Albert Bonnema, MD
Dr. Albert H. (“Al”) Bonnema is a Lieutenant Colonel in the
United States Air Force Medical Corps. He is board-certified in Family Practice
and Preventive Medicine. He currently serves as a Physician Epidemiologist at
the Population Health Support Division (PHSD), Brooks City-Base, Texas. The
Population Health Support Division provides the Air Force Medical Service with
program management in disease management and clinical preventive services
projects, analysis of health data, health delivery systems prototyping, and
health services research. Dr. Bonnema’s focus is in chronic disease management,
promotion of clinical preventive services, and implementation of effective and
efficient clinical practices.
Dr. Bonnema’s experience in the Air Force includes time as a practicing
physician and a practice manager, as well as leadership roles in hospital
governance. From 1996-1999, he managed the Primary Care Clinic at the 375
Medical Group, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and served as a Staff Physician.
From 1999-2001, he managed a four-member, multidisciplinary team sponsored and
funded by the Air Mobility Command. This team focused on implementation of the
critical success factors for the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) Population
Health Plan and the identification of barriers to population health at medical
treatment facilities (MTFs). The team specifically identified population health
informatics skills as a core competency that was in need of attention and
improvement at the local MTF level. An innovative Population Health Informatics
Seminar was developed that filled this void. The seminar received wide acclaim
and is serving an array of local-level population health leaders including
Credentialed Providers, Group Practice Managers, Health Care Integrators, Public
Health Officers, Resource Managers, Health and Wellness Center personnel,
Information Systems Specialists and others.
Lieutenant Colonel Bonnema has twice been honored to present to the AFMS Senior
Leadership Conference, Leesburg, Virginia. In 1999, he presented the benefits of
continuity and open access in primary care practices, and in 2000, he presented
a cost-benefit analysis on implementing Population Health Management strategies.
He has been a guest lecturer at several AFMS conferences, at the USAF School of
Aerospace Medicine, the U.S. Navy’s Clinical Epidemiology Conference, Saint
Louis University, Washington University and the Veterans Administration. Prior
to his medical education and his joining the Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel
Bonnema was a Junior and Senior High science teacher and coach for four years.
Dr. Bonnema has dual board certification in Family Practice and Preventive
Medicine. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1993 from the Medical
University of South Carolina. In 1996, he completed a residency in Family
Practice with The Toledo Hospital, Toledo, Ohio, where he received a Resident
Teacher Award from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He completed a
Fellowship in Preventive Medicine and a Masters in Public Health from the
University of Michigan’s School of Public Health in 2005.
He resides in Schertz, Texas with his wife Sheila, a homemaker, and their three
children Andrew, Jessica and Adriana. He enjoys time with his family, reading
and coaching in community sports programs.