Dr. Mary Belford | New Associate Chief Medical Officer

In addition to a new chief medical officer, CIMRO has named a new associate chief medical officer, Dr. Mary Belford.

​She follows Dr. Ronald Johnson in that position.​ See below for responses to questions recently presented to both Dr. Johnson and Dr. Belford.

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​Dr. Ronald Johnson, MD, family medicine

Q: How many years have you been associate medical director?
A: More than 10.

Q: What has been your favorite part of that role?
A: My favorite part of this job has been the interaction with the CIMRO staff who follow its processes to perform reviews for multiple physicians, medical facilities and physician groups.  I have always enjoyed the process review much more than the old chart review. I believe we provide more useful information and purpose to our reviews for our clients since the transition to process review.

Q: What will you miss?
A: What I will miss is that collegiality of the staff, the enormous knowledge available from the multiple people involved in the CIMRO enterprise, and the mutual respect for all involved in the work that we do.

Q: What are your plans now?
A: Although not immediate,  my plans are for retirement in 2024 and hopefully more travel, but I do continue on the Board as the board chair.

Q: Do you have advice for Dr. Belford?
A: I really have none, as I feel she has demonstrated at multiple meetings of the board and deep analyses of our system that she is quite well-prepared to manage this and other positions with the enterprise in the future.

Dr. Mary Belford, MD, psychiatry

Q: Number of years with CIMRO
A: Close to 25 years.
 
Q: Why were you interested in this position?
A: I have seen CIMRO grow and evolve over the last 20 plus years with a continued clear focus on improving the quality of care provided to patients across the country and diverse payor systems.
 
Q: What are you looking forward to?
A: I look forward to becoming more involved in the leadership of CIMRO as it begins another transformation under new leadership with April Vogelsang as the CEO.
 
Q: Do you have anything you want our reviewers to know?
A: I have always looked forward to the CIMRO Board meetings as an educational opportunity for me to understand the administrative and regulatory components of healthcare while also feeling I contribute to the clinical understanding and implications of these also evolving dynamics.
 
Dr. Belford was born in the Chicago suburbs, went to medical school at the University of Illinois, and completed her residency in psychiatry at the University of Houston. She met her husband in Houston and returned to the Midwest (he is from Indiana). They have three children and three grandchildren. Dr. Belford has practiced most of her career at Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee, IL, where she is the Program Director for the Psychiatry Residency Program and the Dyad Leader for the Behavioral Health Service Line.