Yesterday, April 26, 2012, NCMS member and North Carolina Physicians Health Program (NCPHP) Medical Director and CEO Warren J. Pendergast, MD, assumed the position as president of the Federation of State Physician Health Programs (FSPHP). Dr. Pendergast is the first PHP medical director from North Carolina to undertake this role. He will serve a two-year term and will continue his role as medical director and CEO of NCPHP. Congratulations Dr. Pendergast!
Dr. Pendergast was appointed NCPHP medical director and CEO in 2004, after serving as associate medical director since 1999. NCPHP was established by the NCMS in 1988 and strives to improve the quality of health care for North Carolinians by assuring medical professionals are physically and mentally healthy. Since its establishment and through Dr. Pendergast’s involvement, NCPHP has evolved into a not-for-profit independent corporation, supported and endorsed not only by the NCMS but by the North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB), which has reached a 90 percent success rate of effectively helping improve the health of impaired physicians and physician assistants by providing the appropriate course of treatment. As president of FSPHP, Dr. Pendergast will strive to provide the same support to physicians and physician assistants across the United States.
Dr. Pendergast previously served on the FSPHP Board of Directors and the Executive Committee and also served as president-elect of FSPHP in 2010 and 2011. In addition to his participation in NCPHP and FSPHP, Dr. Pendergast serves on the NCMS Mental Health Task Force, the NCMS Opioid Death Reduction Task Force, the North Carolina Society of Addiction Medicine, and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is also an adjunct assistant professor in the psychiatry department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) School of Medicine. Dr. Pendergast graduated from medical school at the University of Minnesota in 1986 and completed his psychiatry residency at the UNC School of Medicine in 1990.
To learn more about NCPHP, refer to this week’s Frequently-Asked-Question (FAQ).