George A. Taler MD

George Taler, MD, is Co-director of MedStar Washington Hospital Center's Medical House Call Program; Vice President for Medical Affairs of MedStar's Home Health Visiting Nurse Association; and Medical Director of Northwest Healthcare Center, a 343-bed nursing home in Washington, DC.

As Co-founder and Co-director of MedStar's award-winning Medical House Call Program, Dr. Taler is involved in the provision of primary health care to frail elders living independently in their own homes. The Medical House Call program, consisting of a team of 17 geriatricians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and allied staff, coordinates primary, specialty, urgent, and acute medical care to approximately 600 people. On the national level, Dr. Taler is a spokesperson and advocate for Medicare reform to support the expansion of home-based elder care and to enact legislation to create pilot programs that would allow hospitals to share in cost savings to the Medicare program.

In 2006, Dr. Taler was selected for a Special Achievement Award by the American Academy of Home Care Providers. His community leadership activities have included Past-President of the Maryland Gerontological Association, Founding President of the Maryland Geriatrics Society, and President of the American Academy of Home Care Physicians. He has been a member of the Board of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel since 2002.

Dr. Taler graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed an internship at the University of Maryland Medical Center. His residency in Family Medicine and fellowship in Geriatrics were completed at the Jewish Institute for Geriatric Care (now the Parker Geriatric Institute) in New Hyde Park, NY. He then joined the Family Medicine faculty at the University of Maryland, where he was an Associate Professor until he left in 1999 to join MedStar Washington Hospital Center as Director of Long-Term Care.