2023-wsma-annual-meeting-is-this-weekend-some-final-updates | 2023 WSMA Annual Meeting Is This Weekend! Some Final Updates | Early career | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2023/september-22/2023-wsma-annual-meeting-is-this-weekend-some-final-updates | <div class="col-md-12">
<div class="col-sm-5 pull-right" style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/Newsletters/MembershipMemo/2023/september/2023-annual-meeting-main-graphic-v2-645x425px.png" class="pull-right" alt="2023 WSMA Annual Meeting House of Delegates logo" /></div>
<h5>September 22, 2023</h5>
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<h2>2023 WSMA Annual Meeting Is This Weekend! Some Final Updates</h2>
<p>We look forward to seeing many of you this weekend at the <a href="[@]wsma/events/annual_meeting/wsma/events/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.aspx?hkey=fea49254-3815-4dc9-8710-53ff2e3a100f">2023 Annual Meeting of the WSMA House of Delegates</a> at The Westin Bellevue. If you didn't preregister for the meeting, don't worry; walk-in registration, free for WSMA members, will be available in the Grand Ballroom Foyer. Here's a brief rundown of a few top need-to-know items for this weekend's meeting.</p>
<h3>Parking Information</h3>
<p>Self-parking for the Westin is available at the Lincoln Square north parking garage on level P4 or P5 near the south elevators. From there, you can take the south elevator up to the hotel lobby. Directional signage is posted. Parking in the Lincoln Square garage is free all weekend.</p>
<h3>Agenda</h3>
<p>All meetings will be held on the third floor of the hotel. A copy of the meeting agenda can be found <a href="[@]doc_library/events/annual-meeting/2023/wsma-annual-meeting-agenda-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">here</a> and on the <a href="[@]wsma/events/annual_meeting/wsma/events/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.aspx?hkey=fea49254-3815-4dc9-8710-53ff2e3a100f">meeting webpage</a>.</p>
<h3>Walk-in registration and meeting check-in</h3>
<p>Walk-in registration and meeting check-in begin at 7 a.m. on Saturday in the Grand Ballroom Foyer. A continental breakfast will be available. When you check in at the meeting, don't forget to get your tickets to the WAMPAC Luncheon on Saturday (see next item).</p>
<h3>WAMPAC Luncheon-tickets going fast!</h3>
<p>WAMPAC, the nonpartisan campaign arm of the WSMA, is hosting its annual luncheon on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. We'll be joined by House Majority Leader Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien) and new House Minority Leader Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R-Auburn). Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at the registration desk while supplies last. Tickets are free for WAMPAC Diamond Club members.</p>
<h3>First-time/early career attendees breakfast</h3>
<p>Is this your first time attending the WSMA Annual Meeting or are you an early career physician? Come to our first-time attendee/early career physician breakfast at 7 a.m. on Saturday in the Lake Coeur D'Alene Room to learn more about how the House of Delegates operates.</p>
<h3>Participating in policymaking</h3>
<p>WSMA members who wish to provide testimony on any of the nearly 40 resolutions up for discussion at the meeting may do so during the reference committee hearings that begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Grand Ballrooms B and C. All reports and resolutions under consideration are compiled in the delegate handbook, available from the <a href="[@]annual-meeting">meeting webpage</a>.</p>
<h3>Saturday afternoon plenary presentations</h3>
<p>After lunch on Saturday, join us in the Grand Ballroom B-C for several plenary presentations on critical health topics. First up are two CME sessions:</p>
<ul>
<li>2 p.m. - Stephen Bezruchka, MD: How Can Doctors Make America Healthy Again?</li>
<li>3:30 p.m. - Ed Walker, MD, MHA: Are You Reacting to Crisis or Leading Transformational Change?</li>
</ul>
<p>These activities have been approved for <em>AMA PRA Category 1 Credit</em><sup>TM</sup>.</p>
<p>Following these presentations, at 4:30 p.m., we'll hear from Sandra Fryhofer, MD, immediate past chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, with an update on AMA's Recovery Plan for America's Physicians.</p>
<h3>New president's inauguration and reception</h3>
<p>Directly following the presidential inauguration on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in Grand Ballroom B-C, we'll kick off a reception for all meeting attendees at 5:30 p.m. in the Lake Washington Room honoring WSMA's newest president, Nariman Heshmati, MD.</p>
<h3>Reception for WSMA leadership courses alumni with Ed Walker, MD, MHA </h3>
<p>All alumni of WSMA's leadership courses are invited to join Dr. Walker and fellow leadership course graduates at our reception at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Lake Washington Room to network, reconnect, and mingle.</p>
<h3>Follow (and join) the action on social media</h3>
<p>Share your photos and experience at the meeting on social media! Use our meeting hashtag, #WSMAannual, and tag us (@WSMA<span style="text-decoration: underline;">_</span>update) and our speakers in your posts on Twitter/X:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stephen Bezruchka, MD - @SBezruchka</li>
<li>Sandra Fryhofer, MD - @DrSandyFryhofer</li>
<li>Nariman Heshmati, MD - @NariHeshmati</li>
</ul>
<p>For Facebook users, follow us at @Washington State Medical Association and tag us in your posts!</p>
<h3>Final report on the official actions of the 2023 HOD</h3>
<p>The final report on the official actions of the 2023 WSMA House of Delegates will be available from the WSMA website in the weeks after the meeting.</p>
<p>Be sure to review the <a href="[@]doc_library/events/annual-meeting/2023/wsma-annual-meeting-agenda-2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">agenda</a> for a comprehensive look at the meeting details. For those attending the meeting this weekend, we'll see you shortly!</p>
<p><em>Thank you to our corporate partners for their generous support: Physicians Insurance; Optum, The Polyclinic, and The Everett Clinic; and the UW Psychiatry Consultation Line. If your company would like to be a WSMA Corporate Partner, contact Milana McLead at </em><a href="mailto:milana@wsma.org"><em>milana@wsma.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>
</div> | 9/22/2023 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
update-on-new-covid-19-vaccine-recommendations-and-availability | Update on New COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations and Availability | Early career | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2023/september-22/update-on-new-covid-19-vaccine-recommendations-and-availability | <div class="col-md-12">
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<h5>September 22, 2023</h5>
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<h2>Update on New COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations and Availability</h2>
<p>The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met to vote on recommendations for the 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccines. It voted in favor of recommending these new monovalent COVID-19 vaccines including the XBB.1.5 component:</p>
<ul>
<li>Everyone 5 years and older without immunocompromise is recommended to receive one dose of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine regardless of prior vaccination history.</li>
<li>Children ages 6 months-4 years should complete a multidose initial series (two doses of Moderna or three doses of Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccine) with at least one dose of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.</li>
<li>People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should complete a three-dose initial series with at least one dose of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine and may receive one or more additional 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine doses.</li>
<li>Bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended (or authorized for use) in the United States.</li>
</ul>
<p>Detailed guidance is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/covid-19-vaccines-us.html">Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 in the U.S. webpage</a>.</p>
<h3>COVID-19 vaccine allocations in Washington state</h3>
<p>The COVID-19 vaccines are available to order and are currently under allocation through the Washington State Childhood Vaccine Program and Adult Vaccine Program. Vaccine orders will be reduced initially to accommodate for the limited number of doses currently available. The state Department of Health advises practices and clinics enrolled as vaccine providers to order small amounts more frequently initially as DOH transitions these vaccines into the agency's routine vaccine distribution programs.</p>
<h3>There is still time to enroll in the Adult Vaccine Program</h3>
<p>There is still time to enroll in Washington's Adult Vaccine Program to be eligible to request COVID-19 vaccine for your patients. Practices and clinics that enroll now will also be eligible to request <a href="https://doh.wa.gov/public-health-healthcare-providers/public-health-system-resources-and-services/immunization/adult-vaccine-program/publicly-supplied-vaccines">other routine vaccines</a> in the next AVP vaccine order cycle in spring 2024. Use the <a href="https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-08/348-976-WAStateAdultVaccineProgramEnrollmentGuide.pdf?uid=64fb53a04dd88">Adult Vaccine Provider Enrollment Guide</a> to help you through the enrollment process. </p>
</div> | 9/22/2023 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |
2023-wsma-annual-meeting-online-registration-ends-midnight-sept-19 | 2023 WSMA Annual Meeting: Online Registration Ends Midnight, Sept. 19 | Early career | Shared_Content/News/Membership_Memo/2023/september-7/2023-wsma-annual-meeting-online-registration-ends-midnight-sept-19 | <div class="col-md-12">
<div class="col-sm-5 pull-right" style="text-align: center;"><img src="/images/Newsletters/MembershipMemo/2023/september/2023-annual-meeting-main-graphic-v2-645x425px.png" class="pull-right" alt="2023 WSMA Annual Meeting House of Delegates logo" /></div>
<h5>September 8, 2023</h5>
<h2>2023 WSMA Annual Meeting: Online Registration Ends Midnight, Sept. 19</h2>
<p>Join your colleagues from across the state Sept. 23-24 for the 2023 Annual Meeting of the WSMA House of Delegates, held in person at The Westin Bellevue. <a href="https://wsma.org/wsma/events/annual_meeting/wsma/events/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.aspx?hkey=fea49254-3815-4dc9-8710-53ff2e3a100f&amp;_zs=A3aFd1&amp;_zl=FiBB9">Online registration</a> closes at midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 19. The meeting is free for WSMA members. Walk-in registration will be available at the meeting site.</p>
<h3>Delegate handbook now available </h3>
<p>The delegate handbook is now available for download from the <a href="https://wsma.org/wsma/events/annual_meeting/wsma/events/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.aspx?hkey=fea49254-3815-4dc9-8710-53ff2e3a100f&amp;_zs=A3aFd1&amp;_zl=FiBB9">Annual Meeting webpage</a>. The handbook contains the reports and resolutions that will be considered by delegates at the 2023 WSMA Annual Meeting as well as other meeting information.</p>
<h3>CME sessions</h3>
<p>Join us for two general CME sessions on Saturday, Sept. 23, during the meeting:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stephen Bezruchka, MD: How Can Doctors Make America Healthy Again? <br />
Dr. Bezruchka's presentation will consider what it would take for Washington to become the healthiest state in the nation.</li>
<li>Ed Walker, MD, MHA: Are You Reacting to Crisis or Leading Transformational Change? <br />
Dr. Walker 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.</li>
</ul>
<p>These activities have been approved for <em>AMA PRA Category 1 Credit</em><sup>TM</sup>.</p>
<h3>WAMPAC luncheon featuring key legislative leaders</h3>
<p>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 <a href="[@]wsma/events/annual_meeting/wsma/events/annual_meeting/annual_meeting.aspx?hkey=fea49254-3815-4dc9-8710-53ff2e3a100f&amp;_zs=A3aFd1&amp;_zl=FiBB9">registering for the Annual Meeting</a>. Tickets to the luncheon are free for WAMPAC Diamond Club members.</p>
<h3>New president's reception</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<h3>Reception for WSMA leadership courses alumni with Ed Walker, MD, MHA </h3>
<p>All alumni of WSMA's leadership courses are invited to attend a special reception with Dr. Walker at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday to network, reconnect, and mingle with fellow leadership course graduates. Tickets not required.</p>
<h3>Thank you to our corporate partners </h3>
<p>Thank you to our corporate partners for their generous support: Physicians Insurance; Optum, The Polyclinic, and The Everett Clinic; and the UW Psychiatry Consultation Line.</p>
</div> | 9/8/2023 12:00:00 AM | 1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM |