Bechara Choucair

Bechara Choucair
Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health
Appointed by	Mayor Richard M. Daley 29 November 2009
In office 2009–2014
Preceded by	Terry Mason, MD
Personal details
Born	1973 (age 50–51) Beirut, Lebanon
Residence(s)	Chicago, Illinois
Alma mater	American University of Beirut Baylor College of Medicine University of Texas at Dallas
Website	www.cityofchicago.org/health

Bechara Choucair, M.D., M.S. (born 1973) is Senior Vice President of Safety Net & Community Health at Trinity Health in Livonia, MI. He previously served as the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Chicago Department of Public Health

Choucair was appointed as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health on November 25, 2009, by Mayor Richard M. Daley, and reaffirmed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel upon his election. He stepped down from the post in December 2014. Choucair oversaw one of the nation’s largest and most complex public health agencies with an annual operating budget of over $160 million serving over 2.7 million residents in Chicago.

Together with Mayor Emanuel, Choucair launched Healthy Chicago in August 2011, the City’s first comprehensive public health agenda. He led the effort to secure more than $60 million in new funding for a broad range of programs including major initiatives in obesity, tobacco, teen pregnancy prevention, comparative effectiveness research and community transformation data collection. Choucair reformed the department clinical services by creating new partnerships with the private, not-for-profit sector, saving taxpayers over $13 million annually while improving access to care. He launched many systems level change initiatives to address obesity including a Mobile Produce Cart and PlayStreets in different Chicago neighborhoods. Choucair oversaw all departmental public health efforts ranging from emergency preparedness to food safety, tuberculosis and West Nile virus prevention, as well as policy and legislative affairs functions. He also oversaw over $120 million in federal, state and local grants, annually.

Choucair has an appointment at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Through this capacity, he created the Chicago Community Engagement Program. He advises medical students, physician assistant students, public health students and medical residents on public health issues. Choucair mentors students interested in developing local and global community-engaged projects, with a dual focus on education and community service. He developed and teaches the course "Immigrant and Refugee Health" offered to undergraduate students at Northwestern University.

Previous work

• 2009-2014 Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health
• 2001-2005: Crusader Community Health, Medical Director
• 2005-2009: Heartland Alliance for Human Rights & Human Needs, Vice President of Poverty Medicine
• 2005-2009: Heartland International Health Center, Executive Director & Medical Director

Academic appointments

• 2002-2005: Adjunct Clinical Professor, University of Illinois, Family Medicine
• 2006-2010: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Northwestern University, Family and Community Medicine
• 2010–present: Adjunct Associate Professor, Northwestern University, Family and Community Medicine

Education

• 1990-1993: American University of Beirut, B.S. Chemistry
• 1993-1997: American University of Beirut, M.D.
• 1997-2000: Baylor College of Medicine, Family Medicine Residency
• 2009: University of Texas, Dallas, Masters in Health Care Management

Awards and honors

• 2000, Resident Teacher Award by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
• 2000, Ida and Tyler Pickett Award, for leadership and contribution to the community by Baylor College of Medicine
• 2005, Forrest Riordan Humanitarian Award, Rockford, IL
• 2007, American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, Pfizer Teacher Development Award
• 2008, Health Professions Training and Education Award, National Association of Community Health Centers
• 2008, Fellow, The Institute of Medicine of Chicago
• 2009, Loretta Lacey Maternal and Child Health Advocacy Award, Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalition, Chicago, IL
• 2011, Community Leadership Award, Midwest Asian Health Association
• 2011, Lung Health Leadership Award, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago
• 2012, Healthcare Community Leadership Award, The Chicago Health Executives Forum (CHEF)
• 2012, Community Advocates for Renewal and Empowerment Award, Rincon Family Services
• 2012, Friend for Life Award, Howard Brown Health Center

Select presentations

• Clinical Quality in Community Health Centers, presented at the 19th Annual CDC Conference on Prevention and Chronic Disease Management with Dr. Suzanne Feetham, Director of Division of Clinical Quality at the Bureau of Primary Health Care, Atlanta, GA in March 2005
• Clinical Quality in a Health Care for the Homeless setting, presented at the National Health Care for the Homeless Conference, DC in June 2005
• Quality Improvement Case Studies, presented at the National Health Care for the Homeless Conference, Portland, OR, in June 2006
• Advanced Access Scheduling Model, presented at the at National Health Care for the Homeless Conference, Portland, OR, in June 2006
• “The Impact of Housing and other Socioeconomic Factors on Diabetes Care: Implications for Health Disparities Research in Community Settings”, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine 42nd Annual Conference, Denver CO, in April 2009
• Poverty Medicine Roundtable, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine 42nd Annual Conference, Denver CO, in May 2009
• The Future of Public Health in Chicago. Co-sponsored by the Health Disparities Task Force and the American Medical Association at the Feinberg School of Medicine, in February 2010
• Idealists Creating Change: Sponsored by the Albert Schweitzer Fellows for Life Series, in June 2010
• National Health Policy Conference, Plenary Speaker, Washington DC, in February 2012
• International Conference on Health, Wellness and Society: Plenary Speaker, Chicago IL, in March 2012
• World Medical Association General Assembly, Scientific Session, Bangkok Thailand, in October 2012

Select publications

• Original, Peer-Reviewed Research Articles
  • Survey of a Bekaa Community Health Needs, LMJ 47:1:13-17, 1999, Jamal N, Choucair B, Khalil H, Hamadeh G.
  • Health Care for the Homeless in America, Am Fam Physician, 2006 Oct 1;74(7):1132-8.
  • Homelessness and Healthcare: Considerations for Evaluation, Management, and Support within the Primary Care Domain, Disease-a-Month, 2010 Dec 56(12):719-733. Koon A, Kantayya V, Choucair B.
  • Program to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening in Low-Income, Racially Diverse Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Annals of Family Medicine, 2012 Sept/October 10 (5): 412-417. Jean-Jacques M., Kaleba E., Gatta J., Gracia G., Ryan E., Choucair, B.
  • Chicago Health Atlas: Engaging in Public Health Surveillance Beyond the Confines of the Local Health Department, NACCHO Exchange, winter 2013 12(1). Jones R, Choucair B., O’Neil D., Kho A. Regional Extension Center.
• Select Abstracts
  • An Innovative Governmental Approach to Childhood Obesity Prevention in Chicago: The Inter-Departmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity, 2010. American Public Health Association 138th Annual Meeting and Expo. Choucair B, Harrington J, Herd J, Becker A, Bozlak C.
  • Poverty Medicine Collaborative: Global Health Experience for Medical Students. 2008. American Academy of Family Physicians Global Health Conference. Choucair B, Koon A.

External links

• Chicago Department of Public Health
• Crain's 40 under 40: 2012