Healthcare Professionals Join for UA’s 15th Annual McCollough Forum

From the February 2017 Desktop News Specialists in law and medicine will speak on healthcare reform and other hot topics in medicine at the 15th annual Susan and Gaylon McCollough Medical Scholars Forum Feb. 10–11 in the Shelby Hall rotunda on The University of Alabama Campus.

The two-day forum, designed to prepare students pursuing medical and health science professions, is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and begins Friday afternoon with one of three keynote lectures.

Dr. Darrel C. Weaver, the medical director of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, will present “The Affordable Care Act: The Past, the Present, and the Possible Future” following the forum’s welcoming remarks which begin at 4 p.m.

Weaver is a senior physician executive with expertise in operations management, clinical management, budget planning, business development, quality assurance, performance improvement, and more. He has held leadership positions at Bibb County medical Center, Shelby Baptist Medical Center/Baptist Health System, and Cullman Regional Medical Center in addition to his work with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.

On Saturday, Andrew Malahowski, of Gallagher Benefit Services, will present “Health Care Reform: Then and Now” at 9:30 a.m. and Dr. Steve Lovelady, owner and partner of Northriver Primary Care Associates, will present “Evolving Healthcare: Or Is It?” at 11 a.m.

Malahowski began working for Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. in 2014, and as compliance counsel, he assists the offices of Gallagher’s South Central region with day-to-day and long-term strategic compliance questions related to health and welfare plans.

Before joining Gallagher, Malahowski worked in private practice for 12 years, specializing in employee benefits law and employment law. He was previously a partner with an employment and benefits boutique law firm in Chicago, Illinois, where he represented public and private sector employers in a range of employee benefits matters and counseled clients with respect to compliance obligations under ERISA, PPACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and various other employee benefits laws and regulations.

Lovelady is the owner and partner of Northriver Primary Care Associates and has more than 30 years of experience as a physician in West Alabama. He has also served as the team physician for The University of Alabama basketball team and assistant professor and medical director of The University of Alabama’s emergency medicine program, as well as other positions.

He graduated from UA with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham, and completed a family practice residency at The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences.

The McCollough Medical Scholars Forum was established by UA alumni Dr. Gaylon McCollough and Susan McCollough to prepare students pursuing medical and health science professions for the road ahead, with a focus on the Hippocratic and humanistic purveyance of healthcare.

Dr. Gaylon McCollough, who established the McCollough Medical Scholars Forum with his wife in 2002, is the president of the McCollough Plastic Surgery Clinic and the founder of the McCollough Institute for Appearance and Health in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In 2015, the United States Sports Academy bestowed the Theodore Roosevelt Meritorious Achievement Award on McCollough. He is also recognized by his peers as one of the Best Doctors in America and one of America’s Top Plastic Surgeons. At UA, he was an Academic All-American on Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s 1964 National Championship Football Team.

His wife, Susan N. McCollough, is an international artist in abstract and impressionistic art and an alumna of the College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama, where she was Miss University of Alabama. She has produced more than 600 paintings, many of which have won national and international awards. Her works can be seen at her gallery, The Susan N. McCollough Gallery/Studio in Gulf Shores.

For more information about the forum, contact Marian Denham, director of health professions advising in the College of Arts and Sciences, at 205/348-5902.