Alice Berger, M.D., pediatrician, has been named Flagstaff Medical Center’s 2010 Physician of the Year. Dr. Berger will receive FMC’s 17th annual Healing Excellence and Leadership (HEAL) award at a ceremony on Tuesday, March 30, as part of FMC’s celebration of National Doctors’ Day.

Each year, FMC presents the HEAL award to a physician on its active staff who exemplifies the mission, vision and values of FMC by working in partnership with the hospital to provide excellent healthcare services to patients and the community. This year, 24 physicians were nominated for the award by FMC staff, physicians, volunteers and board members.

In nomination forms, Dr. Berger was recognized for her efforts in working with nurses from FMC’s Emergency Department and local agencies to help pass Flagstaff’s new bicycle helmet law to protect children from head injuries, her advocacy and influence with FMC’s medical staff during recent discussion about FMC’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and her leadership role as the medical chairperson of FMC’s Pediatric Department.

Additionally, Dr. Berger was recognized for her contributions to fighting childhood obesity. Dr. Berger was on the founding Board of Directors of Northern Arizona Healthcare’s Fit Kids of Arizona Program. Fit Kids, with clinics in Flagstaff and Cottonwood, addresses childhood obesity through a clinic setting that provides a program of nutrition, physical activity counseling and behavior modification. To date, more than 300 children have been referred to the program.

Dr. Berger is a pediatrician at Mountain View Pediatrics. She and her husband Robert Berger, M.D., general and bariatric surgeon, moved to Flagstaff in June 2004. Since that time, both have been on FMC’s active medical staff. Dr. Berger earned her medical degree at the University of Arizona Medical School in 1997 and completed her Pediatrics Residency at the University of Arizona Medical Center in 2000.

“It is an extreme honor to have been selected to receive this award and be among such a group of esteemed colleagues,” Dr. Berger said. “The physicians and staff at Flagstaff Medical Center are among the best in the world and I am fortunate to be part of such a great team and live in such a wonderful community as Flagstaff.”

Previous HEAL recipients include Andrew Aldridge, M.D; Tamara Johnson-Baack, M.D.; Jeffrey Christenson, M.D.; Edgar Clark, M.D.; John Durham, M.D.; Theodore Lewis, M.D.; Jerry Mohr, M.D.; John Mougin, M.D.; Richard Neff, M.D.; Brad Noblett, M.D.; Mark Peterson, D.O.; Stephen Ritland, M.D.; Kenneth Salce, M.D.; Harnath Singh, M.D.; John Steenbarger, M.D. and Dan Wesche, M.D.
For more information about FMC programs and services, or to find a physician, visit FlagstaffMedicalCenter.com.