WASHINGTON —The American Medical Association (AMA) presented Tennessee State Sen. Richard Briggs, M.D., with the AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service. A surgeon, Army veteran, and consensus builder, Sen. Briggs has been a leader in efforts to reduce firearm violence, expand insurance coverage, and rein in the opioid crisis.

As a retired cardiothoracic surgeon who practiced for 30 years, Sen. Briggs recognizes the positive impact of insurance coverage for his patients. Accordingly, since 2010, he has led the effort in Tennessee to expand Medicaid coverage—an uphill battle in one of 10 states not to have expanded Medicaid.

“Sen. Briggs is the very embodiment of a public servant,” said AMA Board Chair Michael Suk, M.D., JD, MPH, MBA. “Through his military service, government service, and three decades of dedicated service to patients in and around Knoxville, Sen. Briggs has improved lives and the communities he’s touched. Over the past few months, we’ve heard the same things about him, over and over, from people of all backgrounds and across the political spectrum: he’s collaborative and accessible, he listens, and he’s always open to authentic dialogue, even when he disagrees. For his tireless advocacy and for the very real impact he has made on the lives of patients—his own and otherwise—it is an honor to present Sen. Richard Briggs with the AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service.”

Senator Briggs received his undergraduate degree from Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. He received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and immediately entered active military service with the U.S. Army for training in general and cardiothoracic surgery. 

Senator Briggs left the active Army and joined the Jarvik artificial heart transplant team in Louisville, KY.  He was recalled to active Army duty during Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and was awarded the Bronze Star during combat operations in southern Iraq. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, Sen. Briggs, who rose to the rank of full Colonel, was again called to active duty for service in a Combat Support Hospital in northeast Afghanistan. In 2005, he deployed to the Green Zone in Baghdad as the Senior Trauma Surgeon in Iraq. In his 38 years of active and reserve military service, Sen. Briggs also served peacetime tours in Korea, South America, and in Egypt. 

In 2014, Sen. Briggs was elected to the Tennessee state senate and recently started his 11th legislative session in Nashville. As chairman of the State and Local Government Committee, he oversees the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Department of Veteran Services. He has held academic appointments at the University of Texas-San Antonio, the University of Louisville, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Dr. Briggs is a past president of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and served on the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee Medical Association.