Physician. Leader. Advocate. Family Man.

Biography

A Life in Family Medicine

Dr. Cedric T. Barnes is a board-certified family physician with years of experience in comprehensive family medicine and physician leadership. Throughout his career, he has practiced comprehensive family medicine while navigating the realities of practice sustainability, administrative burden, workforce challenges, and persistent health inequities. These experiences continue to fuel his long-standing commitment to strengthening family medicine and the patients and communities it serves.

Dr. Barnes is the managing partner and president of Southern Delaware Medical Group, PA, where he provides care from newborn through geriatrics, including women's health, minor procedures, and hospice care. As a long-standing private practice physician, he brings direct, frontline experience in payer negotiations, workforce challenges, administrative burden, quality improvement, and evolving value-based care models.

His service spans local, state, and national leadership. Within the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Barnes has served as chair of the Commission on Membership and Member Services, chair of the AAFP Member Constituency Task Force in 2025, and a delegate to the Congress of Delegates. He has also served on multiple Congress of Delegates reference committees, as well as the Rules Committee and Tellers Committee. As a Delaware delegate to the Congress of Delegates and a BIPOC delegate to the National Conference of Constituency Leaders, he has worked to advance advocacy efforts, strengthen member engagement, and address health inequities on behalf of family physicians, their communities, and the patients they serve.

At the state and community levels, Dr. Barnes has served as president of the Delaware Academy of Family Physicians, chair of its Advocacy Committee, chair of the Medical Society of Delaware's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and a member of the Medical Society of Delaware's Executive Board. He also serves as treasurer and former president of the First State Chapter of the National Medical Association, reflecting his sustained commitment to inclusive leadership, advocacy, and health equity.

As a leader within the medical community, he has held multiple senior medical director roles across hospice, post-acute care, and long-term care, further strengthening his understanding of health care delivery across the continuum of care.

Dr. Barnes joins the AAFP Board of Directors with a clear purpose: to help guide the Academy with boldness, inclusivity, and strategic vision as it confronts workforce shortages, payment reform, administrative burden, and member well-being. He brings a collaborative leadership style, deep respect for governance, and an unwavering commitment to ensuring that family medicine not only survives but thrives for generations to come.