Fatima Sheikh, MD, MPH, CMD
Candidate - Representative, State Presidents Council
Candidate Bio
Fatima Sheikh, MD, MPH CMD, AGSF, is a geriatrician, educator and leader. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine. After completion of her geriatric fellowship from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Sheikh joined FutureCare Health and Management as medical director of 2 facilities. FutureCare operates 15 skilled nursing and long-term care facilities (SNF/LTC) in the Baltimore/Washington area. She became the Chief Medical Officer of FutureCare Health and Management in 2018. Dr. Sheikh oversees a medical team of 8 medical directors and 16 nurse practitioners serving approximately 2000 patients across all 15 FutureCare facilities. She has implemented many innovative programs at her facilities including, clinical pathways for management of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and early recognition of infections, telemedicine initiatives with the hospital system, and processes to improve EMR efficiencies for clinicians and nurses. During COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Sheikh worked with Maryland Department of Health and different local hospitals in Maryland to coordinate care of vulnerable adults residing at FutureCare facilities. She collaborated with “Go Teams” from Johns Hopkins Hospital and Maryland State “Strike Teams” to facilitate COVID testing at many SNF/LTC facilities.
As a clinician, Dr. Sheikh is committed to clinical excellence in patient care of most vulnerable older adults in post-acute and long-term care setting. She is a recipient of American Geriatric Society Clinician of the Year award 2017, for clinical work, mentorship of her interprofessional team and learners from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and, efforts to improve care transitions for older adults.
Given her interest in leadership and International Health, Dr. Sheikh pursued master’s in public health from Bloomberg School of Public Health. She currently holds a part-time faculty position as assistant professor with Geriatric Medicine Department at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Her focus as an educator is to instill an interest for PALTC in medical students, internal medicine residents and geriatric fellows and to encourage them to adapt a positive attitude to improve their healthcare system(s). Since 2013, Dr. Sheikh has instructed Geriatric Fellows from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on unique aspects of Long-term Care (LTC) Medicine and mentored them on various QAPI projects which led to many abstract presentations and oral presentations at national PALTmed conferences.
Post-Acute And Long-Term Care Medicine Association (PALTmed) has been vital to Dr. Sheikh’s professional growth and leadership roles. She has been member of PALTmed for last 12 years and have been on various committees including annual conference planning and diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She served as vice chair of Education Committee in 2022 and 2024 and took on responsibilities as a chair in 2024. In her current role, she helped with the mission of PALTmed to include a hands-on clinical skills workshop during upcoming annual conference, and facilitated conversations around innovative ideas to include business of medicine
Dr. Sheikh is an active leader within Mid-Atlantic (MMDA) chapter of PALTmed. She has been involved in its educational mission and annual meeting planning efforts since 2015. She was elected as a board member of MMDA in 2022, and as chair of the education committee in 2023. She has successfully led the educational program for the Annual Conferences of Mid-Atlantic chapter of American Medical Director Association in 2023 and 2024. Currently, she serves as secretary, and member of the communication committee.
Candidate Statement
It is an honor to be nominated for the position of State President’s Council Representative.
I have been practicing in post-acute and long-term care setting since 2013. I started my journey in PALTC as a medical director of two skilled nursing facilities after completion of my geriatric fellowship. In 2018, I became the chief medical officer of 15 skilled and long-term care facilities and in this role I got an opportunity to implement innovative projects across different facilities to improve patientcare. For me, working in post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) has been the most rewarding part of my professional career. Serving the frail older adults in this setting is humbling and a great source of joy for me.
Since I started working in post-acute and long-term care, PALTmed has been a resource for me for excellent clinical topics, and for information on various policy and advocacy related issues. For the last decade, I have attended annual meetings, listened to great speakers and have met many colleagues at PALTmed who later became my mentors. At each step of my leadership roles, I had support and guidance from my mentors.
I have served in various committees including annual conference planning committee, and diversity, equity and inclusion. I have also served as a delegate to the House of Delegates for last several years. I have given sessions during annual conferences and have published articles in different journals on important topics as related to PALTC medicine. In 2022, I was selected as the Vice Chair of Education Committee. I got an opportunity to work with my colleagues on educational aspects of annual conferences in 2023 and 2024. In my current role as Chair of the Education Committee, I am helping to bring back some of the hand-on clinical skills. The joint injection workshop is a step towards that. My hope is that this skill will bridge the gap that exists in many rural areas where expertise of a physiatrist is not easily available and after this workshop the attendees will be able to perform joint injections to help those residents who have impaired mobility and function due to pain from arthritic joint changes. I plan to keep the educational mission of the association as my priority.
I have been a member of the Mid-Atlantic chapter (MMDA) since 2013. I have given presentations at MMDA on diverse aspects of geriatric care and PALTC. I served as the Education Chair of MMDA from 2023-2025 and currently hold the position of secretary.
A career in PALTC can be very rewarding but can also be challenging at times due to the complexity of the residents and limited resources. Transitions of care is a very vulnerable area for older adults and requires diligent care throughout the continuum of care. I believe, that with untied effort we can bridge the silos that exist in different healthcare settings between hospital systems, outpatient and post-acute settings to improve care of our residents in PALTC.
Additionally, I want to further the educational mission of PALTmed and want to facilitate more hand-on learning experiences of different clinical skills that can allow our members in all settings, especially in rural areas to provide highest level of medical care to the residents in PALTC setting.
PALTmed can empower the members in QAPI processes and leadership skills so that they can lead their facilities. Additionally, PALTmed can be a stepping stone for our members to attain curated knowledge and skills to climb up the ladder of leadership in their careers. I believe that we can leverage existing resources and build upon them to enable different leadership paths for our members.
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