The AMA presented its 2011 Distinguished Service Award to Winston-Salem surgeon Jesse H. Meredith, MD, Past Chair of the NC Public Health Commission, on Saturday, November 12, 2011, at the Interim Meeting in New Orleans. The award is given for meritorious service in the science and art of medicine.

“Dr. Meredith has devoted himself to advancing clinical medicine as well as the public health,” said AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD. “His tremendous contributions to the field of medicine and his work to improve the public health will benefit both future generations of physicians and their patients.”

Dr. Meredith, a general and thoracic surgeon, is professor emeritus at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (WFUSM)(formerly Bowman Gray) and has made several important contributions to the field of medicine. He was the first surgeon in the western world to successfully reattach a severed hand, and he designed the first intensive care unit (ICU) in the country.

Click here to read more about Dr. Meredith’s life and accomplishments.