James Lin, DO, MS, MHSA
The AGS named James Lin, DO, MS, MHSA, president of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Institute for Successful Aging in Erie, Pa., its 2020 Clinician of the Year. Lin will be honored at the AGS 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS21), May 13-15, 2021, in Chicago, Ill., following the cancellation of the AGS 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting due to COVID-19.
Lin’s current role at LECOM’s Institute for Successful Aging traces its roots to his own influence on the institution. Noting Lin’s vision for education and improved geriatric care, LECOM leadership empowered Lin to develop a program that could not only accelerate better care but also serve as a guide for others in the field.
Lin has worked to fulfill that vision in collaboration with LECOM, Millcreek Community Hospital, and the whole of the LECOM Health system. Lin not only developed a robust geriatric service at LECOM but also became one of its principal champions: Providing care to hundreds of older adults while helping translate that standard of care into training for future health professionals.
Among many accomplishments for making that possible, one recent notable example is the more than $7 million Lin helped secure for a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) affiliated with LECOM. As one of the only federal mechanisms for supporting better geriatrics care and education for the workforce we need as we age, the GWEP tasks local experts with developing grass-roots solutions to geriatric care in their communities. The LECOM-led Lake Erie Integrated Geriatric Health Team (LIGHT) aims to prepare 7,000 health workers in the Lake Erie region to adequately care for Pennsylvania’s growing older adult population.
An AGS member since 2007, Lin earned his medical degree from LECOM in 2002. Board-certified in internal medicine, geriatric medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine, Lin completed his geriatric fellowship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey before joining LECOM as director of its Institute for Successful Aging.
The AGS Clinician of the Year Award recognizes exceptional health professionals who deliver outstanding care to older adults and who model the importance of geriatrics for our country. It is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting.
Past Recipients of the Clinician of the Year Award
2019 Kellie Flood, MD
2018 J. Eugene Lammers, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF
2017 Fatima Sheikh, MD, CMD, MPH
2016 Lisa Tank, MD, FACP
2015 Ronald S. Duemler, MD, MS, CMD
2014 Pamela S. Tronetti, DO, AGSF
2013 Rosemary D. Laird, MD, MHSA
2012 Niharika N Suchak, MBBS, MHS, FACP
2011 Margaret A. Noel, MD
2010 Jerome Epplin, MD, AGSF
2009 Michelle S. Eslami, MD
2008 Valisa Saunders, MN, APRN, BC, GNP
2007 Rebecca D. Elon, MD, MPH
2006 F. Michael Gloth, II, MD, FACP
2005 Henry Schneiderman, MD, FACP
2004 Roy Bradford Whitney, Jr., MD
2003 Taylor Graves, MD
2002 Jerry M. Earll, MD
2001 Daniel Haimowitz, MD, FACP, CMD
2000 Steven C. Castle, MD
1999 Samuel C. Durso, MD
1998 Mary Ann Forciea, MD
1995 Mary A. Johnson-Crockett, MD
1994 Gary E. Applebaum, MD
1993 Francis Salerno, MD