Hello my fellow PAs,

My name is Jack Ward and I am so excited to announce that I am the new President of the Indiana Academy of PAs! I want    to thank all of you for your interest in supporting PAs in the state of Indiana, and I look forward to working with all of you as we navigate another year of exciting goals and opportunities for Indiana PAs.

Let me start by telling you all about my background. First of all, I am a lifelong Hoosier. I grew up in Crown Point and received my undergraduate degree from Indiana University in Bloomington. After graduation, I received the majority of my clinical hours as an EMT-Basic before enrolling in PA school at the Indiana University PA program. I graduated from the program in 2015 and have been working in hospital medicine with Indiana University Health Physicians (IUHP) since that time. My primary hospital for several years was at IU Health West Hospital in Avon, Indiana, but now I work clinically across several IU hospitals in the Indianapolis suburban region. I am also lucky enough to serve in a management position at IUHP, where I get to spend my time clinically and administratively at IU Health West, IU Health North, and IU Health Saxony. I am very active in my organization and serve on numerous committees for IUHP and IU Health. In my role, I proudly advocate for PAs and see many areas of opportunity for our profession.

Through my service at the IAPA for the last several years as a Director-at-Large, Treasurer, and President-Elect, I have witnessed so many positive and exciting changes. Through the hard work of our dedicated advocacy team, Indiana has gone from being one of the last states for PAs to receive prescriptive authority, to a state with collaborative practice agreements without rigid and outdated supervision requirements. We have also grown considerably as an organization, going from 302 members in 2020, to over 750 members by the end of 2022. With the increase in the size of our organization, we now have regional representatives throughout the state, an expanded HOD representative list, a political action committee, a merchandise shop, and offer two CME conferences per year. As our organization grows, we begin to look at not only supporting PAs in the state of Indiana but how our organization can affect the healthcare delivery of all Hoosiers across the state.

We are all truly navigating an ever-changing healthcare landscape, as even as the COVID-19 pandemic surges have eased, we continue to see unprecedented demand for patient care and areas of considerable need. It is clear that PAs are part of the solution and IAPA is dedicated to supporting these efforts. We will continue to advocate for increasing patient access to care for the citizens of Indiana, with a particular focus on those in underserved areas and those who suffer from poor mental health. I look forward to working with all of you as we navigate another year of progress for PAs in the state of Indiana. There will be considerable challenges ahead, but the momentum of Indiana PAs is undoubted and we will continue to play a central role in healthcare delivery. I know that given the support of all of you, we will not only grow IAPA as your service organization, but will help improve the physical and mental well-being of all Hoosiers across the state.

Thank you all for your support. Please, do not hesitate to reach out to me and let me know how the leadership of IAPA can best serve PAs in the state of Indiana.

Sincerely,

Jack Ward, MPAS, PA-C

President, IAPA