Candidate Video
Christian Bergman, MD, CMD
Candidate - Chair, House of Delegates
Candidate Bio
Carl J. “Christian” Bergman, MD, CMD, FACP is an academic geriatrician who specializes in post-acute and long-term care. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine and an assistant professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, VA.
At the health system level, he serves as the medical director for the Nursing Facility Attending Service (NFAS), which is comprised of seven attending physicians and four advance practice practitioners (APPs) who serve as primary medical staff and deliver collaborative medical care to more than 400 residents in 11 local nursing homes within the health system preferred provider network. In this role, Dr. Bergman serves as primary attending in two facilities and helps support education with expert guidance regarding transitions of care of high-risk older adults. Additionally, Dr. Bergman has served as medical director of Southampton Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center since 2018 and Glenburnie Rehabilitation and Nursing Center since 2022. An experienced and engaged medical director, Dr. Bergman regularly attends morning meetings, runs weekly huddle style educational sessions with staff, and oversees several performance improvement projects.
Dr. Bergman attended medical school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA and completed his internal medicine residency and geriatric medicine fellowship at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA where he specialized in post-acute and long-term care medicine completing a CMD-mentored geriatric fellowship with an administrative role assisting the current medical director. He received his Certified Medical Director (CMD) certification in 2020 and was elected to fellowship in the American College of Physicians in 2021.
Dr. Bergman considers AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine – his professional home. He started his work with the Society in 2016 as a second-year Internal Medicine resident after participating in the Futures Program and has not looked back since. He is currently chair of the State-Based Policy and Advocacy Subcommittee, which he helped form in 2020, as well as vice-president of the Virginia affiliate of AMDA, Virginia’s Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. He is past-chair of the Transitions of Care subcommittee, past chair of the AMDA 3Ds CPG Workgroup from 2019 – 2022, a member of the AMDA Foundation QIHO Selection Committee from 2018 to 2022 and a member of the former Clinical Practice Guidelines and Tools Subcommittee from 2018 to 2021. He remains most proud of his work with the 3Ds CPG and the advocacy work through the Public Policy Steering Committee related to COVID-19. He has served as a Delegate from Virginia since 2020.
Dr. Bergman received the AMDA Service Award for Outstanding Service in March 2021 and currently is conducting frontline education for PALTC staff with grants from HRSA and the Virginia Department of Health. He lives in Richmond, VA with his wife and two kids and enjoys spending time on home improvement projects.
Candidate Statement
Focused and Passionate. These two words remind me of leadership and professionalism. As you get to know me, I hope you consider these words when describing my personality. As mentioned in the AMDA mission statement, “we advance our mission through timely professional development” and “tireless advocacy.” That is exactly why I consider this my professional home. Unbelievably, I actually look forward to my AMDA phone calls because I get a chance to connect with others who share my focus and passion for PALTC residents and staff. Thank you all for what you do for this Society, its members and PALTC residents and staff.
Advocacy. So what exactly am I focused on? I am focused on the need for nursing home reform in this post-COVID era. Be it 2 years, 5 years, or 10 years, I remain committed. The two most important challenges around PALTC is staffing and transparency. It is well known that the PALTC industry nationwide is still down >200,000 jobs since pre-pandemic levels. I think Society members and clinicians can help lead the way. While we don’t have direct control of hiring practices, we can advocate for higher pay for our nurse aides, benefits for all direct patient care staff, and improved staffing ratios that better meet the needs of our complex and vulnerable population. I would also argue that we can do more; we can lead in clinical education, build supportive, collaborative models of practice between nursing and medical staff, and help create a learning community within our centers that will attract young, talented care staff. Clinicians are by default pivotal to any healthcare team but a well-run nursing home requires a strong triad of leadership: DON, administrator, and medical director. We should continue to lead in that circle with practical clinical guidance and use our critical thinking skills to troubleshoot and improve systematic failures.
If elected as Chair of the House of Delegates, I will work with delegates to continue to support advocacy and push to define issues that are of utmost importance for our members. I founded the State Based Policy and Advocacy Subcommittee in 2021 out of the need to better understand state issues and connect grassroots advocates across our family. We have already created a checklist for advocacy, a roadmap for state based public policy committees, and internal infrastructure needed to support engaged medical directors, attending physicians, and advance practice practitioners who wish to become more involved in advocacy. As a member of the board, I would like to see these tools be widely disseminated across the organization.
Transparency. To achieve true reform, we need to support legislation and regulatory change that increase transparency. Not just financial transparency around nursing home ownership or transparency around staff turnover, vaccination rates, and other new quality measures. We need to also focus on medical director transparency and continue to demonstrate the value of an engaged medical director. If you ask a seasoned DON or administrator, they will quickly share anecdotal evidence of how wonderful an engaged medical director is and how they can improve care processes, build staff morale, and serve as a role model for other clinical leaders. However, in large nursing home chains or regional leadership, the day-to-day impact of an engaged medical director who rounds in the building regularly, greets staff by name, and knows the history of a building may not be easily recognized. With an increase in facility turnover and ownership changes, I want to continue to support the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) and the AMDA Foundation is continuing to seek ways to describe the impact of an engaged medical director through studies, white papers, or grants.
Action. I believe many members share my passion and focus for improving the care of adults in PALTC care settings. If elected as a board member, I believe we need to support our members to achieve these dreams through a re-design of the PALTC.org website, development of action oriented clinical practice tools and educational sessions, and through improved collaboration amongst state and regional AMDA affiliate chapters. What works in Florida may work in Texas, New York, and California. You will never know unless you try.
To my AMDA family and fellow Delegates, I hope you will consider voting for me as candidate for Chair, House of Delegates. It would be an honor to serve this focused and passionate group of professional colleagues.