September 2018
President’s Message: Much Is New and Notable in Your Alliance
Hello, everyone! Here we are at the beginning of a new Alliance year, the first year of our second century.
Past President Karen Lairmore “passed the torch” to me at ALLMED in May, and so much has happened since then. Changes often are intimidating, but they also offer us opportunities to grow and develop as an organization.
Let me share with you some “family” news. Our long-time executive director, Loretto Koepsel, retired in March. Judy Julian, formerly member services director, has stepped up into the director role; however, Judy has announced her retirement for the end of December.
Lou Goodman, executive vice president of the Texas Medical Association, has been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and has been out on medical leave. In his absence, Chief Operations Officer John Dorman and Vice President of Public Affairs Darren Whitehurst have been sharing the duties of running TMA from the top. Jennifer McHaney, our TMA Alliance administrative manager, has delivered her son, Aidan. We welcome Pam Udall to our staff; her current title is director of TMAA legislative affairs, and she brings with her plenty of public relations, marketing, and communications experience. We also welcome BreeAnn Stallsmith as program manager.
An Even Better TMAA Experience
TMA is adding lots of enhanced benefits to the Alliance as well. (See “NEW TMA Support for TMAA.”) For one thing, we are now sending our TMA Alliance Monthly Memo newsletter to all TMAA members who have an email address on file rather than just to state and county leadership. TMA staff are working on a new website for the Alliance that will launch officially in 2019. Each county alliance will have its own page on the site; that means YOUR alliance will have a presence on the web even if you don’t have local resources to maintain a page. We will need county leaders to help us keep the pages up to date by providing content and accurate information. Renewal emails will be more user-friendly, making it even easier to renew through the email link. We have asked for a way to recruit and add new members online, and this in the development pipeline.
Chicago Meeting Inspires Opioid Initiative
We sent a large delegation to Chicago in June for the American Medical Association Alliance Annual Meeting. Our national alliance presented a lot of great material this year, but for me the two best takeaways involved leadership and opioid awareness. On leadership, our speaker shared a lot of tips from John Maxwell, author of books on leadership, management, and self-development, like The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I urge you to give his books a read. On opioid awareness, we heard several speakers from other states about their educational and take-back events. Our Alliance has been inspired to launch an opioid initiative of our own in 2019. The Organizational Review and Strategy Committee and the Budget Subcommittee will propose a budget for this project. I’ll share more on that as things develop.
Nominate Yourself or a Peer
Looking ahead, our fall governance meetings (state board and committees) will take place at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Sept. 27 and 28, in conjunction with 2018 TMA Fall Conference. The Nominating Committee will meet Friday, the 28th. Please feel free to nominate someone or yourself for a board position. If you would like to be considered for a committee position next year, contact President-Elect Lisa Queralt, who will make appointments in the spring.
Join us at the Regional Conference, Oct. 11-12, Temple
Come share your experiences and learn how to build stronger alliances at the TMA Alliance Regional Conference in Temple, Oct. 11 and 12. On Thursday, invited representatives of large-city alliances will meet to discuss their unique concerns. Then, on Friday, we will have our full-day conference. Jennifer Lewis and Suzanne Wood have a great day of activities and speakers planned. A highlight: We will hear from Curtis Webster of the Dads Married to Doctors blog to learn about incorporating events and themes more inclusive for male members. The Regional Conference is open to any TMA Alliance member and should be valuable to anyone on a leadership track in any county.
Reach Out — We’re Here to Help and Share
Lisa Queralt and I are starting to make our way across the state, visiting with county alliances. I love seeing the variety and types of meetings and events you are hosting. We also have attended small, intimate meetings around a table just to talk about what’s going on. If you haven’t made your Presidential Visit request yet please do — Lisa and I are ready to come visit you. Resource liaisons (see “Meet Your TMAA Resource Liaisons”) are available to you as well. If you have concerns or issues in your county, please reach out to any of us so we can help.
Lastly, please continue to send pictures and news so we can share them via TMA Alliance Monthly Memo and our TMAA Facebook page. Martha Vijjeswarapu is our community health VP and Elizabeth Vanexan is communications VP.
Stay healthy!
Sunshine
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NEW TMA SUPPORT FOR TMAA
The TMA Alliance will benefit from smoother operations, greater efficiency, and enhanced communications, thanks to thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours the Texas Medical Association has contributed.
Over the summer, TMA leadership put together a solid foundation to help the Alliance accomplish its goals of advocacy, membership retention and development, and community outreach.
- New and improved data. TMA Membership Operations Director Mike Hebert is now in charge of TMA Alliance’s membership files, membership processing, and dues billing. His team spent the summer updating the Alliance data for improved efficiency.
- Real-time membership information. With improved data, the Alliance will know exactly how many members it has at any one time and who has paid membership dues.
- Real-time dues billing. Individual Alliance chapters no longer have to collect membership dues by hand. Instead, dues will be collected and processed through a bank lock-box. In October, TMAA will send a renewal email to each member for whom we have a current email address. Recipients can easily renew and pay online. Dues invoices will be mailed to those members whom we do not have an email address and later to members who have not paid online.
- Meeting logistics and management: TMAA's team provides management services to more than 20 specialty societies and professional organizations. BreeAnn Stallsmith is dedicated solely to Alliance activities and is the Alliance’s primary contact for meeting logistics and administrative support. Contact her at breeann.stallsmith@texmed.org.
- New website: Grant McInnes, director of TMA Business Intelligence and Software Development, is currently working on a brand new website for the Alliance. It’s still under construction and will be fully operational in 2019, with pages for each county alliance. BreeAnn will coordinate website updates.
- Finance support: Dale Kilsby will continue overseeing and managing the TMAA annual budget and finances.
- Communications: Alliance members across the state will receive more timely information about Alliance activities. TMA Alliance Monthly Memo is now sent statewide.
- Advocacy support: Pam Udall, a 10-year veteran of TMA communications and advocacy, will support Alliance grassroots advocacy activities. She also will serve as the primary contact for TMAA leadership beginning January 2019.
- Community outreach: TMA communication staff will continue to provide turnkey support for programs that any county alliance can host locally. To hold a Hards Hats for Little Heads or Be Wise — ImmunizeSM event in your community, contact tammy.wishard@texmed.org. To host a Walk With a Doc event, contact debra.heater@texmed.org.
Be Wise — Immunize is a service mark of the Texas Medical Association.
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Around the State
Congratulations to the Tarrant County Medical Alliance and the Immunization Coalition of Tarrant County for hosting 27 vaccination events in August. More than 4,000 children received their back-to-school vaccinations, and more than 20,000 doses of vaccine were administered. Check out Terri Andrews’ TV interview with CBS, Channel 11.
Lubbock County Medical Alliance held a membership mixer attracting people of all ages. “It was fantastic to see children, parents, and grandparents all in attendance,” said Libby White, TMA Alliance resource liaison. “Everyone had a fantastic time.”
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Making a Difference: TMAA Award Winners
Each year, TMA Alliance recognizes county alliance chapters for their outstanding work. From advocacy to community education to fundraising to membership development — our members are making a difference. See the 2018 Alliance Award winners.
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TMAA Member Spotlight
Our very own Chris McGilvery, who is Alliance for Physicians in Training representative on the TMA Alliance board, was featured this summer in the American Medical Association Alliance’s Physician Family magazine. Chris, from Bell County Medical Alliance, wrote a great article about his nonprofit organization, Give More HUGS, which unites communities to help students in need.
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Meet Your TMAA Resource Liaisons
When your county alliance leaders need support, they can turn to TMA Alliance resource liaisons.
These Alliance members provide expertise in membership, board development, volunteer recruitment and retention, legislative advocacy, and organizational logistics. Please feel free to call on these dynamic leaders. They have a wealth of expertise.
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Register NOW for TMAA's 2018 Regional Conference
Network, learn, and enjoy yourself at the TMAA 2018 Regional Conference, Friday, Oct. 12, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Temple. Travel stipends are available; contact your county alliance president to apply. Register now!
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Advocacy Update: TMAA Research
TMAA is conducting in-depth interviews with our membership to learn how we can add more value, attract a more diverse membership, and strengthen our advocacy and grassroots outreach.
Pam Udall will contact you to schedule your interview. For more information or to schedule your interview, email pam.udall@texmed.org. The final research report will be available January 2019.
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Important Reminders
- Dues renewal coming. Look for your dues invoice to arrive by email in October. If we don’t have your email, your dues invoice will be sent by mail. You can pay your dues invoice online or through the mail. When mailing in your dues, please send the bottom section of the invoice statement along with your check.
- Nominations needed: TMAA will select officers at its fall governance meeting on Sept. 28. If you want to serve on a TMAA committee or know someone to fill a leadership position, please go to the website and fill out the appropriate form. See the complete list of TMAA positions and their roles.
- Share your success. Send us your news. We want to promote your great programs and ideas. Send a short paragraph describing your activity and photos so we can use in the next TMAA Monthly Memo, post it to TMAA’s Facebook page, or include it in the annual TexasAccent printed newsletter. Send your stories to Elizabeth Vanexan.
- Update your profile. Please send your current contact information and email address to breeann.stallsmith@texmed.org.
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