UCI Health clinician named Orange County Physician of the Year
Alpesh Amin leads the Department of Medicine and UCI Medical Center’s hospitalist program
June 30, 2022
OCMA Physician of the Year Dr. Alpesh Amin.
The Orange County Medical Association has named UCI Health clinician Alpesh N. Amin, MD, MBA, , its 2022 Physician of the Year.
Amin serves as the Thomas and Mary Cesario Endowed Chair of the UCI School of Medicine's Department of Medicine. He is a professor of medicine, business, public health, nursing science and biomedical engineering. As executive director of the School of Medicine's Hospitalist Program, he is a longtime champion of hospital medicine. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Amin played a leadership role in expanding therapeutics for UCI Health patients, including opening a monoclonal infusion clinic and clinical trials.
“This is an honor to be selected as physician of the year by my peers,” said Amin. “I am proud of our accomplishments at UCI Health and in the UCI School of Medicine. It is a privilege to work with so many talented people whose hard work, clinical insight and dedication to our patients allows us to provide the best care available for our community. I am very humbled and grateful.”
The Orange County Medical Association’s Physician of the Year award was established in 1983 to recognize an Orange County physician whose career exemplifies extraordinary professional ability and a commitment to their patients and colleagues.
Amin is an internationally recognized leader in the field of hospital medicine. He pioneered one of the nation’s first hospitalist programs in 1998 at UCI Medical Center and remains its executive director. He is the first and only chair with a background in hospital medicine to lead a department of medicine at an academic medical school and academic medical center worldwide.
During his career, Amin has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles. His work focuses on both the gaps and strategies for improving healthcare by working in multidisciplinary teams.
Amin will be honored at the annual OCMA members and officers installation dinner on July 15.
The Orange County Medical Association previously honored UCI Health geriatrician Lisa Gibbs, MD, in 2017 and psychiatrist Rimal Bera, MD, in 2014 as its Physician of the Year. In addition, OCMA annually recognizes “Physicians of Excellence.” UCI Health has more Physicians of Excellence than any Orange County health system.
UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 459-bed, acute care hospital, listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 21 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
