Martin D. Merry

Martin Merry brings to his professional engagements a unique background of "Corporate America," clinical practice and consulting/learning facilitation experience. He received his undergraduate degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, based upon a unique "campus-factory shop floor" collaboration between Cornell and Corning, Inc. He then earned his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal, subsequently completing residency training in internal medicine, with an additional year of psychiatry residency at Dartmouth and Albany Medical Centers. Dr. Merry then practiced general internal medicine for 8 years with a group practice founded by two Mayo Clinic-trained senior partners. During these years he developed the role of Medical Director for Quality, the first designated medico-administrative position at St. Joseph's Hospital in Elmira, NY.

Building upon his medical practice and medical staff leadership experience in responding to both JCAHO and New York State regulation, Dr. Merry began in 1981 a career devoted to consultation and education in the areas of quality, medical staff leadership, and organizational transition. Presently he has worked with more than 1000 health care organizations in each of the 50 United States and internationally. Clients have included hospitals, physician group practices, managed care plans, multi-hospital systems, health care law firms, consulting firms involved in a variety of health management issues, the U.S. military health system (Project Director, US Department of Defense, Civilian External Peer Review Program, 1987-94), and the JCAHO. He has developed educational programs for the American Medical Association, American Hospital Association, American College of Physician Executives, American College of Healthcare Executives, American Medical Group Association, Medical Group Management Association, Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service and numerous state and regional professional associations. His practice keeps pace with vital issues emanating from the emergence of health care's information and consumer revolutions. He is a recognized communicator of leading edge quality concepts for health care, including Six Sigma, Human Factors Science, ISO 9000 and Baldrige-based systems development. His present areas of focus include governance and leadership issues of organizational transition, physician liaison and leadership development, integration of quality systems into health system/network development, and creative approaches to address the national issue of patient safety. In order to expand his capabilities in these areas he has recently joined with three other senior consultants to form Dynamic Health Systems, and alliance that focuses upon health system leadership and innovation.

In addition to his consulting and educational work, Dr. Merry continues in his part-time position as Adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Health Management and Policy at the University of New Hampshire.

In 1997 the American College of Physician Executives recognized Dr. Merry with its Rodney T. West Literary Achievement Award, citing his article, "Physician Leadership: The Time is Now!" as 1996's "most significant literary contribution to the advancement of the medical management profession."