BULLET N PIERCE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY | FALL 2023
Celebrating 135 years in 2023! Serving our members and community since 1888 www.pcmswa.org
The Bulletin is a publication of: Pierce County Medical Society 1019 Regents Blvd Ste 202 Fircrest WA 98466 253.572.3667 www.pcmswa.org
PCMS Officers
CONTENT ________________
President C. Blake Perry, MD
Fall 2023
President Elect Julian S. Arroyo, MD
3 President's Message
Secretary/Treasurer Courtney Kennel, DO
4 PCMS Annual Holiday Event
Immediate Past President Dina C. Titova, MD, PhD
5 Executive Director’s Message
PCMS Directors Neil Batta, MD
7 2023 Residents’ Social Recap
C. Blair Campbell, MD H. Matt Davis, MD JT (John) Heffernan, MD
8-9 Annual Holiday Sharing Card Campaign
Nicholas Rajacich, MD Camille Samujh, DO
10-11 Neighborhood Clinic Update
Yancey Sloane, MD Z. Roger Wang, MD, PhD Anthony L-T Chen, MD (Ex-Officio)
13 PCMS Dues Change for MultiCare Members
Executive Director Linda Krause Cover photo "Autumn in Kwang Reung National Park" by ChangHyuun Bang - rgbstock.com
Membership Coordinator Tanya McClain 2
President's Message
PCMS Represents at WSMA Annual Meeting and Healthcare Careers Academy Mentors Needed
C. Blake Perry, MD PCMS President
This year, Pierce County Medical Society (PCMS) sent four members to the WSMA Annual Meeting in Bellevue, Washington. Courtney Kennel, DO; Camille Samujh, DO, Breck Lebegue, MD and Anthony Chen, MD. Thank you for representing Pierce County Medical Society. Our delegates, with another 171 of our associates, adopted patient-focused policies on Artificial Intelligence, Unionization, End-of-Life Care, Opioid Use Disorder and Gun Violence. Policies were adopted to address the opioid epidemic, supporting appropriate treatment for opioid use disorder, allowing physicians to prescribe methadone and supporting patients to continue to seek treatment of substance abuse in post-acute and longterm care settings. Read more about these adopted policies: WSMA Press Release from October 3, 2023. PCMS has been supporting Healthcare Careers Academy and two local high schools - Mt. Tahoma High School and Stadium High School - over the past year. We have sent high school students to medical conferences and supplied each high school with scrubs for 136 students; 68 at each school. The scrubs came with the PCMS logo and were a hit with students! This program is unique to Pierce County and vital to the healthcare industry. We will continue to support these high school students and become more active with them in 2024. Both high schools have healthcare labs outfitted with training equipment where students participate hands-on. Would you like to also support this wonderful organization? Each high school is looking for physicians or physician assistants for student job shadowing and mentoring, as well as providing an on-site internship. If you or someone in your clinic would like to give a presentation or provide demonstrations, please contact the PCMS office and we will set it up! Email us at: pcms@pcmswa.org or call us at 253-572-3667. The schools are also in need of any equipment and supplies that are no longer in use in your office or clinic. They are great training tools and provide direct involvement for the students to learn medical procedures. Be on the lookout for direct emails from PCMS about this program and how you can support high school students in your community!
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PLEASE JOIN US AT THE PCMS ANNUAL
HOLIDAY AKA PCMS ANNUAL MEETING
MUSEUM OF GLASS 1801 DOCK ST, TACOMA 98403
DECEMBER 6, 2023 6-9 PM Click or scan QR code to register!!
WE WI LL BE CEL EBRAT ING 135 YE ARS!!
Come celebrate 135 years as a County Society with us - 12/6/2023 PCMS members, This year marks the 135th anniversary of Pierce County Medical Society. Come celebrate with us at the Museum of Glass on December 6, 2023. At this year’s event, we will provide a hot shop for the first twelve members who register for the annual meeting and sign up. Four participants per hour will be creating a glass ornament with an artist in the signature 90-foot cone. Sign up early and secure your spot. Our group will also have access to the theater and the entire museum until 9:00 pm.
LINDA KRAUSE Executive Director
As in years past, we will have our community service award and a special recognition award. Reconnect with old colleagues and meet new ones at the annual event. See you there! Click or scan below to register!
Save the date! Join us December 6, 2023 6-9pm Catering provided by the Vault 1 drink ticket per guest (then a cash bar) Dress code is business casual
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NEEDS YOU!
DONATED CARE PROGRAM
READY TO VOLUNTEER NEED MORE INFO
CONTACT:
SWENSON Join 700 of Your Peers MICHAEL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Seeking Volunteer Primary & Specialty Providers Providers specify how many referrals they accept yearly
253.336.4812 michael@pcprojectaccess.org
Providers receive additional malpractice protections under the Good Samaritan Act High Demand Practice Areas Needed Today!
Vascular Surgeon | Anesthesiology Otorhinolaryngology | Primary Care Plastic Surgery | Rheumatology
PCPA proudly maintains a 1% patient no show rate!
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A FUN TIME WAS HAD BY ALL AT THE RESIDENTS' ANNUAL SOCIAL!!
REALLYGREATSITE.COM
THE PCMS BOARD OF DIRECTORS INVITE YOU TO JOIN US NEXT YEAR AND CONTINUE THE TRADITION!
ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHARING CARD CAMPAIGN
Benefiting Pierce County Non-Profits Help Up Raise $70,000 for Pierce County Non-Profits
The needs of Pierce County Non-Profits remains high to serve those in need.
Your tax-deductible donation of $500, $350, or $100 will make a difference!
watch your mail box for information on how to participate in this year's Holiday Sharing Card Campaign!
www.pcmswa.org/pcms-foundation promoting good health for all citizens of Pierce County
John Van Buskirk, DO Co-Medical Director
Ravi Kalwani, MD Co-Medical Director
The Neighborhood Clinic continues to be very busy (1633 patient visits in 2022 up 20% from 2021) serving uninsured patients in our community. “The consistent sense of compassionate service within the team at Neighborhood Clinic, is inspirational. Everyone is treated with respect, as if they matter. Something about “with great privilege comes great responsibility”, or “to whom much is given much is expected” resonates with me. This is a tangible way for me to feel like I am helping those less fortunate. The patients are very appreciative, recognizing that the staff don’t have to be there. For me, it is fulfilling and nurturing. Even at the end of a busy day, then going to the Clinic, I leave feeling re-energized. About a third of our patients are not English speaking, they literally come from all over the world! The Clinic is a great window into who is in need in our community. It can be humbling to be confronted with suffering and to be limited in what we can offer besides being a compassionate presence. For those of us who went into healthcare to serve and at times are feeling burned out, being at the clinic can feel like an antidote to burnout. There are often enthusiastic, idealistic learners volunteering at the Clinic (i.e. nursing students, social worker interns, pre-medicine students) who bring an energy and remind us why we went into medicine.” From a volunteer PCMS physician "My favorite thing about the clinic is the people. It is truly inspiring and humbling to work among these individuals and they have taught me so much about what it means to give back as a healthcare provider." Capriana Jiang, Med Student and Volunteer
Brief Clinic History: Originally started in 1983 by St. Leo’s Parishioners (including Dr. Kerry Watrin, currently Faculty Member at Tacoma Family Medicine Residency, Father Bill Bichsel, and Gloria Hall, LPN to provide health care access to their immediate community. In 1989 Neighborhood Clinic became a standalone, 501(c)(3) non-profit health clinic. While we continue to lease space from Catholic Community Services, we have no formal connection to St. Leo Parish. Mission: To serve underserved patients in our community, provide primary care for urgent and/or ongoing chronic medical conditions. We strive to provide a compassionate presence for our patients. We work to refer patients for affordable follow-up care in a primary care Medical Home. Our onsite social worker helps with this, including referrals to Project Access. “They have helped me a lot, I’ve had headaches for a long time and thanks to the Clinic I know what’s really happening with me and can have treatment for it. Everyone is very kind and I don’t have many resources but they have given me free and professional care. Thank you very much.” Anonymous patient Continued on page 11
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Brief Operations description: Open Monday and Thursday evenings, 5 PM to 8 PM. Volunteers: 2-3 Primary Care Providers per night; physician shifts begin at 6 PM, and end when all patients are seen (or at 8pm, whichever is later). Two nurses, two clinical support workers, interpreters as available, and a University of Washington-Tacoma Social Worker doing their practicum. Staff: Tonia Hogan, Executive Director, Clinic Coordinator Clarivel Manzueta, RN Office Coordinator Ian Drury, and Bookkeeper Susan Sezgin. Collaborations: Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, University of Washington-Tacoma School of Social Work and Health Care Leadership Departments, TCC Nursing School, Project Access, Franciscan Health Care System, MultiCare Health Care System (including Tacoma Family Medicine and East Pierce Family Medicine Residencies) and Community Health Care. Updates: We are seeing from 10-20 patients per Clinic night, About ½ of them for the first time. While the number of uninsured Pierce County residents has decreased significantly since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act there are still an estimated 50,000 uninsured persons in Pierce County so the need for our services sadly continues. We Need: 1) Primary Care Physicians: To provide direct clinical care --to support Family Medicine Residents and new Nurse Practitioners To mentor Pre-med students (we have had many volunteer students come thru, help our patients, and successfully apply to Medical School!) What a lasting influence our volunteer physicians have had on these enthusiastic students Volunteering can re-vitalize providers compassion and enthusiasm for providing clinical care with a committed team Can obtain state sponsored Malpractice Coverage for free if needed https://www.wahealthcareaccessalliance.org/vrp-program While volunteering, you can feel exhilarated to work with a committed team of compassionate colleagues doing the kind of medicine that you always wanted to do. There are no ICD 10 codes! No Pre-Authorizations! No EMR! Just very appreciative patients and staff. 2) Financial Donations 3) Fundraising and Outreach Please go to our Website http://www.neighborhoodclinictacoma.org/ Thank you to our Supporters: PCMS Foundation, American Academy of Family Physicians—Pierce County, Rotary Chapter 8, and multiple foundations, faith groups, and individual donors. We are very grateful to the many Pierce County Physicians who have volunteered their time as well in 2022. Submitted by John Van Buskirk, DO and Ravi Kalwani, MD Co-Medical Directors, Neighborhood Clinic info@neighborhoodclinictacoma.org
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PIERCE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
Have You Renewed Your PCMS Membership? WE HAVE GONE PAPERLESS NEW THIS YEAR: ON-LINE RENEWAL 2024 RENEWAL NOTICES WILL SOON BE EMAILED Questions? Need to update your listing? Contact Tanya McClain, Membership Coordinator tanya@pcmswa.org | 253.572.3667 www.pcmswa.org
Attention MultiCare Physicians and PAs: PCMS Membership Dues Changes in 2024 Over the years, MultiCare physicians’ and PAs’ annual Pierce County Medical Society membership dues were paid and renewed by MultiCare. Beginning in 2024, your membership dues will not automatically renew by your employer. MultiCare will still pay for your membership dues to Pierce County Medical Society, but it will be at your request and through your annual CME funds provided by MultiCare. We appreciate your membership in PCMS over the years and look forward to your continued support in 2024. If you have any questions about renewing your membership dues with us next year, please let us know. We value your support. We will send out more information about this change in the coming months. If you have any questions, please let us know. PCMS office: 253-572-3667; or email us at: pcms@pcmswa.org. Thank you, Linda Krause PCMS Executive Director
Why should you join Pierce County Medical Society? Select benefits: Physician referrals Professional & collegial activities Quarterly bulletin Resource for practice information Seasonal member perks 20% off first year full active membership special rate for US military, USPHS & VA residents | first year practice join free
Pierce County Medical Society has been supporting Pierce County physicians and patients over 130 years. PCMS represents the interests of local physicians and physician assistants from all specialties and practice types at all stages of their careers.
www.pcmswa.org