February 24, 2010

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Ann Arbor-based Altarum Institute, a nonprofit health systems research and consulting organization, announced the selection of Dr. Bob Kelch as the Institute’s new chairman of the board of trustees.  Kelch, who will serve a three-year term with Altarum, is currently the executive vice president for medical affairs emeritus and special advisor to the executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Michigan.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Dr. Kelch take on this critical leadership role,” said Altarum Institute President and CEO Lincoln Smith.  “His history of running one of the finest university hospital systems in the U.S., combined with his vision for how the Institute can be a shaping force in the many aspects of health and health care in America, makes him the ideal chair.”

Prior to his current position with the University of Michigan, Dr. Kelch led all three components of the University of Michigan Health System, including the hospitals and health centers, the medical school and the M-CARE managed care organization.  Before coming to the University of Michigan in 2003, Kelch served as the vice president for health affairs and dean of the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Kelch is a pediatric endocrinologist originally from Detroit, Mich.  He received his bachelor's degree from Monteith College of Wayne State University in 1964 and his medical degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1967.

“Altarum Institute is a remarkably unique organization,” said Kelch.  “Its strengths in systems analysis and modeling, objective research, and health program consulting for the federal government have helped position the organization for tremendous growth.  As a respected nonprofit institution, it has both an opportunity and an obligation to make its voice heard in the health reform debates swirling about us now and, more likely than not, for many years to come.  I am honored to join the management and staff in this endeavor.” 

Kelch replaces outgoing Altarum board chair Dr. Charles H. “Chip” Roadman, the former U.S. Air Force Surgeon General, who has served as Altarum board chair since 2005. 
 

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