Champaign County

Medical Society

News and Announcements

Physicians, residents, and medical. students are invited to the

CCMS 2022 Fall Membership Meeting

Thursday, September 8, 6:00pm
I Hotel & Conference Center - Alma Mater Room
1900 South First Street, Champaign

IN PERSON ATTENDEES Please Click Here to Register

VIRTUAL ATTENDEES PLEASE EMAIL office@ccmedsoc.org

Registration Required by Wednesday, August 31st

Fall Meeting Program to Include:

Dean Mark S. Cohen, keynote speaker, will share his vision for the future and growth of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.
Celebrate the community service work of Dr. Ashok Jagasia and Dr. Nestor Ramirez as they are presented the 2022 Physician Champion Awards.
Bid farewell to Executive Director, Vada Repta.
CCMS/ISMS Updates

Complimentary Hors d'oeuvres Included

Registration Reguired by Wednesday, August 31st

Virtual attendance will be available through Zoom. Register to attend virtually by emailing office@ccmedsoc.org. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you later decide to attend in person, please re-register at the above link.

*Note: CCMS will follow any COVID-19 safety protocols in effect at the time of the meeting. If health circumstances warrant, the meeting may be moved to a virtual-only meeting and members will be notified in advance of any change.

2022 Physician Champion Award

The Champaign County Medical Society is pleased to announce Dr. Ashok Jagasia and Dr. Néstor Ramirez will receive the Community Service Award as the 2022 Physician Champion Award recipients.

Ashok Jagasia MD, PhD.

Dr Ashok Jagasia is an otolaryngologist (ENT) with a long and robust history of volunteer work and community service locally and internationally. He successfully launched the first model system providing ENT care to homeless communities in Chicago, rural counties of Central Illinois, and the Dominican Republic.

In Illinois, his efforts have led to the establishment of the Center for Underserved at Rush Medical Center ENT (CURE initiative) as well as at the CU at Home shelter. Additional work with homeless populations includes integrating telemedicine programs of video visits alternating with in person visits. He has provided care for patients at the Gibson Area Hospital as well as many of the rural counties in Central Illinois with the objective to develop an Urban-Rural Health Initiative. Current activities include development of a book chapter related to “Understanding Rural-Urban Disparities in Otolaryngology.”

Internationally, he has provided hundreds of ENT surgical procedures over 10 years as well as audiology services in the Dominican Republic. He trained local health care workers to provide free hearing screens to children and established a sustainable collection program of donated hearing aids. His research focuses on assessing incidence and needs regarding hearing loss and appropriate interventions. Dr. Jagasia has relentlessly championed the cause for overcoming the health disparities in otolaryngology through volunteering and integrating with his research efforts.

Néstor Ramirez, MD.

Dr. Néstor Ramirez is a pediatrician with expertise in neonatal and perinatal medicine. With decades of clinical and community service he has impacted local, state, national, and international populations. A member and past president of the Champaign West Rotary Club for over two decades, he has been instrumental in developing healthy communities through local blood drives, highway clean up, and improving access to water in schools in Honduras.

He is a dedicated educator mentoring medical students as well as providing adult community education regularly through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) on topics related to medicine and society.

He has a relentless history of leadership positions with county, state, and national medical societies promoting and advocating on multiple aspects of health care. He served as past president of the Illinois State Medical Society and Champaign County Medical Society as well as head of the Illinois delegation of the AMA House of Delegates. Of great significance, he has advocated for those with health care disparities through committee work.

The award was presented at the CCMS Fall Membership Meeting on Thursday, September 8th at the I-Hotel and Conference Center.

The Physician Champion Award was created to recognize physicians who have not only demonstrated a lifetime of physician service to patients in our area, but also have consistently gone the extra mile to use their personal time, enthusiasm, expertise, and energy in volunteer outreach through organizations or other volunteer activities in the community, state, or nation. This award was specifically created to coincide with our CCMS Fall Membership Meeting traditionally held near the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorism tragedy that brought out the largest outpouring of professional and volunteer physician support our country has ever experienced.

A Prescription for Parks

Coming Soon! CCMS project interns collaborated with the Champaign and Urbana Park Districts to create an interpretive sign describing the health benefits of being outdoors in nature.

Samia Abdul-Qadir

Imadh Khan

CCMS 2022 Year-in-Review

Read our CCMS 2022 Year-in-Review under the leadership of Champaign County Medical Society President Dr. Holly Rosencranz and the Board of Directors, CCMS were able to complete prescription for parks projects, support the Healing Hearts Collage with the Museum of the Grand Prairie and continue to provide a supportive network for our county physicians, residents and medical students.

Membership

Join the Champaign County Medical Society

Your annual dues commitment keeps the voice of physicians in Champaign County independent and strong while providing benefits that you can take part in locally. Please email your interest in joining to: Email: office@ccmedsoc.org

Membership Eligibility

The membership of Champaign County Medical Society is made up of practicing and retired physicians, medical residents and medical students who practice or reside in Champaign County. Out-of-county physicians who are in the same ISMS District but whose county does not have a medical society may be considered for membership. Physicians must hold an MD or DO degree and be licensed to practice in the State of Illinois. Physicians not in clinical practice, but who are employed in research, medical directorships or other positions which do not require a medical license in Illinois, as well as retired physicians with current or previous state license in good standing, are eligible for membership at the discretion of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has approved a new county membership category, the Associate Member. Associate Members are physicians who have completed a medical degree and residency but who have not yet been licensed to practice in the State of Illinois. Associate members are non-voting members.

Who We Are

The Champaign County Medical Society (CCMS) serves as a common vehicle representing physicians and through which local physicians work together for their own and the community’s good. CCMS is affiliated with the Illinois State Medical Society, the largest professional association representing physicians in Illinois and a trusted source of health policy leadership since 1840.

Benefits to Members

CCMS performs a wide variety of services which often go unnoticed by its physician members. These range from making numerous referrals, responding to inquiries, mediating complaints and serving as a local resource for people interested in finding information about health care.

We support our members by providing meetings that cover important topics of interest to practicing physicians as well as to residents, students and retirees; we sponsor activities that provide an opportunity for colleagues to socialize and network; and we support the UIUC College of Medicine and Carle Illinois College of Medicine through event sponsorship.

CCMS is active politically in concert with the Illinois State Medical Society regarding legislation that may affect our patients and practices and we provide opportunities to discuss issues with representatives from both sides of the aisle.

Calendar

February 7: CCMS Board of Directors Meeting 6-7pm
March 7: CCMS Board of Directors Meeting 6-7pm
April 13: Spring Membership Meeting, I- Hotel 6-8pm
May 2: CCMS Board of Directors Meeting 6-7pm
June 6: CCMS Board of Directors Meeting 6-7pm

About

Champaign County Medical Society is a not for profit organization designed and established to promote the health and general welfare of the citizens of Champaign County, Illinois; to protect the rights and interests of the medical profession; to encourage the development and dissemination of knowledge as it pertains to all branches of the art and science of Medicine; to bring into one organization the physicians of Champaign County, and to cultivate a true fraternal spirit among them; to operate as a component Society of the Illinois State Medical Society.

2023 Officers

A.L. Jones, MD, MS, President
Independent, Occupational & Environmental Medicine
H. Reed Thompson, MD, President Elect & Treasurer , Independent
General Surgery, Family Medicine
April Yasunaga,MD, Secretary, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Carle Palliative Care
Holly A. Rosencranz, MD,FACP, Past President, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Board Members

Shamin Sadiq, MD
Nestor Ramirez, MD
Japhia Ramkumar, MD
William Holmes, MD
Maria Bederson, Student Representative

Contact Us

CCMS welcomes your questions, comments, and suggestions for improving services to our members. We also serve as a resource for local health care information for people in Champaign County and are available to answer questions for the public.

We can be reached by phone or email. Please contact the office for meeting dates and times.
Send mail to: 1717 W. Kirby Avenue, #240, Champaign, IL 61821
Phone: (217) 359-9195
Email: office@ccmedsoc.org