History of the Division

DIVISION HEADS
Wilmer Rutt, M.D., 1984-1989
Mark J. Young, M.D., 1990-1993
William C. Keimig, Jr., M.D. 1993-2000
Michelle Schreiber, M.D., 2001-2007
William C. Keimig, Jr., M.D., 2007-2017
David E. Willens, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S. 2017-present

Dr. Willens has experience in urban internal medicine practice, medical education, population health, and health systems research. He completed Wayne State University School of Medicine in 2007, Emory University Primary Care Internal Medicine residency in 2010, and both a fellowship in healthcare quality improvement through the Veteran’s Administration and a masters of public health from Vanderbilt University in 2012. He specialized in team-based care for chronic and complex diseases, and medical education of quality improvement. Joining the Henry Ford Hospital Faculty in 2012 as an Associate Program Director, he led the division’s ambulatory clinic as the Director of Quality and Medical Education. He led the development of an innovative ambulatory care and education model, which was featured in a congressional whitepaper by the US Department of Health & Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In 2017 he became the Division Head of Academic Internal Medicine. He is passionate and committed to its continued growth as a leader and innovator in clinical care, population health, medical education, and research.

The early years

Academic General Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital traces back to 1927 when Robert H. Durham, M.D., was appointed the physician in charge of general medical patients. He maintained this role through 1966 and wrote the medical textbook Encyclopedia of Medical Syndromes. In 1952 John G. Mateer, M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine, established several general medical divisions as a way to organize clinics. Although each division included staff with expertise in a specific subspecialty such as bone disease, blood disorders, gastroenterology, or executive medicine, general internal medicine remained the major focus of patient care across these divisions.

The academic division

In the 1980s Wilmer Rutt, M.D., Acting Chair of the Department of Medicine, merged the general medical divisions to function academically and clinically as a consolidated general internal medicine group.

As the Henry Ford Health System developed in the 1990s to deliver primary care medicine at dozens of medical centers across southeast Michigan, the Division’s faculty at Henry Ford Hospital became the primary academic group and later the Division was renamed the Academic General Internal Medicine Division to reflect our group’s education and research focus in the ambulatory and hospital settings.

Several years ago the Division designed and implemented patient-centered team care, a Medical Home model of care, to improve clinical care of patients with chronic diseases.

Prominent division leaders

Over the years the Division has been home to many distinguished physicians:

William C. Keimig, M.D., started at Henry Ford Hospital in 1975 as an Internal Medicine resident, joined the Academic General Internal Medicine faculty in 1977, and later completed a fellowship in primary care faculty development at Michigan State University. Dr. Keimig has served in numerous leadership roles in patient care, clinic administration, and medical group governance. He was head of the Academic General Internal Medicine Division from 1993-2000 and again from 2007-2017. Widely regarded for his commitment to teaching, Dr. Keimig is clinical associate professor of Medicine at the Wayne State University College of Medicine. He has been recognized as Academic General Internal Medicine’s “Teacher of the Year” by Henry Ford’s Internal Medicine residency program several times and is frequently named among the “Top Doctors” by Hour Detroit. In 2017, Dr. Keimig was honored with the creation of the William C. Keimig Patient-Centered Team Care Award granted annually to an Academic Internal Medicine faculty physician who embodies Dr. Keimig’s exemplary attributes of empathy, humanity, respect, and thoroughness.

Kimberly Baker-Genaw, M.D., Director of Medical Education, and Vice Chair, Department of Medicine, oversees all aspects of the Henry Ford Hospital’s Graduate Medical Education enterprise and represents the Department of Medicine’s educational interests at the institutional level. Dr. Baker-Genaw’s main focus is on the subspecialty fellowship programs, and she supports the Internal Medicine Program Director and the Associate Program Directors in the residency program. Continuing medical education programs, including Grand Rounds, as well as undergraduate medical education fall under her purview. Additionally, Dr. Baker-Genaw has an integral role with the ongoing academic relationship with Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Baker-Genaw is the ACGME Designated Institutional Official for Henry Ford Hospital.

Over her career Dr. Baker-Genaw has served in a number of leadership positions in medical education including Clerkship Director, Associate Program Director, and Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency. She previously chaired the Henry Ford Hospital Graduate Medical Education Committee and has served two terms on the Henry Ford Medical Group Board of Governors. Her educational activities outside of the Henry Ford Health System include work with the American Board of Internal Medicine, the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, and as a standing member of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee for many years.

Boy Frame, M.D., came to Henry Ford Hospital in 1954 and created the Bone & Mineral Clinic within the Fifth Medical Division, assembling a group of investigators in bone and mineral research. This team over the years included Drs. Michael Parfitt, Michael Kleerekoper, Henry Bone, and D. Sudhaker Rao, all national experts in the field. In 1972 Dr. Frame led the Clinical Bone and Mineral Symposia which was the forerunner of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. He was appointed to NASA’s Life Sciences Committee, studying hypogravitational osteoporosis which he considered a limiting health factor in prolonged space flight. Dr. Frame was a renowned international expert in osteoporosis research and continued to work with NASA on bone research to prepare for placing astronauts on the International Space Station. Dr. Frame served as Chief of the Department of Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital from 1985-1986.

Charles (Gene) Jackson, M.D., served 31 years at Henry Ford Hospital. Dr. Jackson opened the Henry Ford Hospital Genetics Laboratory in 1970 with early research studies focused on the Amish communities in the Midwest. He formed the Clinical Genetics Division in 1976. With his colleague Dr. Lester Weiss, he identified a genetic defect that contributes to a type of muscular dystrophy, subsequently termed the Jackson-Weiss syndrome. This rare genetic disorder causes craniosynostosis and foot abnormalities; the gene for this disorder was discovered in 2012. Dr. Jackson and colleagues Drs. Melvin Block in Surgery and Martin Miller in Endocrinology were among the first in the country in the 1970s to use calcitonin testing for the early detection of medullary thyroid cancer. Dr. Jackson became internationally known for his study in the investigation of the gene for multiple endocrine neoplasia, type II (MEN II). In 1987 he and other Henry Ford and Yale researchers identified the location of a gene on chromosome 10 that is linked to hereditary medullary thyroid cancer. He became one of a few Americans awarded the title "Commodore to the Republic of San Marino Equestrian Order of Sant Agata" for his work there on hereditary gastric cancer. He was awarded the Michigan Chapter American College of Physicians Laureate Award in 1996.

Scott Kaatz, D.O., has served several decades at Henry Ford Hospital as a senior faculty physician, an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and clinical researcher in the field of venous thromboembolism and anticoagulation. He developed one of the largest anticoagulation clinics in the country at Henry Ford Hospital, which follows more than 5,500 patients annually. Dr. Kaatz continues to care for patients as a hospitalist at Henry Ford Hospital.

Bruce McCarthy, M.D., was Director of the General Internal Medicine Fellowship Program and Division Head of the Fifth Medical Division as well as Medical Director of the Southern Region for the Henry Ford Medical Group. He also served as Medical Director of Henry Ford’s Medicare Managed Care Program. He then joined Allina Medical Clinic in Minneapolis, MN, where he served as Chief Medical Officer. In 2008, Dr. McCarthy was honored as an Acclaim Award Honoree by the American Medical Group Association, and he received the HealthPartners Innovations in Health Care Award. In 2010 he became Executive Vice President of Columbia St. Mary’s, Inc. and President of Columbia St. Mary’s Physician Division in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In addition, Dr. McCarthy served in a leadership capacity at Ascension Health, helping the national system develop and implement innovative approaches to physician-hospital integration.

Jan Rival, M.D., joined the Division in 1969, served as chief of the Third Medical Division, and also as president of the Henry Ford Medical Association. For many years Dr. Rival was clinical associate professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan, which presented him with its Outstanding Teacher Award in 1994. His patients created a traveling scholarship in his name, awarded annually to an exceptional resident in the Department of Internal Medicine. In addition, Henry Ford Health System presents the Jan Rival Outstanding Resident Award each year to a physician-in-training selected from all the System's residents. In 2014 the Dr. Jan and Eva Rival Education Room at Henry Ford Hospital was dedicated in honor of his 45 years of service as a senior staff internist and preceptor to medical residents. Dr. Rival served as president of the Henry Ford Medical Association (2000-2007) and was the recipient of the Fred W. Whitehouse, M.D., Distinguished Career Award (2008), in recognition of exemplary service epitomizing the mission of the Henry Ford Medical Group.

Wilmer M. Rutt, M.D., developed the Center for Clinical Effectiveness in 1989 and received a $10.3 million grant in 1992 from the National Cancer Institute, the largest single research grant ever given to the hospital at that time. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial was a $100 million 12-center national study to investigate ways to reduce deaths related to major cancers. Out of Dr. Rutt’s focus on the effectiveness of clinical care grew a large body of research which has since evolved to become the Center for Health Services Research at Henry Ford Health System.

Eric Scher, M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine and Vice President of Medical Education, first came to Henry Ford Hospital for internal medicine residency training. As a staff member of the department, he served in numerous leadership positions, including director of the medical consult service, director of the residency program, and Vice Chair of the department from 1997-2010. He was appointed Interim Chair of the Department in 2010 and Chair of Medicine in 2012. In addition to his departmental administrative duties and clinical work, Dr. Scher has been Vice President of Medical Education since 2007. He directs all medical education activities at Henry Ford Hospital which are among the largest in the nation. He also provides oversight for the education programs in Henry Ford’s suburban hospitals, which together comprise among the largest osteopathic educational enterprise in the country. Dr. Scher has held important committee responsibilities in ACGME and the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, and has been active in the American College of Physicians (ACP). At the state level, he organized and directed ACP’s educational meetings. At the national level he contributed to the ACP's CME projects and serves as a reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Scher has trained hundreds of residents and won numerous teaching awards at Henry Ford. He received the ACP Michigan Chapter Laureate Award in 2007, the Parker J. Palmer Teacher Award from the ACGME in 2005, and the Governor’s Award from the ACP in Michigan in 2001. Dr. Scher also has done extensive community service for several decades with the volunteer physicians program at the St. Francis Cabrini Clinic in downtown Detroit.

Michelle Schreiber, M.D., was a senior staff physician in the Division of General Internal Medicine from 1989-2001 and served as Division Head from 2001-2007. She also served as Associate Medical Director of Henry Ford Hospital. Dr. Schreiber then became Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Trinity Health followed by Senior Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer for the Detroit Medical Center. She returned to Henry Ford Health System in 2011 as Senior Vice President of Clinical Transformation and Clinical IT Integration. In this role she led the system-wide initiative to implement new electronic medical record standardization. In 2014 Dr. Schreiber was appointed to Chief Quality Officer at Henry Ford Health System.

Thomas L. Simmer, M.D., was a senior staff physician in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Henry Ford Hospital. He later became Vice President of Health and Medical Affairs and Medical Director for the Health Alliance Plan at Henry Ford Health System. Dr. Simmer joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in 1999 as Senior Vice President for Health Care Programs and Provider Services and in 2006 became Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for the organization. Under his leadership, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has implemented a number of collaborative programs to improve access, cost, and quality of medical services. In 2012 he was named the winner in Corporate Achievement by Crain’s Detroit Health Care Heroes.

Bruce W. Steinhauer, M.D., trained in Internal Medicine at Henry Ford Hospital in the 1960s and joined the staff in General Internal Medicine. Dr. Steinhauer was Division Head of the Third Medical Division from 1968-1975. He was instrumental in the implementation of the suburban satellite clinic system in the 1970s, serving as the medical director of the Henry Ford Fairlane Medical Center when it opened in 1975. He was Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Medical Group Practice of Henry Ford Hospital from 1988 to 1992. He was Chief Executive Officer of the Lahey-Hitchcock Clinic from 1992 to 1998, and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Regional Medical Center at Memphis from 1998 to November 2006. Dr. Steinhauer is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee’s College of Medicine. He was recognized in 2013 as the Lifetime Achievement winner at Memphis Business Journal’s 15th annual Health Care Heroes awards.