the inevitable changes in the healthcare environment. Thank you to Dr. Schwaitzberg and the future committee members for their vision and forward-thinking leadership.

The New Year will also bring MEC elections in late February with six new at-large members, three second-term seats and two officer positions on the ballot. Candidate names with their bios and vision statements will be published later this month for your consideration. Your vote is vital in this election as we consider the candidates who will provide the strongest advocacy on behalf of the medical staff. 

I look forward to continuing to work with you and represent our providers. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or feedback.

Michael Beecher, MD
Medical/Dental Staff President
Kaleida Health