Dr. John Graef Elected President of the Medical Staff at Children's Hospital Boston
Newton, MA - (October 2009) - Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a multi-specialty physician group with practice sites throughout eastern Massachusetts, is pleased to announce that Dr. John Graef, a pediatric hospitalist at Harvard Vanguard, has been elected President of the Medical Staff at Children’s Hospital Boston.
In this role, Dr. Graef will represent the hospital’s entire medical staff, including research staff and its approximately 2000 physicians. He will be working to improve the integration of the various parts of this vast and complex institution. Dr. Graef will work with hospital administration to increase the visibility of the medical staff, represent their voice, and enhance the level of communication between the various hospital entities.
As President of the Medical Staff, Dr. Graef is also a member of the Staff Executive Committee, which is made up of the Chiefs of the hospital’s major departments. He has also served on Children’s Hospital Boston’s Credentials Committee since 1987, and on the Community Pediatrics Committee.
“We’re thrilled to have Dr. John Graef serve as President of the Medical Staff. Improving coordination and communication among our physicians is a top priority as we continue to identify innovative ways to improve clinical care and the patient experience at Children’s,” said James Mandell, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Children’s.
Dr. Graef has been a pediatric hospitalist at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates since 1994. He and his colleague Dr. Herbert Boerstling assume primary responsibility for all of Harvard Vanguard’s medical patients on the pediatric service at Children's Hospital. In this role, Dr. Graef is responsible for directing patient care and communicating with the patients’ primary care providers around the hospital course, prior medical history, and post- discharge planning.
Dr. Graef also serves as chief of the Harvard Vanguard pediatric hospitalist service, overseeing the work of his colleagues and coordinating with the case managers and specialists on the Children's Hospital staff. Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates’ unique hospitalist system allows close communication with Children’s Hospital Boston around the care of its patients, and provides highly skilled and experienced medical expertise.
A graduate of the New York University School of Medicine, Dr. Graef is a board-certified pediatrician. In addition to hospital and primary care pediatrics, Dr. Graef has been dedicated to the prevention of childhood lead poisoning on the local and national levels throughout his career.
Dr. Graef has been honored by the Conservation Law Foundation and The Boston Foundation with the Lead Poisoning Prevention Achievement Award, an honorary fellowship from the Pediatric Society of Ecuador, the Blackfan Medical Service Teaching Award, and the Staff Achievement Award from Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates.
Dr. Graef is a resident of West Roxbury, Massachusetts.