INSIDE WVSMA
Message from the President
The WVSMA Progress Note
Shafic Sraj , MD , MBA-c
Dear physicians of West Virginia ,
Since the West Virginia State Medical Association ( WVSMA ) Healthcare Summit , the chairs and members of the executive committee have put a lot of time and effort into building the future of the WVSMA , focusing our strategic priorities on :
• Establishing steady and clear direction
• Revamping our governance and policy making process
• Communication , internal and external
• Reflecting on our identity and added value
• Advocacy and legislative affairs
• Leadership development
• Fiscal responsibility
Our president-elect , Dr . Lisa Costello , and our speaker of the house , Dr . Jack Kinder , are leading efforts and have identified top-rated candidates for the position of executive director . The executive director attends most WVSMA committee meetings , many held outside of conventional business hours ; supervises staff ; watches over our dayto-day finances ; keeps members informed of what is happening with the legislature and regulatory agencies ; and handles the thousands of details relating to the Healthcare Summit and other meetings held throughout the year . The executive director search taskforce has interviewed multiple high-caliber candidates and will soon make their recommendations for their top picks to the executive committee .
We are optimizing internal and external communications . We started with regular email updates , The WVSMA Progress Note , so members are updated on all relevant progress and developments as they occur . We started an initiative to collaborate with like-minded organizations and thus put together a healthcare policy taskforce , led by our vice-president , Dr . Suzanne Gharib . This taskforce will define the rules of engagement whereby allied physician groups and societies can offer policies for consideration . The WVSMA can coordinate policy discussions and disseminate the policies to all other societies and groups that choose to be part of this network . At the same time , our West Virginia Medical Journal editor in chief , Dr . Linda Nield , is working on setting our journal on track to restore its PubMed listing , a highly detailed process that requires the long-term vision and perseverance she brings to the job .
The chair of our membership committee , Dr . Ann Murray , is helping us understand who we are by looking inside our membership to identify our needs and wants and develop programs and membership drives allowing us to grow and fulfill our vision . At the same time , Dr . Jim Felsen continues to be the guardian of our CME accreditation program , a valuable offering that is much appreciated by several CME providers across the state .
The WVSMA is gearing up for another active session led by the efforts of our legislative chair , Dr . Chris Goode . By the time of this publication , we will have hosted our first legislative town hall meeting , inviting specialty and other medical organizations to discuss upcoming legislative priorities , following our effort to streamline collaboration across the medical community and aiming for our House of Medicine vision . At the same time , WESPAC , our political action committee , led by Dr . Joe Prud ’ homme , continues to support , endorse , and fund like-minded West Virginia legislators and government officials whose core values are well aligned with the needs of doctors and patients in our state . On the national level , our American Medical Association delegation , led by Dr . Joseph Selby , continues to keep us on the map on national healthcare policy issues as we will learn later in this issue .
None of this would materialize without a good financial foundation essential to the survival and thriving of our association . Our treasurer , Dr . Anne Banfield , has championed our efforts to achieve fiscal responsibility . She works closely with our finance committee , staff , and accountant developing policies and practices ensuring a healthy and responsible financial future . Such enormous work would not have been realized without the dedication and growth shown by our staff , led by our interim executive director , John Law ; our director of membership and marketing , Heather Nelson ; and our administrative assistant , Carrington Hatfield .
The last few months have been busier than any of us expected . Please thank our staff and volunteers for a job well done , a never-ending job that reflects our dedication to the WVSMA , our House of Medicine .
Let ’ s keep moving forward . Respectfully , Shafic Sraj , MD , MBA-c
WVSMA President
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