Board of Director’s Update

Peter G. ellis, MD Chair - aCMs BoarD of DireCtors

Hello Colleagues,

The executive committee of ACMS would like to update all our fellow members on happenings at our ACMS. As you know from prior updates, the office is now fully staffed, led by our very capable Executive Director Sara Hussey. There is much more to relate, I will be brief but feel free to reach out to Sara or any of us on the Executive Committee if you have questions or thoughts.

• Regionalization—As healthcare continues to evolve in the state, the Pennsylvania Medical Society is interested in member counties exploring the pros and cons of joining forces in a given region. Regionalization would allow physicians in counties without an active society to have a voice and receive services that otherwise may not be available to them. We have applied for a $10,000 grant, through PAMED, to begin exploring this possibility. We have also reached out to our neighboring counties to start these conversations. There will be more on this as we gather information.

• Membership—Membership has been a challenge for all professional organizations across the country. At your ACMS, we are putting strong emphasis on providing support and services that will expand and maintain our roles here in Western PA. We currently boast 2300 members (both physician and non-physician) with 2000 being physicians. We thank you for your support and ask that you consider ways to become active in the society as we move forward, including encouraging your colleagues to join ACMS.

• ACMS Board—We have a strong board made up of a diverse representation of our physician community. We are always looking for new faces and encourage any of you to put your name in the hat for a board position or to join a committee to make a difference. The nominating committee will meet on June 7th to begin the Nomination process.

• Financials—Our financials remain strong, thanks to the work of Sara and your board. We recently passed our audits of the ACMS as well as the ACMS Foundation. The 990 for 2022 has been completed and is available if you have an interest.

• Actions—This is where it gets busy! On a social note, we have sold out our Pirate game tickets for the Saturday, July 15th game against the San Francisco Giants (125 ticketes sold). That is Fireworks Night and there will be a pregame tailgate at the Babb building to include a food and beverage truck. An ACMS Bulletin Committee is meeting to discuss ways to further enhance what is already a quality product. It is also looking at ways that we might be able to use the Bulletin to better get the word out to non-members about the good work we are doing on their behalf. On an advocacy level, we continue to work with PAMED on State initiatives of interest to all of us as physicians, as well as reaching out locally physician employers to have better lines of communication for the benefit of our members. We are actively raising our profile on both social and traditional media. We have redesigned our website to make it an asset for our physician community. I urge you to give it a review at www.acms.org.

• Foundation—We had a fun and successful night at the Heinz History Center on April 27th for the ACMS Honors event. The event had an excellent turn out and great reviews, and raised money for worthy causes. The ACMS Foundation Board will meet this summer to begin the process of collecting RFPs for grants for the 2024 year. We anticipate funding of over $250,000 this year.

There is much more to tell, but (for good reasons) I am told to limit this article. Please connect with your ACMS either online, through social media, email or a direct call to the office! We look forward to your thoughts and involvement.