2014–15 SDCMS Board of Directors Elections
SDCMS Member Physicians: SDCMS’s board of directors (BOD) 2014–15 election will be held April 9 through May 6, 2014. Below please find the candidates' statements. Note that "Inc." in parentheses after the candidate's name indicates he or she is an incumbent, and the number in parentheses after the candidate's name indicates his or her term length in years.
OFFICERS:
President: J. Steven Poceta, MD (1): I plan to be president of the San Diego County Medical Society for the upcoming year. I have been a member of SDCMS since I came to San Diego in 1987. I have served on the board of directors and, for the last five years, on SDCMS’s Executive Committee. I am dedicated to the pursuit of medicine, and I believe in a pluralistic approach to the practice. All physicians have a role to play in the optimal delivery of healthcare to our fellow community members. The respect that we receive from our patients is great, and it not only serves to enrich our lives, but also to indicate our value to the community. No specific healthcare delivery system is better than another, considering the changes that have occurred since our profession was founded. That is, the practice of medicine has survived since long before the U.S. depression of the 1930s, the creation of Medicare, the HMO, and the current trend toward consolidation. All doctors are needed — from those in academics to those in solo practice — and I support them all. The backbone of the system remains the same: doctors who study, train, and work hard to take care of people who are sick and to understand the causes of disease. We need a system that fosters the most capable young people to go into our profession, rewards them appropriately, and provides career and personal satisfaction. I believe that we can meet these goals under the changing system.
President-elect: William T-C Tseng, MD, MPH (1): I appreciate this opportunity to share with you my concerns and visions for SDCM in 2014 and what I hope to achieve with our medical society as president-elect. As president-elect, I am committed to addressing physicians’ concerns affected by challenges facing our local and national healthcare policy. Ask a colleague what makes him / her unhappy about practicing medicine regardless of specialty, the overwhelming answer would be "increasing regulatory burden." Growing over-regulation, and intensified administrative loads demand for us to speak out. Without a doubt, synchronizing our voices and uniting our priorities is necessary in preserving our authority, our autonomy, and our interest in the practice or our medicine. As your candidate, I intend to focus my priorities on preventing further waning of our professional sovereignty. Through community, professional, and political involvement, I hope to assist SDCMS in becoming an even more influential organization. More so now than ever before, we need to deliberate on increasing regulatory complexities, partake in discussions shaping social and political mandates, and curtail external constraints that continue to “deprofessionalize” a physician’s influence over the medical decision-making process. We need to be a part of all conversations that negotiate favorable terms of reimbursement, and integrate health promotion as our agenda locally. Through SDCMS, we can take the helm in determining the future of our practices — how we care for patients, how we code (prescribe treatment), and how we are reimbursed. I believe that through SDCMS we can join our services in the best interest of all physicians, regardless of their modes of practice. More importantly, we will, together, overcome political uncertainties and systemic assaults on the practice of medicine to increase the desire for future generations to pursue medicine as a career. Thank you.
Treasurer: Mihir Y. Parikh, MD (1): I ask for your support as I run for treasurer of SDCMS. It is an honor and privilege to have served for five years as the young physician director and for the past three years as a member of the Executive Committee. We have elected and assembled an amazing team of directors and staff that are strongly committed to protecting the interests of our patients and our medical practices in this uncertain time of inevitable healthcare change. There are numerous challenges to our autonomy of practicing medicine from upcoming ballot measures, pending federal and state legislation, and the challenges of implementing already passed laws. One person cannot guard all of these fronts alone. Our best line of defense is through organized medicine. We need all physicians in every mode of practice to become members of SDCMS and join the leadership in place. With a united voice, we can sway public opinion, provide quality patient care, and maintain the integrity of the medical profession. As treasurer I pledge to work with the other directors to advocate for the doctors and patients of San Diego County, educate fellow colleagues about pending legislative changes, expand our physician membership, and, of course, keep a watchful eye on the SDCMS budget. Thank you for supporting my candidacy for SDCMS treasurer.
Secretary: Mark W. Sornson, MD (1): It is a privilege to ask for your support as I run for secretary of SDCMS. I have served as at-large director for the past four years, two years as a representative on the Executive Committee, and six times as a CMA delegate or alternate delegate representing San Diego. Previously, I chaired the CMA Young Physicians Section and authored a successful resolution. Through these experiences I have seen firsthand that when a medical society speaks with a unified voice and builds relationships, we can make a difference. Our challenges this upcoming year are especially notable, and major advocacy efforts will be needed. When physicians come together, they are listened to. As secretary, I will continue to be a voice for reasoned discussion, representing all physicians. I’ve greatly enjoyed my service on behalf of SDCMS and CMA, and I am honored to ask for your vote to continue.
GEOGRAPHIC DIRECTORS:
East County #3: Jay P. Mongiardo, MD (Inc.) (3): We live in an exciting time. As a practicing family medicine physician in San Diego’s East County for the last 15 years, it’s been my privilege to care for patients, amidst an esteemed group of colleagues. However, as we all know, change is upon us, and — now more than ever — organized medicine is vital to the future of our vocation, and our united voice is critical as we shape the practice of medicine today and in the future. As your East County representative, I will be dedicated to representing your voice, no matter what your mode of practice. I will work to preserve physicians’ professional autonomy as well as an environment that continues to value the most basic tenet of our profession: the doctor-patient relationship. We are a diverse group of individuals but all dedicated to giving our patients the best care possible. I believe that, above all, we cannot lose that sacred trust, the bond between doctor and patient. We’ve all dedicated our lives to the service and care of others, and, as your representative, I will do all I can to help ensure that patient care remains at the center of all we do. I would be honored to serve as your representative as we face these exciting challenges together.
Kearny Mesa #1: Sergio R. Flores, MD (3): I have served on the SDCMS board for the past three years as a Kearney Mesa alternate director and would like to continue serving on the SDCMS board as a Kearney Mesa geographic director. I was recently elected to the CMA board of directors in 2012 after serving as the chairman of the Large Group Forum for seven years. I was born and raised in San Diego and graduated from SDSU in 1985. I graduated from UCSF School of Medicine in 1989 and trained at UC Irvine in internal medicine and gastroenterology from 1989 to 1994, and was board certified in both. I am in private practice and a partner at San Diego Digestive Disease Consultants since 1998. I have served on the board of Sharp Community Medical Group for the past 15 years and currently serve on the executive committee as the vice president as well as chairman of the finance committee. I also served on the Sharp Healthcare board of directors for seven years and continue to serve on their finance committee. I would like to continue to offer my services to you and SDCMS. Thank You, Sergio Flores, MD
Kearny Mesa #2: John G. Lane, MD (Inc.) (3): (no statement)
La Jolla #2: Marc M. Sedwitz, MD (3): Healthcare in San Diego has historically always been in flux and the first to be challenged in response to the uncertainty that comes with it. Over the last decade, the outstanding leadership and commitment from within our San Diego medical community and SDCMS staff has made our Medical Society both dynamic and progressive. The current assault that has attempted to reduce the influence of our profession by national policies, consumerism, insurers, and malpractice reform leave many of our colleagues frustrated, distracted, and burned out. Only through our medical organizations can we address the shortcomings of the current medical environment. The first challenge ahead of us is understanding organized medicine’s role and responsibility in navigating the transformation of our healthcare system that has presently been produced by the Accountable Care Act and universal coverage. Secondly, the evolving of physician reimbursement issues that come with population-based management (managing risk, independent national board oversight, value-based modifiers, pay for performance, bundling). The final challenge is to create value for our physicians and support their independence and self-determination in the current era. It will be my pleasure to participate and serve our Medical Society in any way possible.
GEOGRAPHIC ALTERNATE DIRECTORS:
Hillcrest #1: Thomas J. Savides, MD (3): (no statement)
La Jolla #1: Lawrence E. Goldberg, MD (Inc.) (3): (no statement)
AT-LARGE DIRECTORS:
#1: Lawrence S. Friedman, MD (3): It is an honor to be considered for the SDCMS board. I have practiced medicine in San Diego for nearly 20 years and have seen many changes over that time, some for the good and some for the not so good. In my current role as interim dean for clinical affairs at UCSD, I represent the clinical faculty of the county's academic medical center. Our integration and collaboration with San Diego County physicians is vitally important to our vision for the coming years. We believe that we bring an important voice to San Diego County medicine and in turn want to be considered an essential resource to physicians and patients working and residing in San Diego. It will be an honor to have a seat on the board.
#5: Stephen R. Hayden, MD (2): For most of my career as faculty in emergency medicine at UC San Diego, I have been involved in national academic affairs. With the landscape changing so quickly in healthcare, I believe it is more important than ever for academic physicians and community physicians to partner and face current challenges in medicine together. I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to SDCMS’s advocacy efforts. I graduated from the accelerated six-year biomedical program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany Medical College. I did a general surgery internship at the San Diego Naval Hospital in 1986, followed by a tour as senior flight surgeon for the Naval Strike Warfare Center NAS Fallon, Nevada. I then completed an emergency medicine residency at the University Medical Center at Stony Brook, New York, where I served as chief resident. I joined the faculty at UC San Diego in 1993, and am board certified in emergency medicine and undersea and hyperbaric medicine. My current position is the associate dean for graduate medical education and DIO after serving for many years as the program director of the UC San Diego Emergency Medicine Residency. I am past president of the national Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors. In 2006 I was selected as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Emergency Medicine. In 2005 I was the recipient of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine’s (AAEM) Residency Director of the Year Award and was recognized in 2005–2007 as one of America’s Top Physicians. In addition, I was fortunate to receive the 1999 American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) National Faculty Teaching Award. I am a primary author / editor for a major textbook in emergency medicine, The Five-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, as well as numerous textbook chapters, peer-reviewed publications, and over a hundred invited national and international speaking engagements. I am married with three children and have a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. I would consider it a privilege to serve the San Diego County Medical Society and its members.
#6: Peter O. Raudaskoski, MD (Inc.) (3): (no statement)
#8: Holly B. Yang, MD (3): I have been a member of the San Diego County Medical Society (SDCMS) since I moved to San Diego eight years ago. Since 2012, I have been happy to represent San Diego physicians as an at-large alternate director and now a director on the board. I am a two-time participant at the California Medical Association House of Delegates, most recently serving on the reference committee that deals with government health programs and health system reform. Being a part of this work has only strengthened my belief that this is a critical time for our patients and our profession. With the current issues facing medicine, physicians must have a voice to protect our patients’ ability to access high-quality healthcare and our ability to provide and direct that care. SDCMS serves us well in that role, and its members have influence at the local, state, and federal levels. SDCMS is also a great resource to physicians of all specialties and practice types in the daily issues we deal with as doctors. Since being elected to the board of directors, I have been deeply impressed by what we can accomplish when we have a diverse group of physicians come together as a team. I am honored to have the opportunity to contribute back to my community and engage with the things that make a difference to our patients and our profession. I ask for your support to continue to serve.
AT-LARGE ALTERNATE DIRECTORS:
text#2: Jeffrey O. Leach, MD (2): As a practicing internist in North County for the past 25 years, I have seen major changes in the practice of medicine. The one constant has been the need for organized medicine to represent and advocate for the practicing physician. I have been fortunate to be on the SDCMS Executive Committee for the past 10 years and the chairman of the San Diego delegation at CMA’s House of Delegates for the past four years. I would be honored to continue to represent the physicians of San Diego.
#5: Wayne C. Sun, MD (3): I have been honored to serve as one of the La Jolla representatives to the San Diego County Medical Society (SDCMS) for the past three terms. During the last six years on the board, I have come to realize how important it is that we all speak with one voice to work towards what is best for San Diego physicians and their patients. Although my immediate concerns as a general internist in private practice may be different from a specialist in academic medicine or a physician in a large-group practice, the changes that are coming to healthcare in the next few years will affect all of us. Therefore, it is essential that we approach these challenges with a united front so that we can all survive and flourish. I believe my role on the board would be to continue to educate physicians in the importance of being a part of organized medicine, and to help make SDCMS an organization that all physicians would like to join. For those reasons, I would be privileged to be able to serve on the board for another term.
#7: Carl A. Powell, DO (Inc.) (3): I have been interested in executive medicine and the legislative process for some time. I have been working on the American College of Physician Executives board certification. I served on the legislative committee of the San Diego chapter of CMA during the last election cycle. I feel we are going into a very critical time for the future of physicians in this country. I believe the American Medical Association on a national level and the California Medical Association on the state level is the leading organization that has to stand up for physicians. The board of directors of the San Diego chapter of the California Medical Association is one step I can take to protect physicians in the state from policies that will result in the destruction of the practice of medicine. Doctors have not done a good job of representing themselves to politicians. I want to do my part to properly represent physicians in Sacramento and in San Diego County. I want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
#8: Marcella M. Wilson, MD (3): My name is Marcella Wilson. I am honored to be a candidate for the SDCMS board of directors. As your candidate, I am committed to addressing physicians’ concerns affected by challenges facing our local and national healthcare policy and issues. I have already been working with these topics with my specialty association, the SDPS, and now hope to do so with the broader medical society. With constant political uncertainties and government changes threatening the welfare of physicians’ autonomy over medical practices, it is critical for all area physicians to not only have a strong focus, but also a unified voice that is truly heard, and then acted upon. I no longer doubt the fact that organizing and uniting physicians is a necessity in preserving our autonomy, our leadership, and our interest concerning the real practice of medicine, not that ascribed to non-physicians. There is a growing need to protect physician independence and maintain the integrity of our medical professions with the respect deserved for the education, money, and years committed, that should not be so easily diluted by just any group who can take a blood pressure measurement being given the right to dole out prescriptions without they themselves going to medical school. Issues such as the “deprofessionalization” of a physician's influence over the medical decision-making process, using appropriate codes, and being justly reimbursed for those codes has been the new war that the insurance companies have used to undercut physician autonomy and cause undo red tape, adding hours of senseless audits to justify their nonpayments. As more insurance companies take advantage of the new healthcare climate, it will be most important that our medical societies have a cohesive base to collect information from physicians, and then have the ability to unite quickly to thwart their takeovers. After 25 years in practice here in San Diego, I understand that it is only by organizing with our societies such as SDCMS that we can have the true power it takes to determine the future of our practices — how we care for our patients, how we prescribe their treatment, including the coding of that treatment, and, ultimately, how we are reimbursed. I do not want to stand idly by and watch everything topple after working so hard for so many years. I am hoping that you feel the same way. Please join me in this endeavor, and support my candidacy with SDCMS. Thank you.
YOUNG PHYSICIAN DIRECTOR:
Edwin S. Chen, MD (Inc.) (1): Healthy and happy physicians take better care of healthy and happy patients. In the dramatically changing healthcare landscape, SDCMS provides a meeting place and a launching platform from which we can advocate for ourselves and our patients. New physicians often find themselves immersed in a healthcare world they never imagined. I have had the honor and privilege of serving as the the young physician director for the past year, and it has been a wonderful experience. As a young physician who recently started a solo practice, I look forward to collaborating with all of you in sharing our knowledge and experience so that we can better advocate for the medical community and the patients that we serve.
YOUNG PHYSICIAN ALTERNATE DIRECTOR:
Daniel D. Klaristenfeld, MD (1): I am honored to be a candidate for the young physician representative to the SDCMS board. As a colon and rectal surgeon just a few years out of fellowship, I felt a need to become part of the conversation taking place in this country about the future of medicine. If doctors do not join together to shape our own future, it will be shaped for us by lawyers and politicians. Specifically, I hope to be a strong voice for the needs of the young physicians in our community. I want to share our perspectives and harsh realities as we continue to learn and become comfortable with our craft, find jobs and negotiate contracts, establish and build practices, balance professional and personal life, struggle with the burden of medical school debt, and find our own voices in the contentious debate over the administration of healthcare in this country. I am excited to be part of the SDCMS board and for the opportunity to forge a stronger, more stable future for myself and my fellow physicians.
RESIDENT PHYSICIAN DIRECTOR:
Jane Bugea, MD (Inc.) (1): (no statement)
RESIDENT PHYSICIAN ALTERNATE DIRECTOR:
Diana C. Gomez, MD (1): I have been involved in organized medicine since early in my medical education. While in medical school at the University of Florida, I served for two years as alternate delegate from UF to the Florida Medical Association. At a more local level, I was an active member of the Alachua County Medical Society and served on the leadership board as a student representative. I was also an active member of the AMA Medical Student Section and served on the Parliamentary Procedure Committee for two years. This involvement at local, state, and national levels gave me a strong foundation and understanding into the steps needed to effect change and influence policy. I hope, as a representative of SDCMS, to work as liaison with medical students and residents. I am particularly interested in incorporating education on policy matters and health economics into standard medical education. By doing so, more young physicians will be informed of and involved in the decisions that affect their practice and patients, and ultimately be better equipped to practice in today's healthcare climate. I am excited by the opportunity to have an impact on the practice of medicine by serving with this organization. Thank you for your support.