Notable Annis Physicians
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This page last updated December 26, 2020
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1913 - 2009
Edward Roland Annis, Jr. was born March 27, 1913 at Detroit, MI, the son of Edward and Ethel Annis. He married June 16, 1941, Betty McCue Starck and had eight children. Joseph Payne, Brian Roland, Paul Starck, Barbara Mary, Marjorie Joan, Kathleen Deborah, Timothy John, and Roberta Marie Annis. He died September 14, 2009 at Miami, Florida.
Dr. Edward R. Annis is the author of many articles on modern health care in the United States and his book Code Blue: Health Care in Crisis, published in 1993, caused a major stir among proponents of Medicare and socialized medicine. Outspoken, and a strong believer in values that helped build this country, Dr. Annis has held the position of President of the American Medical Association and the World Medical Association.
Many may remember his famous speech at Madison Square Garden, where to a television audience of 30 million, he delivered the physicians' rebuttal to President Kennedy's proposal to move the nation toward socialized medicine. From 1963, he was a major vocal supporter of the free market health care system. Whether or not one believes in, or agrees with his politics and views on health care, Dr. Annis must be respected for his courage to speak out forcefully on an issue that continues to remain center stage in the national political spotlight.
In his book, Code Blue: Health Care in Crisis, Dr. Annis states:“My mother was a bride at nineteen, a widow at twenty, and a mother at twenty-one; my father died of a ruptured appendix six months before I was born.”
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Dr. Edward R. Annis' lineage is: Edward R. Annis 1891-1912, Everett S. Annis 1864-1947, Stephen W. Annis 1833-1873, Daniel Annis 1806-aft 1870, Stephen Annis 1776-1846, Thomas Annis 1750-1809, Daniel Annis 1711-c.1790, Abraham Annis 1668-1738, Cormac Annis 1638-1717
Edward's sons, Dr. Joseph P. Annis and Dr. Paul S. Annis continue the family legacy in medicine. I qoute:
"Through the encouragement of his peers, Joseph P. Annis, MD '69, has continued to climb the rungs of leadership in organized medicine, culminating with his election this summer to the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. An anesthesiologist from Austin, Texas, Dr. Annis has been in practice for 31 years and is a former partner with Austin Anesthesiology Group where he still works part time. He also teaches at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth Medical School.
Dr. Joseph P. Annis
Dr. Annis has been on the AMA delegation from Texas since 1993. Surgical colleagues persuaded him to become a delegate for the county to the Texas Medical Association. He was further encouraged to become a delegate to the AMA, and seven years ago, he ran for an AMA council position. He served on the Council on Medical Service, where he used his background as an economics major to focus on socio-economic issues in medicine, including Medicare and the physician workforce.
"The AMA remains the most credible national voice for physicians and the patients who depend on us every day," he said. "It is my honor and privilege to join the Board of Trustees in the effort to keep this voice strong and America's patients safe."
Toward this end, Dr. Annis plans to concentrate on two major challenges facing the AMA – one external and one internal. The external challenge is the entire way health care is delivered and paid for in America.
Dr. Annis believes the current system is unsustainable, since prices are controlled by large insurers and people have little to no choice. He would like the AMA to push for Medicare to be fashioned more like the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program – a program used by the President and the U.S. Postal Service among others – which is sustainable and gives people a choice, rather than being once size fits all like the current state of Medicare, he said.
Internally, Dr. Annis will focus on strengthening the voluntary membership of the AMA.
"I'd like to convey to the American physician what a tremendous resource and advocacy body the AMA is for physicians," he said. "Most physicians don't realize just what the AMA does for them. Our challenge is to let them know and encourage them to join."
In everything he does, Dr. Annis draws on his history. His most enduring memory from Marquette School of Medicine (the Medical College's predecessor) is the love his professors had for their work and for taking care of patients. That memory inspired him to return to teaching. Faculty member Ernest Henschel, MD, whom Dr. Annis interviewed while working as an editor for the Marquette Medical Review (a journal once produced by the school), influenced him to enter the field of anesthesia.
His family influences are equally strong. His father, Edward R. Annis, MD '38, is a former AMA president, and his brother, Paul S. Annis, MD '71, is also a Medical College alumnus.
Over the years, Dr. Annis has made many significant contributions to medicine. He is the past president of the medical staff and past vice chair of the board of directors at St. David's Medical Center in Austin. He currently serves on the board of governors at St. David's HealthCare Partnership. He has been president of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists and a delegate to the American Society of Anesthesiologists' House of Delegates. He also serves on the board of directors of Preferred Physician Medical, a professional liability insurance company focusing on anesthesiology. Dr. Annis is a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research and has served as an associate examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology for 25 years.
Impressive to him are the contributions made by the people comprising the AMA.
"It has been very gratifying to see the quality of the leadership at the staff level and their professionalism,"Dr. Annis said. "I knew the AMA was good, but I had no idea of the breadth and depth of talent."
Dr. Eber Leander Annis
1824-1903Eber was born July 24, 1824 at Thetford, Vermont, the son of Thomas and Martha (McClary) Annis of Londonderry, New Hampshire, Thetfod, Vermont and North Collin, New York. The earliest records of Eber L. Annis are that he appears on the census roll at Onondaga, Michigan, as a married man with no children. He was listed as a painter residing with Nathan J. Stark.
Amazingly, for reasons that we can only speculate upon, Eber went to Chicago and on February 22, 1881, at the age of 57, he graduated from the prestigious Rush Medical College in that city. As a Medical Doctor, Eber began his practice at LaPorte, Indiana, and during his residency at LaPorte he served as Secretary of the City Health Board, Surgeon of the L.E. & W. Railroad, and City Coroner in 1888. In 1896, at age 72, he founded the first hospital at LaPorte, and held many positions of importance in the medical profession in the state of Indiana. On August 29, 1852 he married Samantha Jane Newton at Shelby, New York, and they had two children; Martha Viola, born July 21, 1858, and Eber Leander Jr., born May 19, 1860. After the senior Eber died on January 2, 1903 at LaPorte, his son, who continued in his father's footsteps as a Medical Doctor, and gained favorable recognition in his own right.Dr. Eber Leander Annis' lineage is: Thomas Annis 1785-1842, Jesse Annis 1745-1820, John Annis 1700-c.1771, Abraham Annis 1668-1738, Cormac Annis 1638-1717
Dr. Homer Burnham Annis
1882-1954Homer B. Annis was born August 8, 1882 at Osage, Iowa, the son of Jere Wright and Lucia Sylvia (Hitchcock) Annis of Westfield, Vermont and Osage, Iowa.Homer graduated from Cornell University, and received his medical degree from Rush Medical College at Chicago, Illinois. He interned at St. Barnabas Hospital for one year, and practiced at Minneapolis, Minnesota beginning in 1908. He became a very distinguished Doctor, and was instrumental in the founding of the Shriner’s Crippled Children's Hospital at Minneapolis.
There is an interesting story that was published in The Press-News of Osage, Iowa on April 4, 1968 concerning Homer. As a young boy of seventeen he had stuffed a church bulletin in a pew at the church his family attended with the following message: "This bulletin was placed in here by Homer B. Annis on January 14, 1900 (Sunday morning)". In 1968, when the church was being renovated, and the old pews were being dismantled, the bulletin was discovered.His son, Jere Wright Annis, named after his grandfather, also went on to become a prestigious physician. (See Below)
Homer Burnham Annis' lineage is: Jere Wright Annis 1844-?, Dr. Abiathar Wright Annis 1813-1876, Nathaniel Flood Annis 1788-1877, David Annis 1753-1824, Daniel Annis 1711-1790, Abraham Annis 1668-1738, Cormac Annis 1638-1717
