Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, has been named the next Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). Dr. Turner began her new role as Executive Director-Elect October 1, and she will formally assume the role of Executive Director on January 1, 2022.
Dr. Turner, a general surgeon with minimally invasive expertise, succeeds trauma surgeon David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, who has held the College’s top executive leadership position for more than a decade. She will work closely with Dr. Hoyt during a leadership transition process for the next three months. “Dr. Turner is eminently qualified to take the helm as the College’s next Executive Director. She is a champion for issues that are of critical concern to surgeons and dedicated to developing clinical excellence and leadership qualities among surgeons in all practice settings,” Dr. Hoyt said.
“The American College of Surgeons Board of Regents unanimously selected Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, as the next Executive Director,” said L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, Chair, ACS Board of Regents. “Dr. Turner is an outstanding clinician, educator, and surgeon advocate who is an inspired choice to carry forward the College’s momentum and lead its continued global growth.”
“We are grateful to Dr. Hoyt for his visionary leadership, guidance, and unwavering commitment to the ACS for more than 40 years, including 12 as Executive Director,” Dr. Levin continued. “He has left an indelible imprint on this organization, and Dr. Hoyt’s strategic guidance and transformative programs will have a lasting impact.”
As Director of the ACS Division of Member Services from 2011 to 2021, Dr. Turner pioneered transformative changes that serve the diverse and evolving needs of surgeons in the U.S. and internationally.
“I am honored to be named the next Executive Director of the American College of Surgeons, the largest organization serving all surgeons and all surgical specialties in the world,” said Dr. Turner. “For more than 100 years, the ACS has focused on setting the highest standards and improving the quality of care for surgical patients. I look forward to continuing the College’s legacy of innovative programs into the future.”
Continuing ACS innovation in quality, education, and patient care
In her role as Executive Director, Dr. Turner will be charged with continuing and increasing the College’s impact on surgical innovation, quality, education, and research.
The ACS has long been a powerful voice for raising the standards of quality care—in surgery, and in its verification and accreditation programs—to deliver the best care for patients and, in doing so, decreasing health care costs and enhancing patient outcomes. Dr. Turner will continue this critical work in her new position.
“We are guided by setting the standards that will enable the best patient care, and in this work, our quality programs are truly transformational,” said Dr. Turner. “The pioneering ACS quality, verification, and accreditation programs provide us with unmatched experience in driving the best care for patients. We look forward to being a continued source of expertise in this area.”
Dr. Turner remains dedicated to ensuring that surgeons are supported by the ACS in all practice settings, specialties, and stages of their careers, and that the ACS advocates for surgeons and the patients they serve. She has published and presented widely on minimally invasive surgical techniques, leadership, innovation, quality improvement, surgical outcomes, and graduate surgical education. Dr. Turner has received numerous awards, honors, and multiple grants for her research as a surgeon investigator throughout her career. A mother of two, Dr. Turner is committed to assuring that there are no artificial barriers to surgeons leading full and productive lives, both personally and professionally.
Leadership roles and education
Before joining the ACS Executive Leadership Team, Dr. Turner spent eight years in academic practice on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, where she was the surgery residency program director and medical director of the surgical acute care unit. Dr. Turner is currently on the faculty in the department of surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine, IL.
Dr. Turner is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and earned a doctor of medicine degree at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her surgical training as an intern and resident followed at Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC, where she spent two years at the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute conducting bench research. Her fellowship training in minimally invasive and laparoscopic surgery was completed at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill-Cornell University School of Medicine, and Columbia University School of Medicine, New York City. She recently earned a master of business administration degree at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, graduating with highest honors.
She serves on the board of directors of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and OceanFirst Bank (OCFC). She chairs the ACS Delegation to the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates and is past-chair of the AMA Council on Medical Education, past-chair of the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association, and past-president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.
Dr. Turner is an active member of other surgical specialty societies, including the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, the American Surgical Association, Southern Surgical Association, Southeastern Surgical Congress, Society of University Surgeons, Association of Women Surgeons, Asociación Colombiana de Cirugia (honorary member), and Latino Surgical Society.
