Palmer Edwards, DFAPA

President

Member since 1992

An NCMS member since 1992 – nearly 30 years – Dr. Edwards has been involved in many important leadership roles during that time including serving on the NCMS Foundation’s Board of Trustees and being a member of the NCMS Board of Directors for the past 10 years. Dr. Edwards is an alumnus of the Society’s Leadership College and has mentored future health care leaders through the program.

He is Past President of the NC Psychiatric Association, Past President of the Forsyth-Stokes-Davie County Medical Society and founding President of the Forsyth County Psychiatric Society. He also served on the Board of Directors of the NC Professionals Health Program (formerly the Physicians Health Program, NCPHP).

Dr. Edwards is a graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and completed both his adult psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Vanderbilt University.

He is board-certified in adult psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry. In addition to his private practice, he is a clinical associate professor in the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and a psychiatric consultant to the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Adult Medicine Clinic.

Medicine runs in his family. Dr. Edwards grew up in the eastern North Carolina town of Washington, the son of a physician. He saw firsthand the challenges and rewards of being a small town doctor. Later, a University of North Carolina/Duke University health policy course placed him in Washington, DC, working for the chair of the US House Public Health Committee. This experience helped him appreciate the nuances and complexities involved in developing sound public policy.

Philip M. Brown, Jr., MD

President-Elect

Member since 1991

Philip Brown, MD, currently serves as New Hanover Regional Medical Center Chief Physician Executive where he oversees care quality, care transformation and physician leadership within the organization. A vascular surgeon practicing in Wilmington since 2004, Dr. Brown finished undergraduate work at UNC-Wilmington in 1988, then gained his medical degree at the Brody School of Medicine in 1995 at East Carolina University. He completed a residency at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, then a fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001-02. The next two years he served on the academic faculty at East Carolina University in Greenville.

Dr. Brown is former president of the New Hanover-Pender Medical Society and will continue as co-director of the Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership, a leadership college provided by the N.C. Medical Society Foundation.

Timothy J. Reeder, MD, MPH, FACEP

Immediate Past President

Member since 1998

Timothy J. Reeder, MD, MPH, FACEP, was elected to the NCMS Board of Directors during the 2012 NCMS Annual Meeting in Raleigh after years of service on several committees, including the NCMS Finance Committee, the Credentials Committee, and the Communications and Membership Advisory Committee. He has participated in organized medicine on the local level as well, serving as President of the Pitt County Medical Society in 2007.

An emergency medicine physician, Dr. Reeder received his MD from Ohio State University, where he also spent his residency. He currently works at the Brody School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, as an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Operations.

John Meier MD, MBA, FAAP

Secretary-Treasurer

Member since 2008

John Meier MD, MBA, FAAP, is a practicing internist and pediatrician in the Raleigh area. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of WakeMed Key Community Care (WKCC), a Medicare Shared Savings Program participant and Accountable Care Organization. In his role at WKCC John also serves on the Management, Quality and Operations Committees. Dr. Meier is very active in several working groups and committees at the North Carolina Medical Society – Towards Accountable Care Task Force, Towards Accountable Care Advisory Board, the Kanof Leadership Institute Advisory Board, the Legislative Cabinet and Finance Committee.

Dr. Meier followed his interest and passion in medicine by attending medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, graduating in 2004. He completed his combined Internal Medicine and Pediatric residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and had the opportunity to serve as the Medicine Chief Resident at WakeMed Hospital.

Robert W. Seligson, MBA, MA

Executive Vice President/CEO

Robert W. Seligson (Bob) is Executive Vice President/CEO of the North Carolina Medical Society, the oldest professional association in the state. He also serves as Chief Executive Officer of the North Carolina Medical Society Foundation. In his role as CEO, Bob directs a variety of advocacy efforts designed to serve the physician community in North Carolina.

Bob has held numerous leadership positions at renowned medical organizations and state medical societies, including the American Medical Association, Florida Medical Association and the American Association of Medical Society Executives, where he served as President in 2003 and 2004. He currently holds the position of President at the Physicians Advocacy Institute.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, with a BSA in Economics, Bob earned an MBA from the University of North Florida and a Master of Arts Degree in Liberal Studies at North Carolina State University with a concentration in film in May 2003. He and his wife, Donna, live in Raleigh and have two children.

Edward W. Whitesides, MD

Region 1 Representative

Member since 1988

Dr. Whitesides was born in Cologne, Germany while his father was an opera singer in Europe. The family moved back to the U.S. when he was 3 years old, and he grew up in Columbus, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. He attended college at Davidson College and medical school and urology training at UNC Chapel Hill. After completing training in the summer of 1993, he and his family moved to Wilmington, and he has been practicing general urology since that time.

He has maintained board certification by the American Board of Urology since 1996 and is a member of the American Urologic Association and the New Hanover-Pender County Medical Societies, for which he has served as president. He has been an NCMS member since 1988.

Dr. Whitesides and his wife have 4 grown children. He enjoys all types of sports, travel, camping and hiking in our National Parks.

Holly Biola, MD, MPH, FAAFP

Region 2 Representative

Member since 2005

Holly Biola, MD, MPH, FAAFP, serves as Chief of Family Medicine at Lincoln Community Health Center in Durham, North Carolina.  She is Board-certified in Family Medicine, Preventive Medicine, and Geriatrics.  Her non-clinical activities include an informatics role as Physician Quality Improvement (QI) Champion with her large (30,000+ individuals per year served from 10 sites), urban Community Health Center.  Dr. Biola leads QI efforts at her practice in Blood Pressure control, decreasing Racial Disparities in Blood Pressure control, Colorectal Cancer screening, and Cervical Cancer screening.  She is the current President of the North Carolina Academy of Preventive Medicine and the immediate past President of the Durham-Orange County Medical Society.

Arthur E. Apolinario, MD, MPH, FAAFP, CH

Region 3 Representative

Member since 2000

Dr. Arthur Apolinario, or "Dr. Art" as he's affectionately called by his patients, is a board-certified family medicine physician working at the Clinton Medical Clinic, Inc. He has been active in the North Carolina Medical Society and the American Medical Association, serving as delegates to both organizations as a medical student, resident, and “Young Physician” and successfully working to pass policy relating to health care and childhood obesity as well as domestic violence. He has been president of his local county society, the Sampson County Medical Society, since 2004.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in English Literature from Gannon University, he went on to New Orleans, LA for his MD at Tulane. He moved to Erie, PA to serve his residency in Family Medicine at Saint Vincent Health System, and later moved on to Newton Grove, NC to join the Clinton Medical Clinic.

Rachel D. Keever, MD, CPE, FACC

Region 4 Representative

Member since 2003

Dr. Rachel Keever, a cardiovascular disease/internal medicine physician from Asheville, is the newest member of the NCMS Board. She studied at the UNC School of Medicine where she received her MD degree, was a clinical fellow in the UNC Division of Cardiology and was a resident in the UNC Hospitals combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Program. Dr. Keever also was  awarded Certified Physician Executive (CPE) status in 2016.

Dr. Keever is one of a handful of  physicians who has completed two of the Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership’s programs: NCMS Leadership College in 2012 and Health Care Leadership and Management (HCLM) in 2016. 

Danielle L. Mahaffey, MD, MMM

At-Large

Member since 2005

Dr. Danielle Mahaffey is the Chief Physician Executive in the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System in Boone, NC, where she focuses on system-wide quality and provider engagement. She is responsible for leading medical staff practitioners to adapt current and shape future practices within an evolving healthcare delivery system.

Dr. Mahaffey graduated with her Doctorate in Medicine from the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1996 and received her Master of Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017.

Eileen M. Raynor, MD, FACS, FAAP

At-Large 

Member since 2009

Dr. Eileen Raynor currently works as an Associate Professor of Surgery and an Associate Professor in Pediatrics in the Department of Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences within the Duke University Health System. She has been an active member of the NCMS for a number of years, serving on the NCMS Legislative Cabinet, the Medical Education Committee and the Membership and Communications Advisory Committee. She is an alumna of the KIPL Leadership College Class of 2012 and also served as President of the North Carolina Otolaryngology Society.

Dr. Raynor shares, “I would like to positively impact the quality of life for North Carolina citizens and its physicians through advocacy and collaboration. As a member of the NCMS Board, we will be able to shape the future of health care for all of North Carolina.”

Merritt J. Seshul, MD, FACS, FAAOA

At-Large

Member since 2002

Dr. Merritt Seshul is a partner at Carolina ENT/HNSC, and has served as medical director of the Otolaryngic Allergy department since his arrival in 2001. He has also served as Vice President of Carolina ENT/HNSC from 2002 to 2017, as well as a Board member. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board at Viewmont Surgery Center from 2009-2015.

Dr. Seshul is Past President of the North Carolina Society of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery. He is a graduate of the Leadership College Scholar Program through the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS), having been selected in 2008. He has served on the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee for the NCMS, and currently serves on the Policy Committee. He is also in the 2019-2020 cohort for the NCMS Healthcare Leadership and Management Program.  In addition, he has served on the Board of Governors for State Public Education for North Carolina, and has participated as a State Tracker for North Carolina for the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNS).

He serves on the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina Medical Society Employee Benefit Trust, which funds the North Carolina Employee Benefit Plan.  This health plan is the 6th largest in North Carolina, and provides group health, group dental, and group life benefits to eligible employees.

Michael J. Utecht, MD, FACEP

At-Large

Member since 2005

Dr. Michael Utecht is an emergency medicine physician living in the Triangle-area. He has been an active member of the NCMS and other organizations, serving on several committees and as president of the North Carolina College of Emergency Physicians from 2009-2010.

Carl J. Westcott, MD

At-Large

Member since 1998

Dr. Carl Westcott is a general surgery specialist and has been practicing for 22 years. He graduated from Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 1991 and currently is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.