KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Public Health
Accreditation Board (PHAB) honored Rex
Archer, MD, MPH, Kansas
City University (KCU) professor and director of population
and public health, with their esteemed F. Douglas Scutchfield
Leadership Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions
toward strengthening public health infrastructure and improving the
governmental public health system.
Named in honor of F. Douglas
Scutchfield, MD, one of PHAB's founders, the award is
designed to honor individuals like Scutchfield who have made
significant and lasting contributions to public health performance
improvement, organizational excellence and exemplary service to
PHAB.
Archer has a unique history with Dr. Scutchfield, whom he later
referred to affectionately as "Scutch." Their relationship began 44
years ago when Archer, as a fourth-year medical student, attended a
national meeting of the Association of Teachers of Preventative
Medicine. He was there seeking mentorship and guidance about
pursuing his residency in preventive medicine and public health,
having followed Dr. Scutchfield's publications and career. Years
later, in 2008, Archer and Scutchfield became founding members of
the PHAB.
Archer led the Kansas City,
Missouri, Health Department for 23 years before joining KCU.
In that role, he was instrumental in guiding Kansas City through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under his leadership, Kansas City
was the was the only health department in the nation to win the
National Association of County and City Health Official's Local
Health Department of the Year award more than once and one of only
a few to have earned both national reaccreditation from the Public
Health Accreditation Board. During Archer's tenure, the city
received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize.
Additionally, 740 peer local health departments ranked the Kansas
City Health Department among the top five local health departments
in the nation serving as a model for new public health programs,
evidence-based practices and policies intended to improve community
health.
At KCU, Archer collaborates within and across the University's
academic programs to integrate public health education into the
preclinical curriculum and create clinical clerkship experiences
for medical students. He was instrumental in helping to create the
vision for KCU's new Center for Population Health and Equity aimed
at engaging communities in addressing the factors that impact
health—the social and structural determinants that contribute to
health inequities. The Center's focus will be on the communities
served by KCU's two campuses located in Kansas City and Joplin, Missouri, where significant
disparities persist and prevent respective underserved urban and
rural populations from attaining their full health potential.
The PHAB presented the award to Archer during its annual
meeting, held on KCU campus in honor of Archer as he stepped down
from PHAB after 16 years of service.
"It is fitting that this award ceremony would be held here at
KCU, in the Butterworth Center; the very room where the PHAB first
drafted a public health code of ethics in 2000, when Dr. Archer was
a key participant," said Marc B.
Hahn, president and CEO of KCU.
"All these years later we are fortunate to have a leader of Dr.
Archer's caliber on our Kansas
City University team and we are pleased that he has received
this much deserved recognition as he follows our mission of
improving the well-being of the communities we serve."
The news of this honor carrying Dr. Scutchfield's name held
profound meaning for Archer, given their decades-long professional
relationship and personal friendship.
"When you get an award named after somebody who has been a
mentor, a close friend and colleague, it holds significant
meaning," said Archer. "There are many great minds in public
health. I am humbled to receive this recognition."
About Kansas City
University
Kansas City
University, founded in 1916, is a fully accredited, private
not-for-profit health sciences university with Colleges of
Osteopathic Medicine, Biosciences and a College of Dental Medicine.
The College of Osteopathic Medicine is the fifth largest
medical school in the U.S., the ninth most impactful medical school
for primary care for the nation, the tenth most affordable of
private medical colleges, and the leading producer of physicians
for the State of Missouri. The
College of Osteopathic Medicine has two sites strategically located
on the University's campuses in Kansas
City and Joplin, Missouri,
to address the growing needs of both urban and rural populations.
The University offers multiple graduate degrees; a doctor of
osteopathic medicine; a doctor of psychology in clinical
psychology; a master of arts in bioethics; a master of science in
the biomedical sciences; a master of business administration in
partnership with Rockhurst University;
a new master of public health in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center; and seated
the first doctor of dental medicine students in 2023.
Contact:
Elizabeth Alex
Executive Director of University Relations
816.654.7032 (office)
816.304.9498 (cell)
ealex@kansascity.edu
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SOURCE Kansas City
University