Posted October 11, 2021
It’s hard to believe we’re already well into the month of October. It won’t be long before we’re ringing in 2022, even though if you’re like me, you’re still having a hard time processing that 2020 is actually behind us.
I think the pandemic has changed and impacted all of us, and as physicians we are certainly still grappling with its effects and likely will be for a very long time. The pandemic has altered the KMA as well, shifting our work and compelling us to focus on new projects and efforts that keep our members and patients educated and informed.
It’s now been since Bruce Scott, M.D. was President of the Association from 2018-2019 that we had a KMA President that did not have COVID impact their presidency. Dr. Brent Wright of course helped spearhead the KMA through the early days of the pandemic, serving as a spokesperson for physicians across the state as we navigated this new and challenging epidemic. Dr. Dale Toney was then inaugurated as President virtually in 2020 and focused his year as President on supporting physicians through the Be Well. Stay Well. Program, which has been tremendously successful. I am honored to be following in both of their footsteps and will look to their extraordinary leadership as we tackle the next leg of the pandemic journey. I am also pleased to have a wonderful President-Elect, Dr. Monalisa Tailor, to join me, especially considering what a fantastic job she has already done helping to educate Kentuckians on the impacts of COVID.
Our KMA remains the voice and the representation of medicine in Kentucky. As your President, I am looking forward to kicking off a year-long campaign focusing on lung health called “Breathe Better Kentucky.” This effort has never been more important as we continue to battle with the respiratory effects of COVID-19. We will also work on tobacco cessation and lung cancer screening, allergies, and chronic conditions like COPD and asthma. All of these issues will be examined through the lens of healthcare disparities throughout the state. I’m excited about working with the Anthem Foundation and KET for this important effort and encourage you to follow along and share these messages within your communities.
Over the next year I will also be traveling the state to meet with as many medical organizations as possible. These conversations will continue to build our KMA as the most effective healthcare champion in the state.
Together, I know we will overcome the challenges we’ve faced over the last 18 months and I believe the practice of medicine will emerge even stronger than were before. Thank you for your membership in the KMA, which allows us to improve and protect our practice, as well as for your service and care to patients across the Commonwealth. If there’s anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to serving you as KMA President.
