3 minute read
From the MCMS Board President
Prior to moving to Arizona, I resided in Florida for four decades and was fortunate to live near Sanibel Island. Driving to the island — just as I approached the causeway — there were several homes that had been built on pilings about 100 feet inland from the shoreline. Through the years, I noticed the shoreline creeping closer and closer to the homes. Eventually, water from the Gulf of Mexico eroded the pilings to the point that the houses eventually collapsed, and one by one those homesteads were lost. For whatever reason, I never saw any meaningful preventative measures taken to prevent that from occurring.
Medicine has likewise faced an insidious erosion of its traditional foundation over the past several decades. Concern for quality of care has now taken a back seat to profit. Our role as the principal driving force in the health care equation is being challenged by non-physician “doctors” and “providers” of various disciplines, aided and abetted by insurance companies and hospital executives. Unfortunately, even our heavily lobbied legislative representatives are culpable. The various nonphysician “provider” organizations have leveraged these changes by a large and active membership, which has given them monetary advantage over many physician-led organizations.
Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, we physicians are a large part of the problem. We are our own adversaries. There has been no profit in our projecting blame for these changes onto these other organizations when our own membership numbers are so low. Our apathy and passivity have rendered us complicit in surrendering our position as the driving force in health care, a position which is now more important than ever. Others of us are so busy that we, like the homeowners near the causeway, do not notice what is happening around us. That is why we must rely on grassroots medical societies to keep us abreast of these changes and to challenge those which may adversely affect our practices. Let me remind you that one day we are all going to be patients. When that inevitable day comes, what do you hope our health care model will look like?
As incoming president of the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS), I intend to work toward the following goals in 2021:
-First and foremost, I will begin an aggressive campaign to increase membership in the organization by underscoring what we can do with strength in numbers, and by pointing out the advantages of membership.
-I will collaborate more closely with ArMA and AOMA and other physician-led organizations in the state to address and challenge issues that adversely affect patient care and physician practices.
-I will promote complimentary CME programs co-sponsored by MCMS and our partners that will address common clinical issues confronting physicians. By mid-year I hope these programs will be live half-day seminars that will foster face-to-face physician interaction and personal exchange. In the meantime, a virtual spring CME program on general medicine is on the drawing board.
-I will continue the MCMS community outreach programs for physicians, patients and public health entities to maintain the primary role of MCMS in supporting the physicians who provide patient care in the community.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your president of Maricopa County Medical Society. With your help, the Board of Directors and I will continue to work tirelessly this coming year to accomplish these goals and grow our society.
Respectfully,
John Prater, DO
Dr. Prater moved from Ft. Myers, FL to Phoenix in 2017 and shortly thereafter became a Director on the Board of Maricopa County Medical Society. He was active at the state and local levels of organized medicine in Florida for decades where he served in several physician leadership positions, including President of the Southwest Florida Psychiatric Society and President of District Eleven of the Southwest Florida Osteopathic Medical Society. He is a board-certified psychiatrist currently practicing at the Phoenix VA Medical Center.
