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Paradise internist elected CMA president

October 12, 2013


Richard E. Thorp, M.D., FACP, will be installed as the 146th president of the California Medical Association (CMA) at the close of the association’s 2013 House of Delegates, held in Anaheim this weekend.


“I will not compromise the honor of this profession for the victory of the moment. I will not capitulate or surrender. I will fight to protect this profession you hold so dear,” Dr. Thorp said today as he addressed the nearly 500 physician delegates in attendance. “In this critical time, the house of medicine cannot afford to do business as usual. We cannot afford the status quo. We must come with the audacity to create a dream and a vision for the future of medicine and health care in California.”


Dr. Thorp told the delegates that he hopes that the physicians of California remember and are inspired by how far the profession has come as we face the new challenges of the future. “When you look at what we’re able to do today. We live in the golden age of medicine. A time when the future of medical treatments is bright and getting brighter every day,” he said.


“We have serious problems today. But we have incredible opportunities,” said Dr. Thorp. “Although we are at the pinnacle of discovery in the treatment of disease, this profession is at war. More than ever. We cannot make the mistake of tempting our adversaries with complacency.”


Dr. Thorp is a Paradise internist who developed an interest in health policy and health system reform while serving as president of Butte Glenn Medical Society (his local county medical society) in 1994, the year of Clinton health reform. In 1994 he was also the incorporating agent of a county wide Management Service Organization involving PPO and HMO physician groups and the area hospitals.


Dr. Thorp continued a leadership role in organized medicine in 1995, serving on CMA’s Committee on Managed Care and subsequently on the Committee on Medical Services. He was the chair of the Committee on Medical Services for 10 years and since 2008 has served as consultant to the committee. Dr. Thorp was elected to the CMA Board of Trustees in 2009 and is an Alternate Delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, representing a portion of Northern California.


In 2011 and 2012, Dr. Thorp was the chair of CALPAC, CMA's political action committee. He has spent the last year serving as president-elect of CMA and as a member of CMA's Executive Committee.


Dr. Thorp is the president/CEO of Paradise Medical Group, Inc., a physician owned multi-specialty primary care group incorporated in 2001. He is also on the active medical staff of Feather River Hospital and divides his time between a private general internal medicine practice, service as a medical director of a rural health clinic and private practice administration.


Dr. Thorp studied for his medical degree at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did his residency there as well. In 2009, Dr. Thorp was recognized as a fellow by the American College of Physicians (ACP). He also serves on the Governor’s Council for the ACP’s Northern California Chapter and he has served at the national level of ACP as a committee member.


He and his wife Vicki enjoy cooking together, gardening, scuba diving and their blended family of four sons, Zach Thorp, his wife Andy and their two grandsons Tyler and Cody, Aaron Thorp and his partner Michael, and Cheyne Rogers and Griffin Rogers.


The delegates also named Humboldt County surgeon Luther Cobb, M.D., as president-elect. Dr. Cobb will serve as president-elect for one year, and will be installed as president following next year’s House of Delegates.


Also serving with Dr. Thorp on CMA’s 2013-2014 Executive Committee are:


  • Immediate Past President Paul R. Phinney, M.D.

  • President Elect Luther F. Cobb, M.D.

  • Speaker of the House Theodore M. Mazer, M.D.

  • Vice Speaker of the House Lee T. Snook, M.D.

  • Chair of the Board of Trustees, Steven E. Larson, M.D.

  • Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, David H. Aizuss, M.D.

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