By Jose David Suarez, MD
A year has passed since I took the responsibility as President of the Dade County Medical Association. While it has been a year of challenges due to the adaptations that physicians, the community, and the healthcare system have lived through due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been a rewarding year thanks to the way we have responded to those challenges.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the DCMA has been busy working for the benefit of the Physicians, the Community, and the patients. We put together a program to offer free PPE for physicians’ members and their families. We also worked with the Lt. Governor, Jeannette Nunez, and the Miami-Dade Department of Health to facilitate access to vaccines, especially for community physicians.
The DCMA continues to educate our members (MD & DO) through webinars, such as “How to Manage Burnout” and “How to Manage Economics During the Pandemic,” as well as the mandatory CMEs, which are part of the membership benefits. Through our Community Outreach, we organized an alliance with CABA (Cuban American Bar Association), by offering an online seminar on How to Cope with Burnout Caused by the Pandemic.
In addition to working with the Pandemic issues, we carried out our Residents and Medical Students Research Competition event. With a record of fifty-six submissions, ten finalists had the opportunity to present their research before a panel of seven physicians who acted as judges for the event. Out of the 10 finalists, three papers were awarded. In addition to the competition winners a Special Honorary Mention was awarded to the youngest participating contestant in the Residents Research Competition, Noah Cohen a 16-year-old high school student who presented research on the Microbiome of the Miami Metrorail Before and During the COVID Pandemic.
On the advocacy side, we visited the Florida Legislature during Legislative Session in Tallahassee. A DCMA delegation of eight physicians plus staff went there to promote DCMA legislative priorities that our leadership considered will benefit our members and patients in the county. Members of the Board of Directors and staff had the opportunity to meet with several Senators, Representatives, and legislative staff to discuss our institutional priorities. A total of 20 meetings were held in Tallahassee and we are pleased to announce that a number of our initiatives passed and have been signed into law by the Governor. These legislative priorities include: COVID-19 Related Claims Against Health Care Providers by Senator Burgess; Loan Forgiveness for Physicians Practicing in Areas of Critical Need as a Budgetary Request; Telehealth by Senator Diaz; Step-Therapy Protocols by Representative Willhite; Emergency Medical Care and Treatment to Minors Without Parental Consent by Representative Masullo; and Living Organ Donors in Insurance Policies by Representative Latvala.
Also, during our visit to Tallahassee, Rafael Fernandez, M.D., President-Elect and Antonio Mesa, D.O., Past-President, were sponsored as Doctor of the Day at the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives.
We also received a grant from New York Life Foundation to implement the DCMA Wellness program for its members as a benefit that will be launched in the upcoming months, among other projects that we keep working on for the benefit of the physicians and patients in Miami-Dade County.
I am proud of the milestones we have achieved during this past year, which would not have been possible without the support and leadership of Rudolph Moise, D.O., Immediate Past-President and Rafael Fernandez, M.D., President-Elect; as well as the Executive Committee which includes Carmel Barrau, M.D., Vice-President and Patricia Ares-Romero, M.D., Secretary and Treasurer and all of the Members of the Board of Directors. I would also like to recognize the many contributions of Fraser Cobbe, Executive Director and Angel Bosch, Managing Director of the DCMA.
While I am stepping down as the DCMA President, my commitment to promoting and expanding leadership opportunities, health care management education, and seeking more primary care doctors for the underserved will continue in the years to come.
Dr. Jose David Suarez is President, Dade County Medical Association, Inc.
