WSMA Annual Meeting

The WSMA is governed by a House of Delegates comprising elected delegates from each county medical society, qualified state specialty societies, and members of the WSMA board of trustees. There is one young physician delegate, one resident delegate, and three student delegates (one from each of the three medical schools in Washington state). Each county society has one delegate for every 50 active WSMA members.

Each medical specialty society is entitled to elect or appoint one delegate and one alternate, provided that such specialty society has as members at least 100 active members of the WSMA, or if the specialty society has fewer than 100 members, 50% of its members must belong to the WSMA.

Delegates are expected to be available for one year of service from the beginning of the House of Delegates meeting until the House of Delegates meeting the following year. Delegates shall be available to provide input and information and guidance to the WSMA’s board of trustees and executive committee as they administer and interpret policy set by the House of Delegates, and as they make policy decisions when the House of Delegates is not in session.

All legislative power of the WSMA—including the power to alter, amend, or repeal the bylaws—is vested in the House of Delegates. All business of the House of Delegates is conducted according to parliamentary procedures as outlined in "The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure." The speaker of the House serves as parliamentarian. The speaker of the House is Matthew Grierson, MD, of Seattle. The vice speaker of the House is Ray Hsiao, MD, of Seattle.

Policymaking at the meeting is primarily driven by resolutions. A resolution is a proposal asking the WSMA to take a position or act on an issue. Learn more about resolutions and how they help create and guide WSMA policy.

How the House of Delegates operates

The House convenes its opening session on Saturday morning of the WSMA Annual Meeting. At this time, guests are invited to speak to the delegates and all reports and resolutions are referred to reference committees. This is followed by meetings of the reference committees on Saturday.

The House holds a second session on Sunday morning. The reference committees present their reports for consideration by the House on Sunday.

Learn more about the House of Delegates.

Learn more about delegate duties.

Reference committees are the key to the deliberations of the House of Delegates. Members of the House and individual members of the WSMA are invited and encouraged to attend these meetings. The chair of the reference committee has the prerogative to permit nonmembers of the association to present testimony. Committee meetings are open to the press.

Each reference committee is made of three members of the House—appointed by the speaker and vice speaker.

When offering testimony before the reference committee, please identify yourself and the society or organization which you represent. It is helpful, unless raising a point of order or asking a question, if you indicate you are speaking in favor of, or in opposition to, the resolution or report.

Remember, the reference committee is the most appropriate place for you to express your opinions and those of your constituents. Discussion on the floor of the House on Sunday is generally in response to the recommendations made by the reference committee and is not intended as a replay of more extensive testimony given at the committee hearings.

Most reference committees complete their business in 2-3 hours on Saturday. The committee reports are published under the direction of the speaker and vice speaker and are available online on the WSMA website by Saturday evening and in hard copy by 7 a.m. on Sunday.

Download the 2023 Delegate Handbook (Updated Sept. 21 – Changes include the addition of several delegates)

Navigation Note: The file has bookmarks and links for each of the agenda items, including reports and resolutions. Once you have downloaded and saved the document, it should open with the bookmarks showing on the left side for easy navigation. If for some reason you don’t see the bookmarks, select View, Navigation Panels, and Bookmarks to show the links. You’ll note that you can drill down to individual bookmarks on some items like the WSMA Bylaws and Policy Compendium. You will want to be sure you are viewing it in Acrobat Reader and not online for the bookmarks to work. There is a lot of material here and the bookmarks and links should make it more manageable to navigate.

Disclaimer: Reports and resolutions included in the delegate handbook are items to be considered by the WSMA House of Delegates. No action has been taken on any of these items. Resolutions are submitted by WSMA delegates and delegations, the WSMA board of trustees, and WSMA sections, and are informational only until they have been acted upon by the House at the 2023 WSMA Annual Meeting. The statements and opinions expressed in resolutions are those of the authors and the WSMA makes no representations of any kind about the accuracy of information contained therein. Only those items that have been acted upon by the House can be considered official.

Make an informed vote by getting to know the candidates

Before voting on Sept. 24, members of the House of Delegates should take time to get to know the candidates. The Nominating Committee’s report is included in the Delegate Handbook as Board of Trustees Report E (Reference Committee B). Members of the House of Delegates can view candidates’ background materials online here. Candidates for contested positions were invited to submit candidate videos. Clicking on Candidate Information for those positions will bring up candidates’ materials including videos if they chose to submit one.

FRIDAY, September 22

12:00 pm
Executive Committee Meeting
Lake Quinault Room

4:00 pm
WAMPAC Board Meeting
Lake Coeur D’Alene Room

6:00 pm
WSMA Board of Trustees Dinner
Lake Washington Room

6:45 pm
WSMA Board of Trustees Meeting
Grand Ballroom A

SATURDAY, September 23

6:00 am
AMA Delegation Meeting

7:00 am
Registration/Visit Exhibits
Grand Ballroom Foyer

7:00 am
Reference Committee Orientation Breakfast
Lake Chelan Room

7:00 am
Welcome Breakfast for Early Career/New Attendees
Lake Coeur D’Alene Room

8:00 am
HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Grand Ballroom B-C

9:30 am
Break with Exhibitors
Grand Ballroom Foyer

10:00 am
Reference Committee B
Grand Ballroom B

10:00 am
Reference Committee C
Grand Ballroom C

12:30 pm
WAMPAC Luncheon
Lake Washington Room

2:00 pm
How Can Doctors Make America Healthy Again? – Stephen Bezruchka, MD
Grand Ballroom B-C

3:00 pm
Break with Exhibitors
Grand Ballroom Foyer

3:30 pm
Are You Reacting to Crisis or Leading Transformational Change? - Edward Walker, MD, MHA
Grand Ballroom B-C

4:30 pm
AMA’s Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians – Sandra Fryhofer, MD, Immediate Past Chair, AMA Board of Trustees
Grand Ballroom B-C

5:15 pm
Presidential Inauguration
Grand Ballroom B-C

5:30 pm
Reception
Lake Washington Room and Terrace

SUNDAY, September 24

7:00 am
WSMA Past Presidents’ Breakfast
Lake Coeur D’Alene Room

7:00 am
Early Career Joint Governing Councils
Grand Ballroom A

7:00 am
CMS Caucuses:
Eastern CMS Caucus Breakfast - Lake Chelan Room
King CMS Caucus Breakfast - Lake Washington B Room
Pierce and Snohomish CMS Caucus Breakfast - Lake Quinault Room
Southwest CMS Caucus Breakfast - Lake Washington A Room

8:00 am
HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Grand Ballroom B-C

Featured speakers at the meeting

Stephen Bezruchka, MD – How Can Doctors Make America Healthy Again? Keynote presentation

Presenting the first keynote presentation on Saturday’s opening session of the House of Delegates is Stephen Bezruchka, MD, associate teaching professor emeritus in the departments of health systems and population health and global health at the University of Washington School of Public Health. In his presentation, Dr. Bezruchka will cover the factors that have the greatest impact on population health. Economic inequality kills, and conditions in early life foretell adult health. Personal behaviors and medical care, although very important, matter less. By most measures, Hawai'i is our healthiest state. Dr. Bezruchka’s presentation will consider what would it take for Washington to overtake Hawai'i in health. This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM.

Ed Walker, MD, MHA – Are You Reacting to Crisis or Leading Transformational Change? Keynote presentation

During the second keynote presentation on Saturday, Ed Walker, MD, MHA, professor of psychiatry and population health and services at the University of Washington and senior physician advisor for the WSMA Center for Leadership Development, will present a session focused on the importance of burnout recognition and treatment from a system-level perspective rather than a self- care, wellness model. Dr. Walker’s goal is to create a cohort of leaders who understand and can interact with their administrative counterparts to build a more sustainable care-full system. Once you understand that burnout is a feature, not a bug, of the current system, it becomes more clear what needs to be changed. This activity has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM.

Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD – AMA’s Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians

Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, MD, is the immediate past chair of the American Medical Association board of trustees. During the opening session on Saturday, she will present about the AMA’s recovery plan for America’s physicians and other issues on which the AMA is currently focused, followed by a Q&A session.

WAMPAC luncheon featuring key legislative leaders

WAMPAC, the nonpartisan campaign arm of the WSMA, is hosting its annual luncheon event on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 12:30 p.m. We are excited to be joined by House Majority Leader Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) and new House Minority Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn). Together, the House leaders will discuss policy and campaign priorities of their respective caucuses and answer questions from the audience. The luncheon will also include a raffle for WAMPAC Diamond Club contributors with fantastic prizes, lovely food and dessert, and the opportunity to participate in a game of political trivia! Tickets for the luncheon are $50 and can be purchased when preregistering online for the Annual Meeting or at the registration desk during the meeting. Tickets to the luncheon are free for WAMPAC Diamond Club members.

New president's reception

Directly following the presidential inauguration on Saturday at 5:15 p.m., we'll kick off a reception at 5:30 p.m. in honor of WSMA's newest president, Nariman Heshmati, MD.

Special leadership alumni reception with Dr. Walker

All alumni of WSMA’s leadership courses are invited to a special reception with Dr. Walker at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday to network, reconnect, and mingle with fellow leadership course graduates.

WSMA’s virtual reference committees allow members to review and provide feedback on resolutions in the weeks prior to the meeting. These secure, password-protected discussion forums provide for greater access to the policymaking process, allowing members from across the state ample opportunity to participate in the WSMA’s primary policymaking engine and helping to streamline the reference committee process.

Testimony provided in the virtual reference committees is compiled and provided to the reference committee members prior to the meeting and distributed to members attending the in-person reference committee hearings at the WSMA Annual Meeting. Testimony provided in the virtual reference committees is given equal weight to that of in-person testimony.

For WSMA members unable to make it to the meeting but who would still like a voice in the policymaking process, the WSMA’s online Virtual Reference Committees will remain open until Tuesday, Sept. 19 at midnight. Members who wish to provide testimony in person may do so at the reference committee hearings that begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Grand Ballroom B and C.

How to join

The WSMA Virtual Reference Committees have moved to a new secure platform, Mobilize.io, designed to make it easier for members to comment and keep up with discussions related to proposed House of Delegates policy.

To ensure these discussions are secure, you must submit a one-time request to join the Virtual Reference Committees, then create a dedicated password. To do so:

• Submit a request to join the Virtual Reference Committees.
• Once access is granted by a WSMA administrator (usually within 24 hours), you will receive an email with a “visit community” link; clicking that link will prompt you to create a unique password to the Mobilize platform.
• Use your new password to log in to the Mobilize platform and visit the Virtual Reference Committees to join the discussions.
• For further guidance once logged in to the platform, review the “Welcome” post with details on how to post, reply, set your notification preferences, search resolutions, update your profile, and more.

Ease of use

With our new Mobilize platform, it’s easier than ever to jump into the conversation. When a resolution is posted, all Virtual Reference Committee members will receive an email notification. Simply “reply all” to the email notification to leave a comment on the resolution—it’s as simple as that.

For smartphone users, to optimize your experience, download the Mobilize Community Management app from the Apple App Store or the Mobilize Group Communication app for Android from Google Play after your Mobilize account has been created.

You can also review resolutions and leave comments in the Virtual Reference Committees online by logging into your account at community.wsma.org.

For assistance with joining, logging in, posting, or replying, contact WSMA IT Director Troy Brown.

The WSMA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The WSMA designates this live activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The WSMA may have a photographer or videographer on-site at this event to gather imagery for use by the WSMA in its communications materials and channels as well as for media outreach. These images will be the property of the WSMA, and the WSMA will not sell or otherwise market event imagery. If you have any questions regarding imagery taken at a WSMA event, please contact Milana McLead at 206.441.9762 or milana@wsma.org.

The WSMA wishes to thank the following corporate partners for their generous year-long contributions. For more information, contact Milana McLead at milana@wsma.org or 206.956.3629

Exclusive Premier Partner

Founded in 1981 under the auspices of the WSMA, Physicians Insurance is the Northwest's leading medical professional liability insurance company, physician-owned and exclusively endorsed to this day by the WSMA. For over 30 years, Physicians Insurance has remained the stable, committed and local insurer for physicians, clinics, facilities and hospitals, providing risk-management consulting, continuing medical education and claims administration services to more than 7,000 members in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming.

Advocate

The Everett Clinic and The Polyclinic are part of Optum. Together, we’re building an integrated care model to offer personalized care with both on-site and virtual care options. We remain clinician-led, committed to our communities with more than 100 years of partnership, and dedicated to helping people live healthier lives.

Promoter

The UW Psychiatry Consultation Line connects health professionals throughout Washington with UW psychiatrists who can provide clinical advice about adult patients with mental health or substance use disorders. The service is fast, free, and on demand. A UW psychiatrist is just a phone call away! Funded by the state of Washington.

Meeting Exhibitors

We are excited to welcome exhibitors back in person. Additional information about exhibit opportunities including the schedule and pricing can be found here. Exhibit space will be limited. If you’d like to reserve your spot, the exhibitor application form can be found here: 2023 WSMA Annual Meeting Exhibitor Registration Form. For additional information about exhibiting, contact Shannon Bozarth at 206.956.3626 or slb@wsma.org.