Family Physicians Present Legislative Achievement Awards to Two State Lawmakers

October 13, 2008

St. Louis Park, MN — Two Minnesota lawmakers received top honors from the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) for their successes in the legislature.

The Academy presented State Representative Erin Murphy, St. Paul, and State Senator Tony Lourey, Kerrick, with 2008 Legislative Achievement Awards for their work on health care reform legislation.  The awards were presented in recognition of their extraordinary efforts to promote the medical/healthcare home model as a promising new approach to healthcare delivery that will improve outcomes, enhance access and reduce costs.  MAFP President David Hutchinson, M.D., said that “Minnesota is fortunate to have legislators like Rep. Murphy and Sen. Lourey who are willing and able to tackle the complexities of the health care system and lead the charge for change.”

The Legislative Achievement Award is given to state or federal legislators from Minnesota in recognition of a specific action that has benefited patients or family medicine. 

The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians is a professional association of approximately 3,000 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students established to assist family physicians in providing quality medical care in Minnesota.  The MAFP is the largest specialty organization in Minnesota and is a state chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the largest medical specialty organization in the United States, with more than 90,000 members.

Virginia Barzan, C.A.E., MAFP Executive Vice President, and Philip Stoyke, M.D., MAFP Legislative Committee Chair, present a 2008 Legislative Achievement Award to State Representative Erin Murphy.

Virginia Barzan, C.A.E., MAFP Executive Vice President and MAFP  members Christopher Thiessen, M.D., and Randy Rice, M.D., present a 2008 Legislative Achievement Award to State Senator Tony Lourey (holding plague) at the Gateway Clinic in Moose Lake, Minnesota.