“ I think we have done a phenomenal job in the past few years getting our initiatives passed ,” Dr . Radack said . “ We have some great leaders in Pennsylvania who can work well with the legislature , a phenomenal group of lobbyists who help out , our staff here at PDA is wonderful and that is not going to stop -- that is going to continue .”
Legislative focus has turned to assignment of benefits legislation as well as continuing the push for student loan forgiveness , something PDA has long advocated .
“ Those are important issues for us as our student colleagues are graduating with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt . Them being able to work in an underserved area and have some of that debt paid down as a tradeoff is a wonderful idea and an issue we still have to push ,” Dr . Radack said . “ There are areas of the state where dentists are not coming back to Pennsylvania . We ’ ve heard stories where there are two dentists in a town and they are both in the late stages of their careers . What is going to happen when they are going to hang up their shingle and no longer practice ? We ’ ve heard stories of people who travel 60-70 miles to get an extraction from an oral surgeon in this state . We need to do something to get our colleagues back into those underserved areas .”
As busy as he has been with organized dentistry over the last three decades , Dr . Radack has an impressive list of community organizations in which he has volunteered , including those of his family ’ s school and church . He spent five years on the school board of St . Luke ’ s School in Erie , served five years on the Finance Council of St . Luke Catholic Church , including two years as chair . He also gave his time as a volunteer dentist at the St . Paul ’ s Neighborhood Free Clinic in Erie and for the School District of the City of Erie .
He and his wife Mary have been married for almost 26 years and are the proud parents of two daughters .
“ Being a parent to Cassie ( 23 ) and Stephanie ( 21 ) has been the best job ever ,” Dr . Radack said . “ It is amazing how fast the time passes when you have kids to follow through all the grade school and then high school events and then go on the road to college for those four years .”
Cassie is a graduate of Point Park University and works in Harrisburg in the Legislative Affairs Office of Gov . Tom Corbett . Stephanie will be a senior Interior Design major this fall at Kent State University . The Radacks also enjoy their " best dog ” Lexie , a nine-year-old chocolate cocker spaniel .
Hobbies and leisure time include annual beach vacations in Myrtle Beach , biking , golfing and sailing .
“ We consider ourselves very novice sailors , but enjoy the time on ‘ Sea Dancer ’ during the short three-month season in Erie ,” he said . “ We also enjoy hanging by the pool on warm summer weekends , but it doesn ’ t get as much use as it did when our girls were younger . When summer turns to fall we spend our Saturdays trekking up and down I-79 with Jim and Kim Hissom and Andy and Sharon Kwasny to Heinz Field , as we have for the last 13 years rooting on our alma mater , the Pitt Panthers football team .”
Fresh off attending the ADA ’ s New Dentist Conference in Kansas City in mid-July , Dr . Radack is energized to attack the goals he laid out . Whatever doesn ’ t get accomplished this year certainly won ’ t be because of a lack of vision .
“ There is no question that my 30-year-old colleagues and I have different reasons for wanting to belong , different things going on in our lives . And they might want something different out of organized dentistry than I want ,” he said . “ I think we need to continue to prove that we ’ re giving them a unique , high level organization that gives them some tangible benefit they can see , that will help them in their practices , help them communicate better with their colleagues . You have to get them in at the local level to see what they can experience .”
Dr . Radack is anxious to hear from you . Connect with him at stradack3 @ aol . com . He is active on Twitter @ DocSTR3 . Follow his President ’ s Blog ( Club 814 ) on the PDA Social Network .