From the
President
Bruce A. Scott, MD
GLMS President | [email protected]
Where I Come From
M
y first exposure to organized
medicine was in 1987 when I
attended a meeting of the Texas
Medical Association (TMA) as a representative from my medical school. During the
meeting, delegates discussed their frustration with the fact that the Texas Supreme
Court had, once again, shot down (that’s
Texas talk) the Professional Liability Reform
legislation they had worked so hard to pass.
They concluded there was only one thing to
do – replace the Supreme Court . . . They
were serious! Over the next two election
cycles, I witnessed Texas Supreme Court
incumbents fall as new justices, more favorable towards liability reform, were elected.
Texas has since enjoyed over twenty years
of liability reform.
As the country western song says, “This
is where I come from,” from an organized
medicine perspective, at least; I was actually
born and raised in Louisville. In Texas I saw
first-hand the influence of a powerful medical association. This is my vision for GLMS.
Shortly after arriving in Louisville, I was
greeted by Drs. Ken Peters, Bob Goodin,
Bob DeWeese and other leaders with vision. They guided my early path to ensure I
stayed involved. More recently, I have been
honored to work with David Bybee, Fred
Williams, Russ Williams, and Pat Murphy
– all great leaders. We at GLMS are blessed
that so many have been willing to share
their talent. We are also supported by an
incredible staff led by Lelan Woodmansee,
an amazing talent that we have been fortunate enough to capture and hold onto for
all these years.
The TMA achieved its seemingly unreachable goal by engaging members and
having them connect with their friends,
patients and the business community. The
GLMS has similar potential. Our membership percentage among local physicians is
unheard of in today’s medical associations.
We make up the majority of the KMA and
thus send the majority of delegates to the
KMA House each year.
The GLMS leadership is engaged. If there
is a public health issue, the GLMS is naturally informed and involved as the head of
the public health department is a member
of our board. There’s an issue at the medical school? Let’s ask the dean; she’s on our
board as well. Over the past several years,
GLMS officers have served on the boards
of local charitable organizations, been involved in forums on issues ranging from
the Affordable Care Act to environmental issues, and participated in Leadership
Louisville to connect to our business community.
Not sure if involvement is worth your
time? The New York Times seems to think
it is—NYT reporters have been present at
two of our meetings in the past six months.
Did you know that several of our resolutions
were considered this year by the Kentucky
State Legislature? Still not convinced that
our delegation to the KMA can make a difference?
As a group, we can. However, we need
the entire membership involved to make
the presence of physicians felt in Louisville.
If the city faces a medical issue, the mayor’s
first thought should be to call the GLMS.
When local or state elected officials need to
vote on a health care issue, they should be
concerned with the position of the GLMS
because they know we represent the physicians and patients of Louisville. Local
business leaders are coming to understand
the economic impact of physicians and our
practices both directly– by our employee
payrolls and indirectly—by the health of
our community.
If you are not involved in GLMS you
should ask yourself why – why miss this
opportunity to shape our future?
How can you become engaged? You can
join a committee or a task force (GLMS
has over 20, certainly one for every interest). You can write an article for Louisville
Medicine. You can support one of our humanitarian efforts through the Foundation
or The Healing Place, engage community
leaders in our Wear the White Coat program, join our delegation to the KMA to
influence state and national policies, support a candidate that will listen to our cause,
email or call your representative about a
medical issue, mentor students or residents
to share your joy for our profession or your
specialty, meet with representatives of third
party payors to help resolve ongoing issues,
or volunteer to provide medical care to the
underserved — GLMS offers all of these opportunities. It is simply your choice whether
or not you take advantage of them. LM
Dr. Scott, board certified in
Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, i H