EPITOME OF A LEADER
DR. READ is no stranger to awards and accolades. He received a Bronze Star for his service with the Marines during the Vietnam War. In 2003, he
won the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Austin College, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in 1964. Dr. Read is a past president of the medical staff at Medical City Dallas Hospital, which honored him with the City Lights Award in 2010. The same year, he received the Dallas County Medi- cal Society (DCMS) Max Cole Leadership Award. During his medical career, he has answered the call to lead on several occasions. Dr. Read served as DCMS president in 2002 and was chair of the TMA Board of Trustees last year. He was chair of TMA’s Patient-Physician Advocacy Committee during 2006–07 and was the founding chair of the TMA PracticeEdge Board of Managers in 2015. A colorectal surgeon in Dallas for the past 38 years, Dr. Read is past president of the Texas Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, and the Texas Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. A West Nile virus survivor, Dr. Read started a support group for fellow survivors in 2006. The group
boasts 200 members across the country and meets regularly to discuss managing symptoms, as well as other mosquito-borne illnesses such as the Zika virus. Dr. Read is particularly passionate about physician health and rehabilitation. As president of the medical staff at Medical City Dallas Hospital during 1986–87, he began an impaired physicians com- mittee to help physicians with drug and alcohol addiction get treatment and reintegrate into the medical staff. He served on the hospital’s Board of Trustees in the late ’80s and early ’90s. He also chaired the DCMS Impaired Physicians Committee. Dr. Read has been married to his wife, Roberta, for more than 40 years. She is a nurse at Baylor
University Medical Center at Dallas. They have two daughters who are professional musicians. Sarah is an organist in Whitewater, Wisc., and Alison is a harpist in Dallas. Dr. Read sings in the choir at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. He has been a member of the Downtown Dallas Rotary Club for more than 30 years.
Texas Medicine: Why is it important for Texas physicians to be active in advocacy?
Dr. Read: When I was DCMS president and on its board of directors, I learned politics is important. You have to be involved even locally. In politics, you’re either at the table talking about the issues, or you’re on the menu. As doctors, we’re always on the menu when the legislature is in session.
Texas Medicine: Why must physicians remain vigilant in protecting tort reform?
Dr. Read: The legislature still has the ability to change tort reform policies. Plaintiff’s attorneys try to chip away at tort reform every chance they get. A good example is the Frezza v. Montaño lawsuit going on now. (Read “Border Battle” in the November 2015 issue of Texas Medicine, pages 57–60, or
18 TEXAS MEDICINE May 2016
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