EVENTS
Presidents’ Celebration and 125 th Anniversary of THE GREATER LOUISVILLE MEDICAL SOCIETY
Robert A. Zaring, MD, MMM
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8 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
The following are Dr. Zaring ' s remarks from the 2017 Presidents ' Celebration
It is so good to see everyone today. I think we are going to have a lot of fun with today’ s celebration. Remember, after this we are heading to the baseball park for the game and concert afterward. I hope you and your family really have an enjoyable
It feels like we should be having a big birthday cake in the middle of the room because we are celebrating the 125 th birthday of the society.
When you think of a birthday, you really are celebrating two things. First, the past year or years you have experienced with all your successes and how you may have gotten through your troubles, and second, the excitement for your future and the hope you have for what is yet to come. The same can be said about our society and today’ s celebration. We are celebrating our past and our future.
We have much to be proud of when we think of our past. First, we can simply think of all the changes medicine has made since our founding in 1892, and the Society is still here serving all of us. We have an active membership shown by your presence today. I want to thank you for that and I think you should give yourself a hand.
Through those 125 years we have had 117 presidents, and I know we have some past presidents here as well. We have seen two initiatives take off on their own, The Healing Place and Supplies over Seas. The Healing Place just continues to grow and is a real model to help with the scourge of addiction.
Supplies Over Seas, founded in 1993 by Dr. Norton Waterman and members of GLMS, has saved over 1.5 million pounds of medical supplies and equipment from landfills and delivered hope to communities in 91 countries.
Our successes though don’ t end there. I would like to take a moment and discuss the GLMS Foundation. The Foundation is active in providing medical student scholarships, medical missions, and helping projects of GLMS. As a matter of fact, the Foundation is helping to support this celebration today.
As many of you know the Foundation also was in the past in charge of the upkeep of the Old Medical School Building. Early this year, the building was sold to the Ronald McDonald House. Thanks to excellent negotiating on the part of Dr. Reichard and the board, we now know the building will be protected and continue to honor our medical past as well as serve patients and their families. This will also open funds for the Foundation to be able to be even more active with GLMS and the Louisville community.
GLMS has also had many triumphs this year with the leadership of our Board Chair Bob Couch and our President John Roberts. We continue to have the Wear the White Coat Experience which has allowed numerous business leaders and politicians to understand what it is like being a physician. This program has allowed GLMS to be more influential in the community. We have