Corewell Health doctor named 2024 Family Physician of the Year by the ACOFP
Kathleen Rollinger, D.O., FACOFP, a family medicine physician with Corewell Health Beaumont Grosse Pointe Hospital, was selected as the 2024 National Family Physician of the Year by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, or ACOFP.
The award annually honors physicians who have made outstanding contributions to the osteopathic profession and local communities.
“It’s an incredible honor, I’m very humbled to receive this award and thankful to the whole organization,” Dr. Rollinger said. “I hope I can utilize this award to continue inspiring medical students and our residents in family medicine to provide excellent, patient-centered medical care with the tenants I hold dear: compassion and empathy.”
Dr. Rollinger earned her doctor of osteopathy degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has devoted her entire 25-year career practicing in Southeast Michigan, the majority with Corewell Health Beaumont Grosse Pointe Hospital. As a lifelong Eastsider, Dr. Rollinger felt a passion to stay in the area where she was raised and give back to the community.
“Family medicine was the absolute right fit for me,” she said. “The whole-person philosophy, spiritual nature and patient-centered care resonated with me, the opportunity to take care of patients, deliver babies, teach in the family medicine residency program, and being grounded in my community.”
As an attending faculty physician, Dr. Rollinger enjoys the balance and rewarding experience of seeing patients — from newborns to geriatrics — and teaching family medicine residents.
“My training in osteopathic medicine has aligned me with the mind, body and spirit — the whole person. That blends well with the mission of our organization and our hospital,” Dr. Rollinger said. “I want to have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, compassion, empathy, be a team player — all of those things that go into being a good physician regardless of your specialty. I have additional training in osteopathic manual manipulation, which has given me another tool in my toolbox to help take care of patients.”
Continuity of care is also very important to her.
“I treasure the babies I have delivered as this keeps your practice young and am now caring for generations of patients/families,” she said.
Dr. Rollinger currently serves on the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Physician Diversity Council.
She also has been appointed by the governor to the State of Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Board of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery.
She was presented with the 2024 national family physician award on April 4 during the 2024 ACOFP Annual Convention & Scientific Seminars in New Orleans, Louisiana.