As your new president, I want to thank you for your confidence in me (and the knowledge that I was the only one willing to do this). Jim Linn is still vice president, Andy Brayer secretary. Todd Miller has taken over my previous job as treasurer.
One of my goals is to make sure everyone is in the loop, so I want to do a newsletter on a semi-regular basis.
Membership
We now have 18 paid members: 4 associate, 1 clergy, 5 retired, and 8 active. There are still a few who have not paid their dues for this year (and you know who you are!). Certainly if anyone knows of someone who would like to join, they can contact Todd at [email protected].
St. Camillus
It was wonderful that the St. Camillus community offered their facilities for our White Mass free of charge and paid for the luncheon as well. They are interested in building on that beginning and have asked to meet with us. Their suggestion is an 8:30 AM or 4:30 PM weekday meeting. I could do Tuesday or Wednesday mornings, and if another 1 or 2 of you want to join me, that would be feasible (or Thur afternoon). Otherwise, I was going to suggest a Saturday meeting. Anyone who is interested, please email me.
If they are interested, I would like to continue doing the White Mass there. I would also like to do our board meetings there as well if they would let us since it has convenient access from the freeway. Any suggestions about what else we would like to do with them?
Getting Our Name Out
I would like us to explore ways to make our Guild more public. We already do a yearly sponsorship of $250 to Pro-Life WI annual dinner.
I would like to know if there is any interest in hosting a table at the Men of Christ Conference. The cost is $175 and includes 2 tickets. We would need someone to be at the table at all times, except Mass. If someone knows of anyone else who has a table and wouldn’t mind us tagging along (we could pay part of their fee), that would be a good option.
Also, WI Right to Life will be having their annual dinner. I do not know what a sponsorship for that costs, but would like a poll of our membership to see if I should investigate further.
Wisconsin Medical Society Congress of Delegates
I know some of you are wondering why I am bringing this up. The reason is that many of us also are members of this organization as well. Every year our district cannot find enough physicians in active practice so they fill up their numbers with residents. And every year, a woman claiming to be Catholic rolls out her request that the Society support physician assisted suicide. On a positive note, one of our own, Tim Jessick, has put forth a resolution supporting palliative medicine.
There is a meeting March 30th for our district to go over the resolutions and the meeting itself is April 17th adn18th. If you can not go, the WMS is accepting comments on the resolutions from the general membership.
60% of the state’s physicians are members, so they have clout in the legislature. And while we can’t support everything they do, they have done good work such as the physician apology law and preventing Gov Doyle from raiding our Patient Compensation Fund.
Hippocratic Oath Dinner
MCOW students have planned this year’s Hippocratic Oath Dinner. It is Wednesday 4/29. Reception is 6:30 and dinner at 7. It is at the medical college. $40/person. Let’s show strong support for our pro-life med students! If you haven’t received an invitation, email Lauren E Weasler [email protected]. The speaker is Stephen McCurdy, MD MPH,Professor & Director of the UC-Davis Master of Public Health Program.
Misc
If anyone has something they would like our general membership to know about, please contact me. If you have been quoted (like Frank Smith was in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal a few weeks ago), tell me so we pass on the good work of the work we do.
And complaints too.
Talk to you all again (just don’t know when)
Cindy Jones-Nosacek, MD
President Milwaukee Guild of the CMA