I m p ressio n s
A Few Words Before You Go...
by Dr. Stephen T. Radack III, Editor
I am sure that many of you, like me, were
taken by surprise when we received the
PDA email blast (April 3) that announced
the retirement from PDA of our CEO
Camille Kostelac-Cherry. Had it really
been 25 years since she replaced Esther
Richwine? It seems like Camille has always just been there, and
for most of the current members of the Pennsylvania Dental
Association, she has been. Camille has been the one who was
the constant at the Board of Trustees meetings. As trustees and
officers came and went, she was always there. Camille was the
one who spent every April at the PDA Annual Session and sat in
the House of Delegates for 22 of these years, and she was the
go-to person when there was a question on policy or procedure
or even bylaws. After all, Camille was also a skilled lawyer as
well as our CEO.
For most of the members who weren’t part of PDA governance,
you most likely saw her at your district’s annual meeting or
presenting one of her continuing education courses as she
traveled around the state. If you still hadn’t met her at one of
these events, you most surely met her when you had to take that
first Act 31 mandatory course. Every licensed dental professional
was required to take an approved course on recognizing and
reporting child abuse between November 2014 and March 2015
when the new licensure cycle was due. Camille had already
developed such a course and had it approved by the State Board
of Dentistry to start presenting across the state. At one point
this was the only approved Act 31 course available, and PDA was
lucky enough to have it and have this specifically developed for
dental professionals.
Think about your staff and how many folks you have worked
with during your career. If you are fortunate, you pick great
people and are able to keep them for the long term. No one likes
staff turnover. Imagine what being the CEO of a professional
association in the state capital would be like. Attracting
employees for your job openings is very competitive and
association wages are not always the highest in this marketplace.
Over the last 25 years PDA has had awesome employees. Many
have used PDA as a training ground to start their careers and then
gone off to bigger and better things. There are exceptions to that
at PDA, starting with the directors: Mary Donlin (Membership),
Rebecca Von Nieda (Meetings and Administration), Rob Pugliese
(Communications) and Marisa Swarney (Government Relations).
These four have been there almost as long as Camille and have
provided excellence and continuity in what sometimes appears
to be a revolving door of the staff.
It’s one thing to be the head of your own staff and work for over
5,000 members, but during Camille’s tenure at PDA we have had
two for-profit subsidiaries under the association’s umbrella. PDAIS
is the lone surviving subsidiary and has been headquartered
inside the PDA Central Office since it was started in 1999.
DentalComp, Inc. was created in 1995 and also originally based in
the Central Office before relocating. The company was dissolved
by the House of Delegates in 2005. Camille had to have strong
relationships with the CEOs of both companies and sat on the
Board of Directors of both as well. I sat with her on the PDAIS board
for five years and her bottom line was always what was best for
PDA, the parent company.
It is easy to look back at the PDA timeline that was published in
the 150 th Anniversary edition of this publication last year and see
all the landmark events she presided over during her 25 years.
She has served with 25 presidents, 7 ADA trustees, 6 treasurers,
many PDA trustees and officers, 4 lawyers, 2 PDAIS CEOs. She was
never a stranger to a council or committee meeting when they
met in person in Harrisburg; the same for Days on the Hill,
Strategic Planning Conferences, Governance Task Forces, Leadership
Conferences and countless staff meetings.
A few of us have been fortunate enough to get to know both
Camille and her husband John, aka “Judgie,” on a personal level.
They are wonderful, warm, caring people. You couldn’t know two
better people. When our daughter moved to Harrisburg after
graduating from college, Camille and John opened their home to
Cassie to stay until she got the lay of the land and found an
apartment. Not just an apartment, but an acceptable apartment
to Camille. She made sure Mary and I knew the place was in a
good neighborhood and Cassie would be safe. Mary and I will
MAY/JU N E 2019 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
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