Eisenhower Medical Center taps Scherger as vice president of primary care

Published:  Monday, June 8, 2009 (8 months ago)
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Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH, has been named Eisenhower Medical Center’s new vice president for primary care.
In this role, Dr. Scherger will spearhead a new model for primary care practice in the Coachella Valley, using the tools of information technology and quality improvement initiatives. Additionally, Dr. Scherger hopes to work with the medical center to develop a residency program in family medicine and internal medicine, and a fellowship in geriatrics medicine. He is actively recruiting new physicians to the Coachella Valley to address the need for primary care physicians. Currently, the valley has only 60 percent of the primary care physicians necessary to support the growing population.
Dr. Scherger, who was founding dean of the Florida State University College of Medicine, will develop primary care practices based on a model where communication with patients is at its cornerstone, establishing personalized care that offers patients more contact with their physicians.
“Primary care medicine has been under stress with the old model of practice and the timing is right for change,” says Dr. Scherger. “Eisenhower wants to revitalize primary care here in the Coachella Valley and I welcome the opportunity to apply a 21st century model for primary care. Additionally, launching medical education and residency programs will attract top medical students and faculty physicians from around the country to Eisenhower.”
“Dr. Scherger is an important addition to Eisenhower Medical Center,” says G. Aubrey Serfling, president and CEO, Eisenhower Medical Center. “His extensive knowledge of health care reform and of the vital role information technology plays in the relationship between physicians and patients will help Eisenhower to develop a valuable new model of care for our patients.”
Scherger comes to Eisenhower from the University of California, San Diego, where he is clinical professor of Family and Preventive Medicine.
Originally from Delphos, Scherger graduated from the University of Dayton in 1971, summa cum laude. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1975 and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He completed a Family Medicine Residency at the University of Washington and received a Masters of Public Health from the University of Washington in 1978.
Scherger’s career in medicine began in 1978, when he served two years in the National Health Service Corps in Dixon, California, as a migrant health physician, before starting his private practice in Dixon. From 1981 to 1992, Scherger divided his time between private practice and teaching medical students and residents at University of California, Davis. From 1988 to 1991, he was a Fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program, focusing on health care reform and quality of life. From 1992 to 1996, he was Vice President for Family Practice and Primary Care Education at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, and from 1996 to 2001, he was the chair of the Department of Family Medicine and the Associate Dean for Primary Care at the University of California Irvine, College of Medicine. He has received numerous awards, including being recognized as a “Top Doc” in San Diego for five consecutive years and has authored more than 300 medical publications.

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