Richard J. Berry has been named Executive Director/CEO of the New Mexico Medical Society/Courtesy photo
NMMS NEWS RELEASE
The New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) has announced that Richard J Berry has been selected to serve as the organization’s Executive Director and CEO following a search led by members of the Society’s Search and Executive Committees.
Founded in 1886 – more than a quarter-century before New Mexico achieved statehood – NMMS has spent 140 years advancing medical science, supporting medical education and ethics, and representing physicians and the patients they serve. Society leaders said Berry’s selection is intended to build on that legacy while strengthening the Society for the future.
“We are very enthusiastic about RJ joining the NMMS team. He brings a strong combination of public service, executive leadership, business experience and relationships across New Mexico. He has already demonstrated his ability to lead effectively, and we believe those same skills will help drive success for NMMS,” said Dr. Robert Underwood, President of NMMS. “RJ understands that effective advocacy is built on relationships. We need to advocate strongly for physicians while maintaining honest, productive relationships with legislators, policymakers and others who influence healthcare in New Mexico. Our goal is to help ensure New Mexicans have access to high-quality, safe healthcare when and where they need it. That means strengthening our physician workforce, improving access to care and making a positive impact across all sectors of this great state. That’s what we were looking for in an executive director and CEO. We believe RJ has the experience, judgment and relationships to help NMMS move forward, and we are excited about what this partnership will mean for our members, our patients and healthcare across New Mexico.”
Berry served two terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives and later two terms as mayor of Albuquerque. He also brings decades of private-sector business and executive experience throughout New Mexico and the Southwest, along with longstanding relationships across the state’s business, civic and community networks.
“I have enormous respect for the physicians of New Mexico,” Berry said. “Physicians devote decades to their education and training and then accept the profound responsibility of caring for us and our families. NMMS should listen to them, stand with them and help create the conditions in which they can succeed. I have equal respect for those who serve in the Legislature. Having served there myself, I know how demanding the work is, the sacrifices it requires and how good decision-making depends on reliable information. Growing up in a rural community and later serving as a legislator and mayor in New Mexico’s largest city taught me that our communities face different challenges but share common hopes. I want to work with NMMS leadership to bring physicians and policymakers together with candor and mutual respect, focused on what unites us: healthy families and the ability of physicians to provide exceptional care. We also want NMMS to be a home for physicians across every field of medicine—one that understands their unique challenges, provides meaningful value and brings the profession together around the issues that affect medicine as a whole.”
Editor’s note: Dr. Angela Bratton of Los Alamos was part the search committee for this appointment. There were nearly 70 applicants and a three-step process was used for the selection.
About the New Mexico Medical Society
The New Mexico Medical Society supports physicians through advocacy, education and member services; advances medical science and ethics; and works to strengthen health care for patients and communities across New Mexico.