Senator Kelli Ward has been appointed to the Council of State Governments-WEST Health Committee. Founded in 1947, CSG-WEST is a nonpartisan organization created to serve western legislatures through regional cooperation and advocacy. It serves legislatures in Arizona and twelve other states.

In addition to being a state Senator, Sen. Ward is also a practicing physician in Lake Havasu, and will bring her unique medical background to the committee. Senator Ward moved to Lake Havasu fourteen years ago, when she opened a medical practice with her mother. She helps educate future physicians at Kingman Regional Medical Center where she serves as the Director of Medical Education.

Senator Ward recently returned from the CSG Medicaid Health Policy Academy in Washington, D.C. Her first meeting on the Health Committee will be on July 31, at the CSG-WEST annual meeting in Las Vegas. This year the Health Committee will focus on health insurance exchanges and the marketplace and innovative bills. The Committee will also have a session addressing the cost of diabetes in western states.

“I am honored to represent Arizona on the CSG Health Committee and I look forward to adding the perspective of a practicing physician to the healthcare debate. As an osteopathic family physician, I strive to treat the whole patient, not just the symptoms, and I believe we need to apply this philosophy to the challenges facing our healthcare system,” says Senator Ward.