Members Meet in Destin for the General Assembly
Derek Anderson, MD, Speaker, LAFP General Assembly
Daniel Jens, MD, Vice-Speaker, LAFP General Assembly
The 68th annual General Assembly convened on August 7th in New Orleans, LA at the beautiful Hotel Monteleone. Speaker Derek Anderson and Vice Speaker Dan Jens presided as around forty five members and guests discussed issues and elected officers for the upcoming year. As usual it was a lively meeting with many issues discussed and debated.
The meeting provided members with addresses from Paul Murphree, DO, Interim Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director of Quality & Informatics for Blue Cross Blue Shield of LA and Robert Wergin, MD, AAFP President. Dr. Wergin brought us greetings and information from the national Academy and also shared a presentation on the work of the board over the past year.
During the meeting, after the annual reading of the necrology report honoring our members who have left us in the past year, those in attendance considered and debated eight resolutions. The following is what was debated and passed during the assembly meeting:
•Resolution 1: Background Checks and Education For Patients Regarding Gun Safety
•RESOLVED, that the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians inform our state and federal legislators of the AAFP policy on prevention of gun violence and encourage them to promote legislation consistent with this policy.
•Resolution 2: Resolution of Condolence – David Euans, MD
•RESOLVED, that the American Academy of Family Physicians join the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians in recognizing Dr. David Euans’ invaluable contributions to Family Medicine, and be it further
•RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Dr. David Euan’s family as an expression of condolence.
•Resolution 3: Establish a Resident Award of Excellence
•RESOLVED, that the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians Foundation establish a Resident Award of Excellence and recognize resident leadership, scholarly activity and family medicine research.
•Resolution 4: Dues Increase for Active, Inactive and Supporting Membership
•RESOLVED, that the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP) Board of Directors urges the membership to approve for the annual dues for active members of the LAFP will increase $25 dollars beginning January 2016 resulting in the total annual dues for chapter dues to be $300 dollars be approved by the General Assembly at its August, 2015 meeting.
•Resolution 5: Late Term Abortions
•RESOLVED, that the LAFP is against performing elective abortions 20 weeks and after, and further be it
•RESOLVED, that the LAFP submit a resolution to the AAFP Congress of Delegates to set such policy to also not support or endorse elective late term abortions in the United States.
•Resolution 6: Recognizing the Importance of Vaccinations and Immunizations in Louisiana
•RESOLVED, the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP) endorses the concept that all children and adults, regardless of economic and insurance status, should have access to all immunizations recommended by the AAFP; and further be it
•RESOLVED, LAFP strongly recommends that patients receive all immunizations recommended by the AAFP in their medical home and when recommended vaccines are provided outside of the medical home, all pertinent vaccine related information should be provided to the patient’s medical home.
•Resolution 7: Medical and Recreational Use of Marijuana
•RESOLVED, That the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians strongly oppose the recreational use of all medications and drugs of abuse, and be it further
•Resolution 8: Nurse Practitioners
•RESOLVED, that advanced nurse practitioners should not be granted full license authority; and be it further
•RESOLVED, that in the interest to maintain the highest quality of care and to maintain the highest quality of medical standards to Louisiana patients, the LAFP adopt the policy that states “a nurse practitioner should only function in an integrated practice arrangement under the direction and responsible supervision of a practicing, licensed physician. In no instance may duties be delegated to a nurse practitioner for which the supervising physician does not have the appropriate training, experience and demonstrated competence.”
Your 2015-2016 officers were also elected. For election results, please reference the list of officers and board members on the LAFP website here.
Reports were given by each of the committee chairs on the work that had been done over the past year. After completing our business by early afternoon, Dr. Anderson called for an adjournment. We hope everyone enjoyed their time in New Orleans. We look forward to seeing you all next year in Destin!
The success of the 2015 General Assembly is due in part to the support and generosity of our sponsors and exhibitors.
