AARP Arizona Volunteer Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-09-14 15:48:12.141427-04:00
The Phoenix Business Journal has recognized AARP Arizona Executive Council Member Leonard Kirschner of Goodyear, AZ, with its 2006 Health Care Heroes' Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to Arizona's health care industry.
Kirschner was recognized for a quarter century of outstanding leadership in health care in Arizona. He is a former Director of Arizona's nationally recognized Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Kirschner was Director from 1987 to 1993.
During his tenure, the program expanded from covering less than 200,000 individuals to covering over 500,000. Over the last two decades, the AHCCCS Medicaid program has also become a model for many states in reforming their Medicaid programs.
In addition, Kirschner is credited with establishing the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) under AHCCCS, which serves the elderly, blind and disabled, who are in need of nursing home care.
"I am humbled to receive this award, and join those outstanding individuals who have been chosen during the past five years," said Kirschner, who has been an Executive Council Member for AARP Arizona since 2001. "There are many people I want to thank, but first, I want to recognize my wife Peggy and acknowledge all she has done to help me during our years in Arizona."
Kirschner remains an outspoken advocate on health care issues at the Arizona Legislature, in the media and at conferences both in Arizona and around the nation. He sits on the Boards of Directors of Sun Health, Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital, La Loma Senior Living Services and the Arizona Perinatal Trust and is a member of the Harvard School of Public Health Leadership Council. Kirschner is a member of the State Medicaid Advisory Committee continuing his involvement in the program he led for almost seven years. He is board certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Aerospace Medical Association.
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