Grand Island Family Physician Receives National Honor From American Academy of Family Physicians

WASHINGTON – Kathleen A. Bliese, M.D., medical director of Employers Health Care in Grand Island, Neb., received the 2006 Humanitarian Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP recognized Bliese today during an awards ceremony at the organization’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Held Sept. 27 through Oct. 1, the meeting is one of the largest gatherings of primary care physicians in the country.

The award honors an AAFP member for extraordinary and enduring humanitarian efforts both within and outside the United States. Bliese has been involved in the global development of family medicine and education for more than 25 years.

Bliese began her global efforts while still a medical student when she volunteered in medical clinics in the mountains of Mexico. After completing her medical training, she served on a relief team in Nigeria, working to save the lives of sick and starving children. Bliese spent the next 10 years volunteering her services in Bangladesh, where she helped build a 100-bed hospital to meet the basic needs of 10 million people.

In 1990, Bliese began leading medical teams to Nigeria to work in areas of the bush where there was no medical care. Today, she still goes there at least once a year to work in conjunction with the Nigerian government. She records diseases found in survey work and also treats the acutely ill. The government uses her research results to plan future health care services for Nigeria’s remote areas. In 1998, a 25-bed hospital was completed to serve as a base for her work. She has helped raise funds for a surgery center which will be completed this year.

Bliese serves as executive director of Hope International Services while also working full time as medical director of Employers Health Care in Grand Island, Neb. To recognize her commitment to the local community, a former governor of Nebraska declared March 8, 1996, “Dr. Kathy Bliese Day.”

In 2002, Bliese established the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians Medical Mission Grant to provide scholarships to medical students who participate in medical mission trips as part of their medical training.