The Minnesota Medical Association awarded Sen. Melisa Franzen (DFL-Edina) with the James H. Sova Memorial Award at the association’s 2016 Annual Conference, Sept. 23, in St. Louis Park.  

The award honors a nonmedical professional who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of medicine. The award is named after a long-time lobbyist for the MMA who died in 1981.
 

George Schoephoerster, MD, a St. Cloud geriatrician, received the Minnesota Medical Association’s Community Service Award at the group’s 2016 Annual Conference, Sept. 23 and 24 in St. Louis Park.  
 

Dionne Hart, MD, a Rochester psychiatrist, has been elected to the Minnesota Medical Association’s Board of Trustees, making her the first African-American woman to serve on the board.  

The MMA Board of Trustees manages the ongoing affairs of the MMA and makes policy decisions.   
 

Sally Trippel, MD, a board-certified preventive medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, received the Minnesota Medical Association’s President’s Award at its 2016 Annual Conference, Sept. 23 and 24, in St. Louis Park.  

David Agerter, MD, was installed as the Minnesota Medical Association’s 150^th president at the group’s Annual Conference, Sept. 23 and 24 in St. Louis Park.

Agerter earned his medical degree at Mayo Medical School and has practiced family medicine for more than 30 years He is now CEO of Mayo Clinic Health System - Austin. He's been a member of the MMA since 1987 and has contributed his expertise on a number of committees and work groups including the MMA’s Telehealth Task Force, its Primary Care Physician Task Force and its Ethics and Medical Legal Affairs committee.   
 

Patricia Lindholm, MD, a Fergus Falls-based family physician, received the Minnesota Medical Association’s Distinguished Service Award at the group’s 2016 Annual Conference, Sept. 23 and 24 in St. Louis Park. 

Abigail Ring, MD, a family physician in Detroit Lakes, has been elected to a three-year terms on the Minnesota Medical Association’s Board of Trustees.

The MMA Board of Trustees manages the ongoing affairs of the MMA and makes policy decisions.   
 

The abuse of prescription opioids has reached epidemic proportions. As a result, the Minnesota Medical Association, the state’s largest physician advocacy organization, has reconvened its
Prescription Opioid Management Advisory Task Force to address physician-led solutions to the issue that kills thousands of Americans each year.
 

When celebrating Independence Day this summer, Minnesotans are encouraged to leave the lighting of fireworks to the professionals, according to the Minnesota Medical Association.

“Every summer, we hear dreadful stories about children and adults getting injured by fireworks going off unexpectedly,” said MMA President Dave Thorson, MD. “Eye injuries. Hand wounds.  It’s better, and safer, to celebrate the Fourth of July by letting the experts take care of the fireworks. They’re too dangerous.”