Stilwell, KS
Phone: (405) 706-3821 (o)
Email: russellkohlmd@sbcglobal.net
“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.” —Sydney J. Harris
The last year saw the Congress of Delegates re-implement a Nominating Committee, the results of which will be seen at our upcoming meeting in Phoenix. Though purposely separated from that work to prevent undue influence, it has been necessary for the speaker to take a number of actions to help facilitate the success of this COD-ordered body. In each, my focus has been on what represents the fairest and kindest solution to unanticipated challenges within our parliamentary and standing rules. Those will continue to be my criteria as we explore how our Congress can best change the world. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve!
Russell Kohl, MD, FAAFP, is a board-certified family physician whose life has been a story of adapting to the needs of the world around him — as a firefighter searching the bombed Murrah Building, coordinating ground search and rescue following an F-5 tornado striking metro Oklahoma City, as an intern pulled from residency and deployed as sole medical officer for a C-130 squadron in Iraq, and across a variety of practice settings.
The son of a firefighter and elementary school teacher, Dr. Kohl was raised to serve others and leave the world a better place. For seven years, he did this in a full-scope solo practice in rural Oklahoma. With the knowledge and experiences gained there, he moved into academia, focusing on resident adaptability to diverse community needs and improving their practice management skills. As chief medical officer at TransforMED, he worked on improving the world for patients and colleagues by redesigning health care delivery for over 1.5 million patients. Dr. Kohl has expanded this work and is now chief medical officer and chief operating officer of a Medicare quality improvement organization supporting physicians across Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, while providing clinical care within homeless encampments in the Kansas City area with Care Beyond the Boulevard.
Dr. Kohl began his association with the AAFP as a student, ultimately serving as student delegate to the Congress of Delegates and student chair of the National Conference. Since then, he has assisted in parliamentary procedure training and employment at multiple AAFP conferences, and is an associate member of the National Association of Parliamentarians. In addition to serving as the new physician member of the AAFP Board of Directors, he has served on a variety of AAFP commissions and committees over the years, completing a term as chair of the AAFP Commission on Finance and Insurance in 2016. He has served on the Oklahoma AFP Board of Directors since 1999 and was the 2016-2017 chapter president. He was elected vice speaker of the AAFP Congress of Delegates in 2017 and speaker of the Congress of Delegates in 2021.