Events

Certificate of Meritorious Service (in recognition of distinguished service to the medical profession)

The Meritorious Service Award is MSDC’s highest award and has been given out since the 1940s. Past recipients include Dr. Montague Cobb, Dr. Raymond Scalettar, Dr. Charles Epps, Dr. Greg Argyros, Dr. John Lynch, Dr. Daniel Lucey, Dr. Gigi El-Bayoumi, and Dr. Daniel Marchalik, among others. The award is presented to a physician member in recognition of distinguished service to the medical profession as a whole.

Distinguished Service Award (in recognition of distinguished service to the Medical Society).

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to a physician member for outstanding service to the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. Past awardees include Dr. Dorothy Starr (1987), Dr. Ray Scalettar (1992), the Physician Health Program (1999), Dr. Peter Lavine (2005), Dr. Roselyn E Epps (2019), and Dr. Raymond Tu (2024).

Charles P. Samenow, MD, MPH is a licensed, board-certified psychiatrist in adult psychiatry with training in psychosomatic medicine, which is the interface between medical illness and psychiatric illness.  He has 15-years of experience working in academic medicine as an associate professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine where he treated psychiatric patients, both inpatient and outpatient, and provided training, academic courses and supervision for learners across the full medical education spectrum (medical students, residents, Physician Assistant Students, and faculty development).  He also conducts emergency psychiatric evaluations for the Washington D.C. Veterans Hospital.

While clinically Dr. Samenow treats adult patients (ages16 and up) with a wide variety of psychiatric problems, his clinical practice, research, teaching and forensic focus have been on human sexuality, sexual disorders, and addictions.  He served as the academic editor of Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention.  Additionally, he was a member of the board of directors for the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) and s lead developer for Advanced Training in Problematic Sexual Behaviors (ATPSB).  He is a member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA).  He has conducted trainings and consultations for the sex offender civil commitment programs in Pennsylvania and Minnesota.  Dr. Samenow serves as the Chair of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia’s (MSDC) Physician Health Committee (PHC) which serves to intervene on, monitor and advocate for physicians with substance-related disorders, major mental health problem and/or unprofessional behaviors which compromise the safe practice of medicine.  He has lectured locally, nationally and internationally on sexual health and professional behaviors among physicians.  He has been admitted as an expert witness in multiple United States district courts.

Dr. Charles H. Epps, III Community Service Award (in recognition of outstanding public service to the community)

This is presented to a physician member for outstanding public service to the DC community. Past recipients include Dr. Tamika Auguste, Dr. Collette Magnant, Dr. Kim Bullock, Dr. Jeff Akman, Dr. Janelle Goetcheus, Dr. Marvin Korengold, and other DC medical luminaries. Previously known as the Community Service Award, the honor was renamed in 1997 after Dr. Epps, a 1994 honoree.

Patience H. White, MD, MA, MACP, MACR, FAAP is co-director of Got Transition, the National Center for Health Care Transition in Washington, DC, and professor emeritus of medicine and pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. White received her MD from Harvard Medical School and a master’s in education from GWU School of Education and Human Development. Throughout her career, she has been active in academic medicine, clinical care, teaching, research, and public policy. She has served as director of the Division of Adult and Pediatric Rheumatology and associate dean of Faculty Affairs at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

In 2000-2001 she received a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship and worked in the Senate Finance Committee on Medicare part D and the Family Opportunity Act. She has served as the chief Public Health and Advocacy Officer for the national Arthritis Foundation. Dr. White is lead author on the 2023 reaffirmed joint American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Physicians statement: Supporting the Health Care Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood in the Medical Home and developed the nationally recognized Six Core Elements of Health Care Transition that has improved health outcomes for many youth and young adults as they move from pediatric to adult health care systems. She has been a practicing pediatric and adult rheumatologist in GWU division of Rheumatology for over 40 years. Currently, she is serving as the Governor of the American College of Physicians DC Chapter.

John Benjamin Nichols Award (in recognition of outstanding contributions toward improving the health of the community).

The John Benjamin Nichols Award is presented in recognition of outstanding contributions toward improving the health of the community. The award has been given since 1953 and previous recipients include Dr. James Taylor, Sister Carol Keehan, Polly Shackleton, and Congressman Joseph Himes.

The DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority (HBX) was established by the District of Columbia to develop and operate the District’s Affordable Care Act on-line health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link. HBX is governed by a private Executive Board of experts from across the health policy field, chaired by Diane Lewis and vice-chaired by Henry Aaron. HBX’s Executive Director, Mila Kofman, is a nationally recognized expert on private health insurance markets and state and federal regulation. She is a former Superintendent of Insurance and is the first employee HBX Executive Board hired in December 2012 to build a team, lead IT development, and implement the ACA and local health-coverage initiatives.

Although the last state to start its IT build, DC Health Link opened for business on time on October 1, 2013,is a source for coverage for Members and Congressional staff, and now covers approximately 100,000 residents, families, District small businesses and non-profits and their employees in DC and across the nation. Small businesses have the purchasing power of large employers where insurance companies compete for their business. HBX also administers the federal health insurance tax credit to make coverage more affordable for residents and their families.

Since 2013, HBX has helped to cut the uninsured rate in half in DC. HBX twice ranked number one for consumer decision support tools. AWS awarded its 2016 and 2018 Best Practices in Innovation Award to HBX for using agile development open-source code and being fully in the cloud. HBX deployed award-winning innovative outreach strategies, becoming a model of reaching people “where they live, work, pray, and play.” In 2017, Massachusetts selected HBX for a first-in-the-nation state-base marketplace partnership where HBX provides IT and on-going operations support for Massachusetts small-business marketplace. And, HBX’s essential plan coverage design—no deductibles for many services like primary care, specialists, and urgent care as well as no out-of-pocket costs for certain chronic conditions like type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension—helps ensure that patients can afford their health care. And, Maryland and New York’s ACA marketplaces adopted DC Health Link’s coverage design for Type 2 Diabetes.

HBX has a long record of success implementing programs to get residents affordable health coverage and keep residents insured. Within two weeks of COVID relief funding becoming available, HBX ensured that District employers and residents had the relief to help them stay insured. HBX also designed and implemented HealthCare4ChildCare (HC4CC), a locally funded program providing free and lower-premium health insurance to early child-development facilities and their employees. HC4CC has become a national model, and most recently Connecticut’s policymakers enacted a similar initiative. And on November 1, 2025, HBX launched Healthy DC Plan, providing continuity of coverage and care with no-cost health insurance for qualified residents who are no longer eligible for DC Medicaid.

The Executive Board and HBX leadership believe that “It takes a village.” HBX has a strong partnership with DC agencies including DISB, DHCF, DOH, and DHS, as well as its health plans, DC Chambers, brokers, consumer and patient advocates, the faith-based community, hospitals and physicians, and policymakers. HBX built DC Health Link to reflect the needs of DC’s entire community. And now, HBX leverages a proven approach to continue to serve DC.

Presented by Dr. Matthew Lecuyer (or the current MSDC president) to an individual or organization that has made an impact on DC healthcare but is not a fit for or is ineligible for the four other awards.