A MESSAGE FROM LACMA CEO

Creating Change

A pandemic. Medical practices closed. Physicians in crisis. No PPEs. Staffs laid off. Lives changed for possibly years. When I was writing this column, we had lost nearly 110,000 Americans to COVID-19 with almost 2 million sick. In Los Angeles 57,000 tested positive, with nearly 2,500 losing their lives. Yes, we’ve helped more than 400 practices with funding, supplies and resources. But it’s not enough. The good news, thanks to our forward-thinking executive committee, is that we were able to pivot to helping minority practices and those serving communities of color through a partnership with the Patient Care Foundation. Thank you, Dr. Elander! This profound work continues as we strive to help these practices with additional funding to reopen, rehire and care for the most vulnerable communities in the county. “...LACMA will And, just as practices and businesses began to reopen and generate be part of the revenue, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis shook us all to our core. Following the shootings in Dallas, Texas, in 2016, LACMA held the dialogue and, in historic “The Searing Journey” event with black physicians where 50 doctors shared their own experiences with racism. Four years later, LACMA, some cases, lead like so many organizations, has moved on. This will change. Yes, our focus the conversation to was to reinvent the organization in order to grow. That has happened as we have more than 7,000 members. But black physician membership create change...” remains very low. Our responsibility as an accountable, thoughtful organization will be to create a new LACMA, one that includes a core belief that racism will not be tolerated. LACMA will be part of the dialogue and, in some cases, lead the conversation to create change, to be impactful, to support our physicians of color, their patients and their communities.

I also want to take a moment and thank LACMA President Dr. Sion Roy for his leadership. Shy was instrumental in helping LACMA evolve to something better. He made us all better. We were able to reach historic milestones because Shy, first and foremost, partnered with staff to create value for both members and communities. Docs4LA, COVID-19 Rapid Response, an immediate response and plan in the wake of the George Floyd killing, a vibrant and engaged executive committee and board of directors, a revitalized LACPAC, stronger ties with CMA and coordination with our Patient Care Foundation and partnership with our districts were all achievements thanks to Dr. Roy’s uncanny ability to work with staff to support LACMA’s mission, vision and values.

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