SPCPF

January 2004

Dear Colleagues:

Wishing you all the best in this New Year. As I have just passed the mid-point of my tenure as the president of the Society, I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with an update on the activities currently under way to move the Society onward in its’ mission. The Society’s Board of Directors continues to work diligently on new initiatives to shape the agenda for primary health care policy at the Federal level. As many of you may be aware, recent data from the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that high levels of health disparities and uninsured continue to plague our nation. It is so critical for us as an organization to continue the work we started during our Fellowship experience to inform and transform the health care system in this country. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an advocate for the disenfranchised and downtrodden, challenged us to take up the battle for things that are important and said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane.”

High on our agenda is the development of a primary care health policy roundtable concept. Building on a model used to highlight rural health issues, we are developing a proposal to create quarterly forums on Capitol Hill to advance the role of primary care in meeting the health needs of the nation. These forums will provide the opportunity for legislators, policymakers, health care providers, and consumers to engage in dialogue on primary care topics. The Society, in collaboration with other organizations, will provide the leadership in the evolution of this forum. We anticipate that the first roundtable will be held in the fall of 2004.

As we move forward with this initiative, we welcome your feedback and comments on the roundtable concept. Please share your thoughts on topics to highlight in these forums, as well as the organizations that may be potential collaborators. You will find further details about the roundtable concept on the Web site within the next few weeks, and you may submit your comments on-line. I would like to recognize the following Fellows who are functioning as the committee to move this initiative ahead: Kirsten Thomsen (’96) (co-chair), Norma Bowyer (’99) (co-chair), Ann Cary (’93), Gary Colangelo (’96), Bob Phillips (’03), Robert Schwartz (’98).

The Society is also working with DHHS to explore ongoing roles for the Society in the Primary Health Care Policy Fellowship. We are in the planning stage of working with the DHHS to provide a venue for showcasing the work of the current Fellowship class. We are exploring the feasibility of arranging a forum for the presentation of the Fellows’ papers to a broad audience, including legislators and the nominating organizations. This forum would occur in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society and would allow alumni to network with the current class of Fellows. Our Fellowship network expands with each new graduating class. Keeping involved in this network allows us to maintain the threads of interdisciplinary work we began during our Fellowship experience. Having just served on a DHHS panel review where I had the pleasure of working with Chris Rizzo, a 2003 Fellow nominated by the American Academy of Pediatrics, I was reminded of how important the Fellowship connection is for linking us across disciplines. We are trying to schedule the annual meeting in Washington, DC just before the Congressional recess for the 4th of July, so I urge you to pencil the SPCPF in for the latter part of the week of June 28.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Society is that we are a multi/interdisciplinary organization. We are united in our efforts across disciplines to promote the tenets of primary care. Given the health care deficiencies and problems in this country (including 43.6 million uninsured Americans and rising health care costs constituting 15% of our economy), we can be a force to determine much needed changes in health care. Even as we move into new areas and initiatives, we continue to support collaborative initiatives related to primary care, such as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the National Primary Care Week.

Your help is needed to keep our vision alive and well. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” As many of you visit the DC area for work and or fun, remember that our office is right in the middle of town and can be a resource for you.

Heather Reynolds, CNM, MSN, FACNM
President

Affecting primary care policy, education, research, and service
at the local, state, national, and international levels.