TMA Foundation Elects 2021-2023 Officers

Three Houston physicians, a Tyler volunteer, and a distinguished professor at UT Austin were elected to serve as officers on the TMA Foundation Board of Trustees. The officers began their terms earlier in May during TexMed, TMA’s annual conference.

• Michael E. Speer, MD, a Houston board-certified neonatologist in practice for 45 years and a TMA past president, will serve a two-year term as president of the TMA Foundation. He also is a former chair of the TMA Board of Trustees. Dr. Speer is a member of Harris County Medical Society and has served on its Executive Board and as president. Throughout his career, Dr. Speer has been active in the Texas Pediatric Society, also serving as the American Academy of Pediatrics Texas Chapter President. The society honored him with the Charles W. Daeschner Jr., MD, Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. Dr. Speer is a professor of pediatrics and medical ethics at Baylor College of Medicine.

• Carla F. Ortique, MD, a board-certified Houston obstetrician/gynecologist in practice for 26 years, was elected to a two-year term as vice president of TMAF. She cares for patients at The Women’s Specialist of Houston at Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Ortique represents the Harris County Medical Society in the TMA House of Delegates and is a member of TMA’s Council on Science and Public Health. She also is a consultant to and former chair of TMA’s Committee on Reproductive, Women’s and Perinatal Health. Dr. Ortique has served as a member of TMA’s Committee on Child and Adolescent Health and TMA’s Patient-Physician Advocacy Committee.

• Clifford K. Moy, MD, DLFAPA, a Houston board-certified psychiatrist and medical management physician in practice for 32 years, will serve a two-year term as treasurer of TMA Foundation. Currently, he is behavioral health medical director at TMF Health Quality Institute. He served five years on the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Board of Examiners four of which with the designation of senior examiner. Dr. Moy is a former speaker of the TMA House of Delegates, the association’s policy-making body. He has served on the TMA Council on Medical Education, Committee on Physician Distribution and Healthcare Access, and the Committee on Health Careers. Dr. Moy also is a past chair of the American Medical Association Council on Long Range Planning and Development.

• Debbie Pitts, a Tyler volunteer, was elected to a two-year term as TMAF secretary. She has been a member of the TMA Alliance (TMAA), the community service and advocacy arm of TMA, and her local Smith County Medical Society Alliance for 34 years. Ms. Pitts is a past president of TMAA and the Smith County alliance. She also has served as a TMAA district director, and as vice president for community health and for communications. She has served on the boards of local nonprofit organizations, including Tyler Day Nursery, Parents Anonymous, and Historic Tyler. Ms. Pitts also is an elder at First Presbyterian Church. She is married to Paul Pitts, MD, a Tyler pediatrician.

• Steven H. Kelder, MPH, PhD, was elected for a one-year term as Executive Committee member-at-large. He is the Beth Toby Grossman Distinguished Professor of Spirituality and Health and Professor in the Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Health department at The University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus. He is co-director of the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living. Dr. Kelder is one of the lead investigators for CATCH, a research-based program that guides schools, families, and children in the process of being healthy. He also is a former research fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, working in development of the School Health Index.