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Physician-mayor Tomzak takes public-health post
Fredericksburg's mayor is changing careers to become a public health physician
By JIM HALL
Date published: 8/2/2006
By JIM HALL
Dr. Thomas J. Tomzak will leave private practice and his job at Mary Washington Hospital to work for the Rappahannock Area Health District.
Tomzak began seeing patients at the Health Department yesterday. He will continue in elective office as Fredericksburg's mayor.
The shift means that Tomzak will soon depart his current duties as private-practice gynecologist and physician leader at the Fredericksburg hospital to treat the mostly poor and uninsured patients who visit the Health Department.
"It was a difficult decision. I thought about it long and hard," Tomzak said.
"I guess I'm kinda burned out on the business of medicine," he added. "This is just a pure clinical job."
Tomzak will work part time at the Health Department for two months and then full time beginning in October.
He said he will notify his private-practice patients soon about the shift. He is negotiating with the hospital to resign his post as chief of service in the women's and children's division by spring.
"We're thrilled for the community that he is going to fill this role," said Kathleen Allenbaugh, hospital spokeswoman. "He's going to be missed very much."
Tomzak's main duty at the Health Department will be to travel the district, providing prenatal care at maternity clinics in the city and four surrounding counties. The clinics are among the most popular of the Health Department offerings. The staff monitors nearly 1,000 women a year during their pregnancies.
Tomzak also will supervise the department's nurse practitioners and treat patients in the the cancer clinics and sexually transmitted disease clinics, said Dr. Donald Stern, health district director.
Tomzak called his shift to public health "the final piece of my professional career." He has long been interested in social issues, such as teen pregnancy and the importance of fathers in their children's lives. He has served as a volunteer for a number of nonprofit groups, including a stint as a member of the board of directors of the Fredericksburg Department of Social Services.
"It might help me identify kids at risk so we can establish a good safety net for them," he said.
At a City Council meeting last month, Tomzak asked the council to support new programs that focus on parental responsibility. Government money alone will never be enough to help at-risk children, he said.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg
Date published: 8/2/2006
Most recent reader comments:
Tom Tomzak
(posted by
jwdoran
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
This isn't the first time he's left private practice to serve the public. As a GP he closed his business and joined the Navy to become a Flight Surgeon. He was roommate aboard USS John F. Kennedy just a couple of decades ago.
Jim Doran
CWO4, USN (Ret)
National Service Director
AMVETS
Dr. Tomzak
(posted by
cbdrifters
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)
I was a patient of Dr. Tomzak's until he left Pratt and his other office to became Mayor. I have never had a better doctor than Dr. Tomzak. His moving on to help those in the health clinc, is a big lost to those of us that were seeing him in his private practice. In a way I think it is unfair, because those of us that were seeing him in his private pratice are not eligible for the health clincs that he will now be working in. But I guess I understand why he feels he needs to move on.
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