Board
Officers
President
Maricela P. Moffitt, MD, MPHPhoenix, AZ
Marci Moffitt graduated from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1986. She completed training in Internal Medicine and served as a Chief Resident in Houston, Texas in 1990. She later obtained a master's degree in Public Health in 1994 from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Moffitt currently holds the academic rank of Associate Professor of Medicine and serves as the Director of the Doctoring Curriculum at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. She is a part-time Hospitalist at the VA in Phoenix.
Dr. Moffitt serves on the 1st Way (crisis pregnancy center) Board of Directors as Past President; as Secretary for the Phoenix Diocesan Council of Catholic Women; and on the board of the Catholic Physicians Guild of Phoenix. She teaches with her husband, Dr. Robert A. Moffitt, in the RCIA program at Corpus Christi parish. Drs. Moffitt and Moffitt have three children.
President-Elect
John I. Lane, MDRochester, MN
Dr. John Lane currently practices neuroradiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Radiology with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Neuroradiology.
Dr. Lane received his Bachelor of Sciences degree in biology from the University of Scranton and earned a Doctor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in Diagnostic Radiology at the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, Reading, Pennsylvania and a fellowship in Neuroradiology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Lane served 4 years in the U.S. Navy in Oakland, California. He joined the Mayo Clinic in 1999 after 4 years of private practice in Great Falls, Montana.
Dr. Lane and his wife, Mary Frances, have been married 26 years and have four children.
Vice-President
Paul Braaton, MDModesto, CA
Paul Joseph Braaton, M.D., is a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon specializing in the care of the foot and ankle. He has over thirteen years of private practice experience.
Dr. Braaton's clinical interests and expertise include: foot & ankle reconstructive surgery, ankle arthroscopy, tendon problems, diabetic foot neuropathy, foot deformities, fallen arch, plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis and total ankle replacements.
Dr. Braaton received his Doctorate of Medicine degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. He completed a foot and ankle fellowship at the University of Texas and his residency at the University of Tennessee's Campbell Clinic. He also served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Naval Reserve in 1997.
Dr. Braaton attended the Legion of Christ Seminary from March 1993 to March 1995. He has also volunteered on numerous medical mission trips to Mexico. He is currently an orthopaedic surgical partner at the OrthoMed Center of Modesto, CA.
Treasurer
Peter T. Morrow, MDSt. Cloud, FL
Dr. Peter Morrow practices Internal Medicine at St. Cloud, Florida. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine. He also holds certification in bioethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center and is a consecrated Marian Catechist.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of South Florida and earned a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Morrow completed his residency at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. He returned to Florida following his residency to establish his practice and has been in private practice at St. Cloud for the past 28 years.
Dr. Morrow currently serves as the medical director of St. Thomas Aquinas Free Medical Clinic in St. Cloud, a parish-sponsored clinic providing primary and secondary care to those who are medically needy. He and his wife, Chris, have been married for 32 years and have been blessed with two daughters and five grandchildren.
Secretary
Lester A. Ruppersberger, DOWashington Crossing, PA
Dr. Ruppersberger graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (both located in Philadelphia, PA). He did his post graduate training at Allentown Osteopathic Hospital (Allentown, PA) and Parkview Hospital (Philadelphia, PA). He has been with the Center for Women’s Health, since its formation in 1995. Dr. Ruppersberger is an attending physician at Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol, PA and at Saint Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, PA. Dr. Ruppersberger is also a family life medical advisor and a certified instructor of natural family planning for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He has been married to his wife, Betty, for 38 years, and has two sons and six grandchildren.
Immediate Past President
Jan R. Hemstad, MDYakima, WA
Dr. Jan R. Hemstad currently practices medicine as a cardiovascular anesthesiologist at Yakima Regional Hospital and Cardiac Center in Washington State. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Anesthesiology and the National Board of Echocardiography.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biochemistry from Bowdoin College and earned a Doctor of Medicine at the University of Washington where he completed his residency in anesthesiology and fellowship training in cardiovascular anesthesia. He practiced medicine at Providence Medical Center in Seattle, Washington for eleven years until moving to Yakima in 2002.
Dr. Hemstad and his wife, Darcy, have been married 18 years. They have five children educated through Mother of Divine Grace Home Study. He and his wife are board directors and certified instructors of the Billings Ovulation Method Association - USA. Dr. Hemstad converted to Catholicism in 1988.
Past President
Leonard P. Rybak, MD, PhDSpringfield, IL
Dr. Rybak is Professor of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology, at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. He received his MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin, and did his residency, and received a Ph.D., in Otolaryngology from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Dr. Rybak and his wife Connie Forbes Rybak have six children and six grandchildren.
Regional Director Representative
Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, MDColumbia, MD
Marie-Alberte Boursiquot, M.D. is a graduate of New York University and the Howard University College of Medicine. She completed her residency training at the Johns Hopkins University/Sinai Hospital program in internal medicine. She was a member of the Patuxent Medical Group, Inc., a multi-specialty medical practice, prior to transitioning to her solo practice, Quality Medical Care LLC. She recently merged her practice with the Seton Medical Group, Inc a member of St. Agnes Hospital/Ascension Health Systems. She currently serves as President of the Baltimore Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and Regional Director of Region III. She is an active member of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, America’s First Cathedral and serves on its Trust Board.
Regional Director Representative
Cornelius J.P. Sullivan, MDNorthport, AL
Dr. Cornelius Sullivan currently practices Pulmonary Medicine at Northport Hospital, DCH Regional Medical Center, and the Noland Hospital of Tuscaloosa. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and diplomat In Pulmonary Medicine. He received an A. B. in Philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross and his Doctor of Medicine from the Wisconsin College of Medicine. He served as intern at St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital and a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota. He served in the U.S. Army at Madigan Army Medical Center. Then practiced internal medicine in Appleton Wisconsin for three years while also serving in the U. S. Army Reserve. He accepted a Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center and remained there as staff pulmonologist for two years. He has been in private practice as a pulmonologist in Northport and Tuscaloosa from 1983 to the present.
Episcopal Advisor
Most Rev. Robert F. Vasa, JCL, DDDiocese of Baker, OR
Bishop Vasa was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Glennon P. Flavin for the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 22, 1976. He was named a Prelate of Honor, with the title of Monsignor, by Pope John Paul II, in 1995. After serving the Diocese of Lincoln in many capacities for more than 20 years, including service as Vicar General, he was named Bishop of the Diocese of Baker in 1999, and consecrated as Bishop of Baker on January 26, 2000. Bishop Vasa became the Episcopal Advisor to the CMA in 2002.
Chaplain
Rev. Matthew J. Gutowski, STLSpringfield, NE
Rev. Matthew J. Gutowski, S.T.L., was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1988. He received his Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 1999. He has taught moral theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis (2000-2005), was director of the catechetical office for the Archdiocese of Omaha from 2005-2011, and is currently pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield, Nebraska. He currently also serves as chaplain for the Omaha Guild of the CMA, as Director of Continuing Formation of Priests for the Archdiocese of Omaha, as Spiritual Director for the Holy Family Shrine near Gretna, Nebraska, as Spiritual Director for the Sancta Familia Medical Apostolate in Omaha, and is Episcopal Region IX priest-representative on the National Advisory Council for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Parliamentarian
Louis C. Breschi, MDTowson, MD
Dr. Louis Breschi is a Board-certified urologist in part-time practice at a large, single specialty group in Baltimore County, Maryland. He received a B.S. degree from Loyola College (Maryland) and completed a surgical and urology residency at the University of Maryland Hospital. He entered private practice following 6 years in the U.S. Air Force.
Once in private practice, Dr. Breschi became active in State Medical Society committees involving professional ethics. Subsequently organizing a separate Ethics Committee at the State Medical Society and at his primary hospital in the early 1980s, Dr. Breschi took basic and advanced bioethics courses at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Dr. Breschi has been a member of the Catholic Medical Association for 12 years.
Dr. Breschi and his wife Jackie, have been married for 48 years and are blessed with 5 children and 15 grandchildren.
Consultant to the President
Thomas M. Pitre, MDPortland, OR
Thomas M. Pitre, MD, is a practicing urologist at the NW Urological Clinic in Portland, Oregon. He is a diplomat of the American Urological Association, Past President of the Oregon Urological Society, Past Medical Staff President of Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland and continues to serve on the clinical faculty of Oregon Health Science University. He is an active Board Member of the Physicians for Compassionate Care which opposes physician assisted suicide.
Dr. Pitre earned a B.A. degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He received his M.D. degree from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, cum laude, and did his internship and residency training in Urology at the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon.
FIAMC Representative
Kevin Murrell, MDAugusta, GA
Dr. Murrell is a member of the Psychiatry staff at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. Before joining the Augusta VAMC, he was a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia and Chairman of the MCG Hospital Ethics Committee. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia and is board-certified in psychiatry. Prior to medical school, Dr. Murrell served in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot. His time in Vietnam helped direct him towards the profession of medicine.
Dr. Murrell is a past-president of the Catholic Medical Association and is currently a North American delegate to FIAMC, the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
Dr. Murrell has been married for 42 years, and he and his wife have 5 children and 9 grandchildren.
Executive Director
John F. Brehany, PhD, STLPhiladelphia, PA
In addition to his other duties noted above, Dr. Brehany serves the Board of Directors in an advisory capacity.
Directors
Advisory Members
