Contact:
Peter Warren 310/809-4381; Karen Nikos 916/551-2069; Ron Lopp 916/551-2042

SACRAMENTO – Joe Dunn, a state senator from Orange County, has been appointed the new chief executive officer of the California Medical Association.

Following a national search, Dunn was selected from a “field of outstanding candidates as the right leader at the right time for the CMA,” said CMA President Michael Sexton, M.D.

“Joe Dunn brings extraordinary talents and a wealth of knowledge about California and politics in Sacramento to CMA at a crucial moment in our 150-year history,” said Sexton. “Joe has vision, intellect and passion. He will greatly enhance our ability to advocate for quality care for our patients, protect the profession, improve the public health, expand access to care for all, and maintain practice viability for the physicians of California.”

Dunn is an attorney and was first elected to the state Senate in 1998. He was reelected in 2002. He replaces Jack Lewin, M.D., who will become CEO of the American College of Cardiology in Washington.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead California’s premiere advocacy organization on behalf of physicians and their patients,” said Dunn.

As an attorney, he was a key participant in the 1998 national tobacco litigation settlement that led to $200 billion in payments from cigarette companies to 46 states, with more then $25 billion coming to the State of California and its municipalities for health care and other purposes.

The California Medical Association is the professional organization of 35,000 physicians drawn from all specialties and modes of practice. It is the largest professional health care organization in the state and is recognized as a national leader in physician and medical issues.

The association, which was founded in Sacramento in 1856, is currently holding its annual House of Delegates meeting in Sacramento. The policy-making session this year will include a celebration on Saturday of its sesquicentennial.