The American Medical Association has named former University of Chicago Medical Center chief Dr. James L. Madara its new executive vice president and CEO. He starts July 1.

The AMA conducted a search for Madara, 60, after outgoing CEO Dr. Michael Maves announced in November he would step down on June 30. Maves had served as executive vice president and CEO since 2001.

"I should say how enthusiastic I am to take on this role," Madara told reporters on a call Thursday.
On the call, Madara said AMA's role was needed as medicine faces "arguably the most uncertain future in our field that we have seen for a long time."

Madara, a pathologist, has published more than 200 chapters and papers, and helped to expand the understanding of the cells that make up the lining of the digestive tract, the AMA said.

He joined the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine as dean in 2002 and the 532-bed UCMC as its first CEO in 2006. He stepped down from both positions in 2009.

While at UCMC, Madara oversaw the expansion of the $1.6 billion dollar institution's biomedical campus, and also drew criticism for the Urban Health Initiative, which attempted to redirect patients with non-life-threatening problems from the hospital's emergency room to nearby health centers and clinics.

Previously, Madara was a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine with Emory University and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Most recently, he worked with Leavitt Partners, a health care consulting firm founded by former secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt.

Madara received his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, AMA said.

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