Wallach, Peskin and Morgan honored by ACPNJ at 2019 Scientific Assembly

ACPNJ is proud to announce the recipients of its 2019 chapter awards, presented March 22 at our annual Scientific Meeting, held in Princeton.

Sara Wallach, MD, MACP, was presented with the inaugural Volunteerism Award.

Steven R. Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP, was presented with the chapter’s 2019 Laureate Award.

Peggy A. Morgan was recognized for her years of dedication to ACPNJ and tireless efforts for the chapter with the inaugural Chapter Service Award.

Dr. Sara L. Wallach is the Chair and Program Director of the Department of Medicine at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Prior to joining the St Francis Medical staff in June 2013, she was a Vice-Chair and Program Director for Medicine at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey for 18 years. She served on the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine Council from 2009-2012 and is the current Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine representative to the American College of Physicians Education and Publication Committee.

Dr. Wallach is a Master of the American College of Physicians and a former governor of the New Jersey Chapter. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of the ACPNJ’s Cultural Diversity and Membership Committee. In this position, Dr. Wallach has tirelessly advocated for the underserved in New Jersey.  She was the driving force behind the ACPNJ’s “Docs for Socks,” focused on providing socks to the homeless community.  She led the effort to raise funds for St. Joseph’s Medical Clinic in Fort Liberte, Haiti and the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, which operates a hospital/clinic in Southern Haiti to support both organizations as they dealt with the aftermath of 2016’s Hurricane Matthew. Continuing her service to the underserved here at home, Dr. Wallach, along with Co-Chair Dr. Tamie Lieto and Governor Dr. Saba Hasan, have created a Community Outreach Initiative.  Each residency program in the state is encouraged to have their residents create a project that will serve their local community and create a poster outlining the results of the project to be presented at the Scientific Meeting.

Dr. Steven Peskin is the Senior Medical Director/Pilot Lead at Horizon Healthcare Innovations, a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey company. His expertise encompasses physician leadership, medical delivery management, performance improvement in health care, contracting; applications in technology include mobile/social media, clinical/scientific communications for health care professional and consumer audiences.

Dr. Peskin has worked in multiple executive positions in organizations and health plans, and has authored articles, book chapters and spoken at various conferences and events about physician leadership, the medical home, mobile health and social media. In addition to his position at Horizon, Dr. Peskin continues to work at the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey as a clinical preceptor and instructor at the Eric B. Chandler Clinic. He also assists in the business of medicine curriculum, serving as Course Director for Internal Medicine Grand Rounds at The University Medical Center in Princeton. He has held faculty appointments in medicine at several universities across the country and is currently an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at UMDNJ-RWJMS.

Dr. Peskin is a Diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.  He is a past Governor of the New Jersey ACP and continues to actively serve on the Governor’s Council.  Currently he is assisting the chapter is launching a social media presence. Other community service includes the Boards of the Greater Donnelley Neighborhood Initiative and Young Academics of New Jersey.

In addition to his service to the ACPNJ, Dr. Peskin serves on the Board of Trustees for Friends of the National Library of Medicine, editorial advisory boards of The Journal of Population Health Management and Managed Care, and is a Senior Scholar in the School of Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University.