Awarded to a long-standing physician leader who has made impactful contributions to the profession of medicine and the NMA.
By Gerry Luckey, MD, FAAFP
I am surprised, humbled, and honored to receive the Distinguished Service to Medicine Award from the NMA.
The NMA is a vital component in improving health care for our patients. Making the practice of medicine less cumbersome, more efficient, adequately reimbursed, and safe are some of the objectives the leadership and staff work on daily. It has been my privilege to have played a small role in that endeavor.
Access to care is vital for a high-functioning health care system. The current resolution to improve access to maternal care in rural areas is an ongoing challenge and opportunity. The Kearney initiative will help, but there are many moving parts and many stakeholders that need to come together to accomplish this goal.
Solutions being addressed include:
a) Selecting medical students from rural areas.
b) Educating urban medical students on the many benefits of rural practice.
c) Loan repayment tied to rural practice.
d) Adequate maternal care training for family medicine residents.
e) Enhanced reimbursement for rural maternity care.
f) Creating obstetrical care teams in rural areas serving more than one hospital.
g) Collaborating with all stakeholders (NHA, UNMC, Creighton, Nebraska Legislature, etc.).
I have found great value in the independent practice of medicine in a small rural community (David City) for 45 years—particularly the long-term relationships that bind us to our patients, many times for generations. After many years of practice, I realized that patients value how much we care more than how much we know.
It is vital that we understand that the business we are in is a service business—not to ourselves but to our patients. Creating a culture of patient first almost always results in making decisions that are in the best interests of the patients we serve. As leaders in this endeavor, it is vital that we “walk the talk” and set the tone for our staff to follow.
Precepting medical students has been an impactful component of family medicine for me. These students are bright, multi-talented, and eager to learn. I have learned from them. I have asked each of them to enter the exam room, ask questions pertinent to the reason for the visit, listen carefully to the response, and the patient will give you the diagnosis. (Osler’s approach still holds—and it avoids unnecessary testing.)
As we expand our number of medical and PA students, we need engaged preceptors to mentor them and keep them excited about the opportunities and challenges of providing high-quality health care. Please be one of them.
Taking a leadership position in the NMA, your hospital, your specialty society, and certainly your community is vital to making a difference for the people we serve. We also need to do our part to “police ourselves” to keep health care safe.
The future of health care in Nebraska is bright. With the help of the talented NMA staff and board leadership, Nebraska is a great place to be a physician and a better place to be a patient. We all
need to do our part to make it even better.
Bio: Dr. Luckey grew up on a farm in the rural Columbus area and graduated from Columbus High. He earned his undergraduate degree at UNL and his medical degree from UNMC in 1973. He was board certified in Family Medicine and Geriatrics and practiced full-scope family medicine in David City for 45 years.
Primary interests have been quality care and access to care in rural Nebraska. He started the South East Rural Physician Alliance (SERPA) along with NMA members Dr. Darroll Loschen and Dr. Roger Meyer. He was instrumental in evolving and expanding this into the SERPA-ACO in 2012. He remains a strong advocate for the independent practice of medicine.
He has taken leadership roles in the NMA and NAFP, serving on their boards, foundations, and numerous committees. Medical education has been a priority, and he has mentored more than 200 medical and PA students. Emphasis on disease prevention has led to the formation of an alliance with the Dean of the College of Public Health to promote public health initiatives in primary care.
Since retirement, he has maintained an interest in quality care and access to care, taking a lead role in the NMA’s Maternal and Primary Care Task Force. He continues to serve as the Quality Assurance chair for Butler County Health and conducts peer review for SERPA-ACO. Interests outside of medicine include family time, exercising, landscaping, farming, and serving on a number of boards.
