drsherwoodwcms@gmailcom
OUR MISSION
A NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
My name is Mylaina Sherwood and I am the new Washington County Medical Society president This has certainly been a rocky start to summer with the irregular weather changes and poor air quality due to the wildfires from our neighbors to the north
I am currently practicing as a family medicine physician with the Washington Health System Family Medicine residency program My primary interest in family medicine is preventative medicine, of course, but women’s health and procedures are really where my passions lie My husband is practicing as a pathologist at our health system as well We are fortunate to have three children and spend a lot of time being soccer and band parents in our spare time
With that focus on free time, I am looking forward to what our board is planning for our county medical society this upcoming year!
On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, the board has planned a summer social at The Back Porch in Belle Vernon, PA as a casual event for our current members and a chance for interested members to come and mingle and discuss the benefits of being part of the medical society. Thank you to Janelle Witters for getting us the chance to enjoy this experience! Check your email soon to RSVP
Next, we plan to have a virtual legislative round table on Thursday, August 24, 2023 as a chance to hear from and interact with local legislators This is open to all members as a chance to discuss issues important to you relating to our careers and our patients
Also, in light of physician wellness, we are looking to celebrate Self-Care Awareness Month this upcoming September. As a new, and hopefully an annual, event to WCMS; we plan to host an in-person 5K in early October with the option to complete it virtually in September and October This will be open to members as well as friends/family/community members as well Official date and location to be announced
There will be a morning CME planned for November 11th as well, so keep an eye out for that
The House of Delegates will take place October 27-28, 2023 in Hershey, PA. This will be both in-person and virtual event We send representative delegates as well as alternates so please reach out to us if you would like to check it out There will be numerous delegates that are happy to show you the ropes so don’t be shy about coming along!
We will also be planning a date for our Annual Business Meeting this fall/winter and will update membership as more information becomes available You can find more information on these events within this edition of this e-newsletter and follow along with updates whether it be through e-mail, our social media, or our website page
https://www.wcmedsoc.org/
Lastly, I would like to thank Dr Lisa Goss as immediate past president for her growth and building efforts of Washington CMS and continuing to be a mentor at this time Also, thank you to Kaela Luchs, our association executive, from PAMED for helping to keep us on target Please feel free to reach out to myself or any member of the board for further questions!
The Washington County Medical Society promotes patient and physician health and wellness, facilitation of continuing medical education, and fostering of collegial relationships among its members.
Washington County Medical Society Board Members
Board Members
Brianna Kobe, DO
Trajan Peter Barrera, DO
Ferzoa Patel, DO
Zachary John Hansen, DO
Justin Robert McCloskey, MD
Cheuk Mun Au, MD
Amy Marie Fix, DO
Hannah L. Apfelbaum
Ashley Thornhill, MD
Andrew Penner, DO
Paul Lecker, DO
Courtney Elizabeth McCoy, DO
Adrian Ziaggi, MD
Carrie Schoonover, DO
Salome Mathews, DO
Angela Manocha, MD
Anthony Swimm, DO
Rhet Happel, MS
Evan Stalnaker, MD
Peter Swain, DO
Nathaniel O'Leary, MD
Taylor Victoria Starr, DO
Whitney Marie Carlson, DO
PAMED DEI CULTURE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Peter Edward Leehan, DO
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Aaron Paul Orlosky, DO
Sheila M. Anderson, DO
Brian J. Szklinski, MD
Nitin Kapoor, DO
Kristen Carey Seaman, MD
SarahScott Brett Dietz, MD
Kris Louis Ellis, MD
Michael J. Speca, DO
Darcy B. Giger, DO
Jaime Lynn Nemeth, DO
Edward Teeple, MD
Ashith Mally, MD
Edward Dai-Chee Poon, MD
Kailey Imlay Yancey, MD
Mark Douglas Hilborn, MD
James Gordon Cain, MD
Morgan Bradley Fish
Leslie Zajdel
Jee Chung Lin, DO
Michael Barry Couser, DO
The Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) advances physician leadership and advocates for the ethical practice of medicine, quality patient care, and the public’s health.
ADVOCACY & LEGAL RESOURCES
Advocacy at the PA State Capitol
Dues dollars strengthen efforts on issues like prior authorization and telemedicine. Learn more: www pamedsoc org/advocacy
Employment Contract Review
Receive a discounted rate for employment contract reviews at www.pamedsoc.org/contractreview.
Quick Consult
Gain access to fact sheets on health care laws and regulations at www.pamedsoc.org/quickconsult.
Medical Licensure FAQs
Gain access to Medical Licensure FAQs for MDs and DOs
CME & EDUCATION COMMUNICATIONS
Gain access to CME required for license renewal, the annual CME Consult publication, and a CME tracker
Access resources designed for physicians to improve their leadership skills at www.pamedsoc.org/leadership.
CME Leadership Practice Administrator Meetings (Spring, Fall)
Our twice-a-year practice administrator meetings offer key legislative, regulatory, and payer updates.
The Dose Weekly e-Newsletter
Timely and relevant health care updates delivered straight to your email inbox
Member Communications
Whether it is print or digital, you’ll receive information you care about right when you need it
Public Health Resources
Up-to-date information and resources provided to members online, or in text and email alerts at www.pamedsoc.org/PublicHealthAlerts.
Hello My name is John Six, MD, and I am your 11th District Trustee of the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) and a member of the Washington County Medical Society
The Pennsylvania Medical Society and Board of Trustees have remained busy during the first half of 2023 Some of the many issues being addressed include Emergency department overcrowding, Senate Bill 739, the Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment Program (LRP), addressing health literacy within healthcare delivery settings, and Medicare Payment Reform. Additional highlights include the Pennsylvania Delegation to the AMA annual meeting authoring three resolutions that were all passed by the AMA House of Delegates (HOD), celebrating PAMED’s 175th anniversary at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, and approving the nomination for Raghav Tirupathi, MD, to fill the vacancy of Medical Specialty Trustee.
ED overcrowding
The Emergency Department Overcrowding Task Force continues to address the issue of ED overcrowding, including sending a letter to Governor Shapiro asking his administration to create its own task force and creating a media campaign to educate the public and encourage legislators to take action The letter to Governor Shapiro asks for assistance and partnership in addressing a dire situation facing both rural and metropolitan communities across the Commonwealth While the issue has taken decades to develop, it has only been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic PAMED understands a statewide approach is essential to addressing the root causes of ED overcrowding to ensure Pennsylvania citizens have better access to care, lower mortality rates, and increased quality of care across the Commonwealth.
Senate Bill 739
PAMED continues to advocate for Senate Bill 739 which would establish telemedicine in statute and provide guidelines for all telemedicine services provided in the Commonwealth.
State Budget
As the 2023-2024 State budget is negotiated, PAMED continues to advocate for maintaining funding for the Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment Program.
PAMED 174th Presidential Inaugural Celebration
Pennsylvania Medical Society’s 174th Presidential Inaugural Celebration for Kristen Sandel, MD, FACEP, FAAEM, is scheduled for Saturday, Jan 20, 2024, at The Hotel Hershey
Health Literacy
Your PAMED Board of Trustees will be discussing healthcare literacy at our August meeting, and we continue to need your input on Resolution 22-508: Addressing Health Literacy within Healthcare Delivery Settings. Please visit www.pamedsoc.org/BeHeard to learn more.
2023 AMA Annual Meeting
About 50 Pennsylvania Physicians and Medical Students joined colleagues from across the country at the 2023 AMA Annual Meeting last month. PAMED was well represented in the almost 50 representatives including eight PAMED members who currently sit on the PAMED Board of Trustees (including current President, F Wilson Jackson, III, MD) The Pennsylvania Delegation authored three resolutions that were all passed by the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) During this meeting, PAMED leadership drove the passage of a resolution to address the need for permanent and meaningful Medicare payment reform
PAMED’s 175th Anniversary
PAMED’s Board of Trustees and several past presidents celebrated PAMED’s 175th anniversary at an event at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg Attendees discussed PAMED’s history and its continuing impact on physicians and patients in the Commonwealth.
Some Highlights from PAMED’s May 2023 Board Meeting:
New Trustee Appointment
The Board of Trustees approved the nomination for Raghav Tirupathi, MD, to fill the vacancy of Medical Specialty Trustee. Dr. Tirupathi is an infectious disease specialist from Franklin County and was instrumental in working with PAMED during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Presidential Initiative
PAMED President F Wilson Jackson, III, MD, gave the board an update on his presidential initiative
“LEVEL UP: Become the Leader YOU Need ” Dr Jackson continues to focus on the need for physician representation and leadership within our healthcare systems
Update on 2022 House of Delegates
The Board made decisions on several resolutions that were referred for study or decision
And finally…
PAMED and the Board of Trustees continue to work diligently on the strategic imperatives, goals, and objectives established in the Strategic Plan of 2022-2025.
It is an honor and privilege to serve all of you as your District 11 Trustee. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Smoke in the Shadows
Dawn in New York City finds the Bellevue Hospital Emergency Department relatively quiet – the night’s “festivities” having played out by 2 a.m. and the staff enjoying a brief respite as the city slowly wakes up. Naturally, this break in the action is more likely to be enjoyed on weekday mornings Wednesday morning, May 25, 1977, certainly fit that bill Then a 4th-year surgical resident, I was grabbing a cup of coffee in the ER when, at about 7:30 a m , a call came through to the desk that ambulances were transporting several patients evacuated from a fire in Midtown One after another, the casualties arrived, more than a dozen, all but one of them suffering smoke inhalation and many lifeless on arrival The treatment rooms were suffused with the scent of smoke I assisted with the mechanics of resuscitation and as I stepped back, I observed that, save for a uniformed fireman, all of the victims were young men and all were unclothed Also unusual was the conspicuous absence of the crescendo of plaintive cries of family members who would ordinarily surge the ER waiting room desperately seeking hope in the midst of tragedy The explanation for this unconventional scene became clear when word was “passed around” that these men were victims of a fire in the Everard Baths – an establishment known to provide a private and anonymous space for gay men to gather, generally at night. Indeed, the New York Times reported that “80 - 100 men” had fled the fire “clad only in towels or in their underwear”. Not surprising, then, was the Times’ observation that the known dead were more likely to have been “identified by friends rather than family members ”
Built in 1888 by financier James Everard as a traditional Turkish Bath promoting “general health and fitness”, by 1919 the establishment had become the target of police raids responding to complaints of “lewd behavior” Doree Shafrir, writing for BuzzFeed in 2016, noted that for decades bathhouses stood on the “fringes of lawfulness” serving as social refuges for gay lives consigned to secrecy and shame Characterized by Michael Rumaker in his book “A Day and a Night at the Baths”, the Everard, with 135 six by four-foot mattress cubicles separated by wooden half-wall partitions, was the “most venerable, loathed and affectionately esteemed baths in all of New York”. It was said, as reported by Ms. Shafrir, to have been visited by men from all social strata including celebrities such as Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Rudolph Nureyev and the gay rights activist Larry Kramer.
It is noteworthy that the decade of the ’70’s in New York City had witnessed the emergence of a fully open gay urban culture The Stonewall Riots of 1969 had, for many, pulled down the walls of the closet by breaking the hold of organized crime on gay bars as well as the routine experience of police harassment Beyond the emergence of the Gay Pride Movement, the proliferation of gay bars and clubs and the publication of gay newspapers and magazines, Midtown Manhattan and Greenwich Village reflected a triumphant lifestyle offering and embodying success and taste carried with self-confidence and social freedom And yet, despite the increasingly powerful impact of the mainstream gay culture, bathhouses like the Everard remained the seedier, less regulated and increasingly unsafe sanctuary for those who still sought anonymity and, in some cases, promiscuity.
John C. Reilly M.D.According to the New York Times, the fire was reported to have begun in a mattress, was extinguished, smoldered, and reerupted at 7 a m filling the building with dense smoke Electrical power had been cut off by the flames A sprinkler system, mandated after an inspection over a year before, was in place but the installed pipes remained detached and dangling The windows had been covered up with insulation and paneling There were no fire escapes The New York Daily News reported that “patrons were left trapped and screaming in dense smoke, some hanging from the windows crying for help” The News further reported that “200 firemen and 32 pieces of equipment arrived” shortly after 7 a.m. by which time “three stories of the rear of the building had collapsed”. At least a dozen men had been brought down from windows by firemen. Though destroyed, the Everard would be rebuilt and reopened. There was a sad and ironic epilogue to the reporting of the lethal Everard fire Newspapers, including the New York Times, felt it “fit to print” the names, ages, and addresses of the dead, “effectively outing” those who, in life, sought nothing more than anonymity in their private lives
Ms Shafrir viewed the Everard fire as representing the “beginning of the end of the brief exuberant heyday of New York City Gay Nightlife ” More ominously and to that point, on July 3, 1981, the New York Times ran a story headlined: “Rare Cancer Seen in Homosexuals” Kaposi’s Sarcoma had been found with an accelerating frequency among gay men, the majority of these cases presenting at Bellevue The scourge of AIDS was yet to be fully realized The epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management of HIV were yet to be understood.
I left New York for Erie in 1978. When I returned for a visit in 1983, the city I left was unrecognizable. The gay subculture had retreated from Midtown Greenwich Village, once wall-to-wall with buoyant, boisterous celebrants, had become a ghost town along the streets of which ailing men dragged their gaunt lesion-maculated bodies, too ill to despair of the precipitous loss of the vigor and appeal of their youth
In 1986, the reborn Everard was shut down by the City of New York being cited, along with other bathhouses, as a venue for promiscuous sex promoting the spread of AIDS
By the end of the 80s, the majority of beds at Bellevue had come to be dedicated to the care of AIDS patients.
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ABOUT US
The Washington County Medical Society was established in 1855 We offer physicians an organization to deal with local and regional health care issues while also networking with the Pennsylvania Medical Society to advocate on a statewide level.
Patient advocacy is a core of our membership, as each year we have several members attend the PA Medical Society House of Delegates. Additionally, we strive to facilitate and improve the standards of medical education by offering CME activities throughout the year to our local medical professionals
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