2003-2004: An Overview of the Year

The year 2003 marked the 125th anniversary of the San Bernardino County Medical Society. On July 13, 1878, six of the seventeen recorded licensed physicians in San Bernardino County met at the office of Drs. W.R. Fox and C.G. Campbell in Colton to consider the formation of a medical society, and four days later a Constitution and Bylaws were adopted. The Messenger, our county section in the Southern California Physician magazine, celebrated the anniversary in October with photographs and a feature article, "San Bernardino County Medical Society Chronicles: Remembrances of Things Past," authored by Dr. Roger Smith.

In 2004 SBCMS President Samuel Wilson, M.D. announced two positive new directions for the San Bernardino County Medical Society in 2004: 1) the sale of our building in Colton and the decision to lease office space from the Riverside County Foundation for Medical Care (RCFMC); and 2) the merger of the physicians in San Bernardino County, who were associated with the Pacific Foundation for Medical Care, into the RCFMC to form a new subsidiary, Inland Empire Foundation for Medical Care which houses the network of physicians in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The new address for the SBCMS administrative offices and our Medical Museum is 3993 Jurupa Avenue, Riverside. The mailing address is P.O. Box 11029, San Bernardino, CA 92423-1029. Our phone number remains 909-825-6526.

On April 6, 2004, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors presented a resolution to Dr. Wilson recognizing him for his contributions to public health efforts in this County, commending his contributions to multiple areas of public health intervention efforts and honoring him for his past, present and future efforts to coordinate the Medical Society, hospitals and others in improving public health in this county. April 5-11, 2004 was National Public Health Week in San Bernardino County.

The Board of Directors also presented a resolution to Dr. Wilson as he stepped down as President at the June 17, 2004 Installation meeting. The resolution recognized the considerable time and energy Dr. Wilson gave to SBCMS, and the countless hours he devoted as Director of the African American Health Initiative in attending numerous meetings, with the result that AHHI is now receiving national attention. The Board also presented a gift to Membership Director Lucy Garcia recognizing her 25th year anniversary with SBCMS.

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Leadership

Samuel Wilson, M.D. Medical Director of the Emergency Department at Barstow Community Hospital, became the 111th president of the San Bernardino County Medical Society on July 1, 2003. Executive Officers elected for 2003/2004 included President-Elect Edward Hess, M.D.; Vice President Dennis Flynn, M.D.; Secretary Manmohan Nayyar, M.D.; Treasurer Ruchir Sehra, M.D.; and Past President J. Frank Randolph, M.D. In mid-September Dr. Sehra relocated to San Diego County and the Board of Directors elected Dr. Clifford Walters as the new SBCMS Treasurer.

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Medical Society leaders attended the Annual Session of the CMA House of Delegates March 13-15 in Sacramento. SBCMS' Ron Bangasser, M.D. concluded his term as CMA President. He was the first Inland Empire physician to head the CMA since the late Dr. Nicholas Krikes was elected in 1978.

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SBCMS was well represented at the Sixth Annual CMA Leadership Academy held November 14-16, 2003 at the La Quinta Resort and Club. The conference allowed 18 SBCMS representatives to interact with other physician leaders throughout the state.

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Physician Advocacy

SBCMS extended a helping hand to seven physicians and two widows who lost their homes in the wilfires that ravaged our county in October. The Old Fire displaced Drs. Robert Ballard, Saman Choontanom, Ralph Mallinger, Charles Maples, Stanley Samuels, Gerald Friedman, and Robert Johnson. Also displaced were Elaine Morris and Susie Seavers. SBCMS offered for one year to waive the county medical society and CMA dues of the active physician members who lost their homes.

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In partnership with CMA, SBCMS provided to our members valuable tools and information about HIPAA. On August 6, 2003, CMA/SBCMS/RCMA hosted a workshop, TCS HIPAA at the SBCMS Conference Center. Other resources provided include a HIPAA Privacy Rule Training Manual for physician office staff. Checklists and other helpful information is available through CMA's HIPAA Help Center, as well as CMA On-Call Documents #1600, #1602, #1603, and #1606, on CMA's website www.cmanet.org.

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On May 12 the RCMA and SBCMS Joint Physicians' Well-Being Committee hosted the 16th Annual Western States Regional Conference on Physicians' Well-Being at the University of California Extension Center in Riverside. The event was co-sponsored by the California Society of Addiction Medicine and endorsed by the CMA. 200 physicians, hospital and medical group administrators, nursing supervisors and other interested parties attended. The annual course assists in recognition and identification of the impaired physician, the role and functions of the Physicians' Well-Being Committee, methods of investigations, interventions, recovery and monitoring, and legal issues.

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San Bernardino County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). SBCMS received a $50,000 federal grant to develop a Medical Reserve Corps for San Bernardino County. The MRC Planning Committee worked diligently this year developing the MRC. It is a local and regional resource providing care and aid to disaster victims, actual, and potential. It provides a mechanism through which health professionals can volunteer their time and skills toward such ends. It will augment the community response to disasters by preparing for and responding to large-scale emergencies such as epidemics, acts of terrorism, and natural or man-made disasters, and assisting existing medical workers when and if medical facilities are overburdened. It will seek information related to the impact of disasters on the community, for the purpose of helping emergency support agencies in their collaborative response to disasters. The MRC will provide emergency medical care at the scene of disasters and at triage areas to ensure effective triage and medical care to prevent unnecessary utilization and over burden on the already impacted prehospital emergency medical response and transport, in hospitals, and in emergency rooms. The MRC will maintain its team in a continued state of response readiness via continuous team member education and training to ensure incident response capabilities. The MRC shall adopt standards that will assure volunteer capabilities in identified disaster response activities, bringing together the knowledge and skills of many different health professionals. The MRC unit volunteers will work to improve the health and well-being of the citizens of San Bernardino County by engaging in public health initiatives throughout the year that address key health problems. Volunteers wanting to sign up should fill out the registration form available via our website (http://www.sbcms.org) and submit it electronically or by mail, PO Box 11029, San Bernardino, CA 92423-1029.

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Legislative Advocacy

SBCMS coordinated a delegation of 52 SBCMS and RCMA members who traveled to Sacramento on April 28 for CMA's Legislative Leadership Day. SBCMS Board members sponsored four students' reservations. The theme of our "Day in Sacramento" was Cutting Health Care: Has political change in Sacramento changed health care in California? Attendees were briefed by Health and Human Services Agency Secretary S. Kimberly Belshe. Greg Lucas of the San Francisco Chronicle moderated a political panel discussing What happens when cheeseburgers replace watercress sandwiches? Panelists included Gubernatorial Candidate and author Arianna Huffington, UC Berkeley Visiting Professor and Republican strategist Dan Schnur, Jason Kenney, Communications Director in the Davis administration, and Lucinda "Cindy" Ehnes, Director, Department of Managed Health Care. CMA President Dr. Robert Hertzka led the Medical Student Workshop, which enabled students to see how being politically active is an essential element for all practicing physicians and medical students. Those who attended the Ethnic Physician Workshop heard Dr. Anmol Mahal provide insight into why it is especially valuable for ethnic physicians to become more politically active, and they were given additional time to speak candidly with legislative chairs of the Assembly ethnic political caucuses.

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SBCMS Board members participated in CMA's effort to gather 900,000 signatures needed in support of the 911 Emergency and Medical Care Initiative in order to qualify for the November 2004 ballot. Sponsored by a coalition of hospitals, physicians, nurses, community clinics, and firefights, the initiative is to stablize the emergency medical system in California. If approved, the initiative will give on-call physicians access to a specially earmarked fund of $75 million to $100 million a year to compensate them for treating uninsured patients. ER physicians, hospitals, community clinics, and the 911 system will also receive funding. The initiative will raise $600 million to $800 million per year by increasing an existing surcharge on phone bills.

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The Legislative Commission/LOPAC Committe, under the leadership of Dr. Dev GnanaDev, participated in ten fundraising events for local legislative representatives. Participation in the fundraisers ensures that SBCMS maintains personal contact with the legislators and provides opportunities to express medicine's views.

On November 6, 2003, the Legislative Commission/LOPAC Committee and Dean Chalios, CALPAC Executive Director, interviewed candidates for the 62nd and 63rd Assembly Districts, the purpose being to identify those candidates that are physician-friendly. Commission/Committee members interviewed incumbent Joe Baca, Jr. and David Roa Pruitt (62nd District); and Bill Emmerson, Mike Morrell, and Elia Pirozzi (63rd District). The candidates were asked questions relating to the following topics: Managed Care Reform and Fair and Equitable Physician Contracts, Access to Care, MICRA, Emergency Medical Services, Scope of Practice, and Budget. Those attending decided to endorse David Roa Pruitt for Assembly District 62, and Bill Emmerson for District 63. CALPAC reviews all of the county medical societies endorsements before deciding whom they will support.

SBCMS received a CALPAC award for our participation in the "$50 for MICRA Defense Program". This marks the second year SBCMS has added $50 to the dues statement encouraging members to contribute to MICRA. In addition, SBCMS added a $95 PIC line item to the dues statement to raise monies for the 911 Emergency and Medical Care Initiative.

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Communications

The August Southern California Physician featured the recipients of the Medical Society's 2003 Outstanding Physician and Citizen awards: Kenneth C. Lane, M.D., The Nicholas Krikes Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Medical Society; John Mace, M.D., the William L. Cover, M.D. Award for Outstanding Contribution to Medicine; and Ernest C. Levister, Jr., M.D., the Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award. Fred W. Flotho and Temetry Lindsey, Ph.D. were co-recipients of the 2003 Outstanding Citizen Award. In March the SBCMS Board of Directors renamed the Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award in honor of SBCMS past-president Merlin A. Hendrickson, M.D., founder of the Historical Committee and its museum, who passed away on March 1.

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The Messenger, the medical society's county section in the Southern California Physician magazine, continues to provide local news for SBCMS members. Feature articles in 2003/2004 included Reduce Overhead, Realize Increased Net Income, by Practice & Liability Consultants, CMA in Wonderland: 2003 Legislative Wrap-Up by Steven Thompson, CMA's Vice President of Government Relations, On Call, No Fun by Dr. Michael Siegel, Changing Gender Ratios in the Health Care Professions by Dr. Leo van der Reis, and Workers' Compensation Reform Legislation by Jeremy N. Miller, J.D. In addition to columns by President Samuel Wilson, M.D. and Executive Director Linda Stratton, information was provided for physicians on HIPAA, the CALS Survey, NORCAL medical liability insurance, Health Savings Accounts, the Physicians Administrative Defense (PAD), and Family PACT. The Messenger also included coverage of the Installation of Officers meeting, the High Desert Meeting, and other programs and seminars. Live & Then Give and the African American Health Initiative (AAHI) and activities were also highlighted, as was the AAHI Healthcare Provider Survey.

The Southern California Physician magazine (SCP) is published monthly by the Los Angeles County Medical Association and is mailed at no cost to all SBCMS members. The magazine is the official publication of six Southern California county medical societies: San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura. Drs. Thelma Korpman, Ron Bangasser, and Rodney Willard represent SBCMS on the SCP Editorial Advisory Board.

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Volunteer members of the Speakers' Bureau addressed community groups this year on such topics as ADHD, Continuous Motion/Trauma Disorder, Seizures, The Blood Supply: Issues of Safety and Adequacy, and Allergies. The Speakers' Bureau lists physicians willing to speak on more than 200 different health topics.

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SBCMS, IWIN, and the AAHI received extensive media coverage this year. AAHI attracted local, state and national attention. Dr. Wilson appeared on KVCR-TV, several radio broadcasts, and in newspapers throughout the Inland Empire. In addition, SBCMS was in the news frequently as a result of SBCMS member and CMA President, Ron Bangasser, M.D.

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SBCMS continues to communicate with our members through the "FaxFacts". The bi-monthly broadcast fax newsletter includes hot off the press legislative and organizational events and issues. SBCMS members' office personnel receive our quarterly Medical Office Managers newsletter.

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SBCMS published a 2004 Physician Directory that includes complete office information on nearly 1750 physicians plus Inland Empire hospitals, legislative contacts, and community resources. A copy of the directory was mailed to SBCMS members as a free benefit of membership. Non-members and the public pay $70 per copy.

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The SBCMS and IWIN web sites (www.sbcms.org and www.inlandwellness.org) continue to provide both physicians and the general public with local information and links to CMA and other important medical websites. The Electronic Communications Committee serve as advisors and review the accuracy of the website links and pages. Our webmaster, Mr. Jay Razzouk, updates the websites. He is also in the process of designing a Medical Reserve Corps website, www.sbcms.org/mrc.

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SBCMS members and their staffs were invited to attend several programs and seminars on the following dates: August 6, 2003, TCS HIPAA; October 1, 2003, Physician Stress & Burnout sponsored by NORCAL; February 11, 2004, Continuity of Care, sponsored by NORCAL; and February 18, 2004, OSHA Required Annual Training.

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On December 2, 2003, SBCMS members and non-members journeyed to the Ramada Inn in Victorville for the High Desert General Membership meeting co-sponsored by the SBCMS and the four High Desert Hospitals. CMA President Ronald Bangasser, M.D. was the guest speaker at this well-attended meeting. Bus transportation was provided from the SBCMS office to the hotel.

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Community Involvement

The California Medical Foundation, on March 13th in Sacramento, honored SBCMS member Dr. Ernest C. Levister Jr.for three decades of community leadership and involvement. Dr. Levister, a San bernardino physician who practices internal medicine and cardiology, led efforts to open UC Riverside's biomedical program to more disadvantaged students. He received the Foundation's R.D. Sparks Leadership Achievement Award. The award recognizes extensive contributions to public health and underserved patients, as well as the importance of encouraging young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods to enter health professions.

Over 150 attended the reception co-hosted by the San Bernardino County Medical Society and the James Wesley Vines, Jr., M.D. Medical Society in honor of Dr. Levister. The event was held in the Medical Society's Conference Room on March 18th.

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On March 5, the Board of Directors presented an award of special commendation to County Supervisor Fred Aguiar for his generous support of organized medicine. He always held his door open to physicians with a willingness to hear and discuss our issues and concerns, evidence of his sincere effort to improve the health and well being of our county's citizens. Board members congratulated Mr. Aguiar on his new position as Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency.

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The SBCMS and its public service arm, Inland Wellness Information Network, (IWIN), continue with challenging programs and projects that contribute significantly to the quality of life in the Inland Empire.

The African American Health Initiative (AAHI) has accepted the challenge to do something about health disparities in the Black community. V. Diane Woods, M.S.N., R.N. is AAHI's Health Planning Project Coordinator. She is committed to working with the Black communities to find real solutions to fixing the gaps that exist in providing quality care. AAHI secured a two-year $268,620 grant from The California Endowment to fund an in-depth health-planning project to study healthcare access problems in San Bernardino County. In this effort AAHI will identify all current prevention and treatment services, programs and providers who deliver any type of care in the county related to heart disease, high-blood pressure, breast/prostate cancers, and HIV/AIDS. AAHI will interview at least 300 African American residents for their opinions of the county's healthcare system and how it can be improved, identify best practices and programs that will help decrease African American health problems, create a comprehensive strategic plan based on the results of the findings, and then have public forums for community comments on the comprehensive plan before the final report is completed. The final report will contain community recommendations to improve preventive and treatment services provided by hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, the San Bernardino County Department of Health and other healthcare providers. AAHI's task is to use all available resources to find the real reasons Blacks die early and the best solutions to the problem.

Live and Then Give (LTG), our organ and tissue donor awareness program, is a partnership of IWIN, SBCMS and the RCMA. The project is designed to improve health and save lives by making more donated organs and tissues available in the Inland Empire.

LTG works collaboratively with OneLegacy and the United Organ Transplant Association (UOTA) on a number of public awareness activities including the 3-month (April, May, June) cinema advertising campaign at Krikorian Theatres throughout Southern California. This campaign reached nearly 2 million moviegoers. On August 1, 2003 LTG collaborated with OneLegacy and UOTA at the San Bernardino Inland Empire 66ers baseball game. Nearly 7,000 donor cards and 700 helium balloons were distributed. On April 18th we promoted organ donor awareness at the Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter - home of Quakes baseball. This was our fourth year at this stadium. Over 2,500 organ donor cards and hundreds of balloons were distributed. Dr. Victor Ching helped by handing out donor cards and balloons. Other collaborative efforts include LTG joining the Blood Bank of San Bernardino & Riverside Counties to have display booths at four area Saturn dealers to promote Saturn's annual National Donor Day on February 14. On April 24th LTG had a display table at the Jurupa Valley Spectrum in Riverside. This was a community blood drive in collaboration with the Blood Bank and UOTA. During the month of April, LTG distributed organ donor posters, holders and brochures to area hospitals for display during National Organ Donor Awareness Month.

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Healthy Lifestyles Program is a community partnership initiative of the Medical Society, its Alliance, and IWIN. Healthy Lifestyles continues to encourage school children early in their formative years to learn about and develop healthy lifestyles. The goal of this project is to introduce or reinforce to students the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, including good nutrition, regular exercise, awareness of the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs. Elementary schools throughout San Bernardino County are encouraged to compete and win cash awards for creating a project on how to live a healthy life. During the 2003-2004 year this program received a $3,000 grant from NORCAP.

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The seventh annual Open House of the Southern California Medical Museum on Sunday, February 8, 2004 was a huge success with a capacity crowd in attendance. The featured speaker was W. Benson Harer, Jr., M.D., a past president of SBCMS and currently Medical Director of the Riverside County Regional Medical Center. A noted Egyptologist and expert on ancient Egyptian medicine, Dr. Harer presented an entertaining lecture on "Medicine in Ancient Egypt". Visitors also had the opportunity to tour the museum with docents who explained the medical devices, instruments and old books on display. SBCMS Alliance members graciously served as greeters and served refreshments.

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Membership

26 physicians, 27 House Officers and 99 medical students joined SBCMS during 2003/2004, and 17 physicians reinstated their membership. Active recruitment continues and in the past year, board members made regular presentations at hospital medical staff meetings throughout the county on the value and benefits of organized medicine.

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