VOLUME 30, ISSUE 1

ACTIONS OF THE BOARD

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
TSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

  1. Recognized Mr. Gerardo Trejo, Texas Society of Anesthesia Technologists and Technicians (TSATT) President.
  2. Recognized Charles E. Cowles, Jr., MD for organizing the TSATT breakout.
  3. Approved the minutes of the May 7, 2017 TSA Board of Directors Meeting as written.
  4. Continued sponsorship of $1000 each to three Texas anesthesia programs, to send residents to the ASA 2018 Practice Management Conference. The three programs will be Baylor College of Medicine, UTHSC-McGovern Medical School and UT-Southwestern.
  5. Recognized Drs. Brian Boies (UT-San Antonio), Ifeyinwa Ifeanyi-Pillette (UT MD Anderson), Michael Kim (Tejas Anesthesia-San Antonio), Shaina Sheppard (UTHSC- McGovern Medical School) and January Tsai (UT MD Anderson) for being selected to participate in the TMA Leadership College Class of 2018. TSA is the sponsoring organization for Drs. Kim and Tsai.
  6. Recognized Dr. Debbie Plagenhoef as the Chair of the Ad-Hoc Committee to Coordinate TSA Professional Liaisons to External Organizations.
  7. Addressed Resolution No. 1-Disaster Relief Aid approved by the TSA House as follows:
    • Recommendation No. 1 that the TSA provide individuals affected by hurricane Harvey an option to receive a dues credit for the 2018 dues cycle. Chris Bacak was charged with handling the logistics.
    • Recommendation No. 2 that the TSA establish a $200 grant available to resident members who were impacted by hurricane Harvey. The grant award will be decided by the committee established by the President or designee and the grant will be awarded based on need. Appointed Drs. Amr E. Abouleish-Chair, Sam D. Gumbert, Mark J. Harbott, S. Lynn Knox, Mary Dale Peterson, Thomas H. Swygert and George W. Williams to the Ad-Hoc Committee on Resident Disaster Relief Aid. Approved motion that the ad-hoc committee construct a communication to TSA members providing them an opportunity to contribute to the Anesthesia Foundation on behalf of anesthesiologist residents that have been economically impacted by hurricane Harvey, that the TSA Executive Leadership work with the Anesthesia Foundation to confirm the funds are appropriately allocated and furthermore, that the ad-hoc committee develop, in line with the Anesthesia Foundation, a communication for the residents explaining the procedure for applying for assistance.
    • Recommendation No 3 that the TSA President appoint an ad-hoc committee to explore charitable efforts of the TSA to its members and report back to the president the type(s) of support desired (if any) and the fiscal impact to the organization. Additionally, the committee will report if such efforts conflict with the bylaws, mission statement and charter of the TSA. Dr. Joshi noted that this ad-hoc committee will be appointed following the conclusion of the meeting.
  8. Approved motion that the TSA discontinue future use of a mobile app.
  9. Tabled discussion regarding the increase of prize money for the Cheers for Research Competition until the January 2018 Board of Directors Meeting.
  10. Announced that members are able to self-nominate for appointments to ASA Committees and anyone interested in serving on a committee should notify Dr. Scott Kercheville or Chris Bacak.
  11. Approved motion that upon completion of the TSA White Paper delineating the difference between providing an anesthetic vs. the medical act of an anesthetic, the TSA Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) will develop a resolution to the ASA regarding a formal definition.
  12. Informed members that Anesthesiologists Days at the Capitol are scheduled for February 25-26, 2018. CPR Training at the Capitol will be February 26, 2018.
  13. Announced that the next annual Texas Public Policy Foundation Orientation meeting is scheduled for February 7-9, 2018.
  14. Charged the GAC and Communication Committees with exploring the logistics of establishing a Robo-Dialer system that includes the following: fiscal impact, all possible conflicts, maintenance, the person responsible for approving the implementation of calls, a text vs. call method, and reporting back to the Board in January.
  15. Approved motion to create an award recognizing outstanding Key Contacts.
  16. Recognized and applauded Dr. Scott Meril for donating artwork to the TSA to benefit the Cheers for Research Fund.
  17. Received a request to have the Betty P. Stephenson lectures posted to the TSA website and to have the TSA district names more prominently displayed.
  18. Accepted the Finance Advisory Committee’s advice to maintain the purpose of the TSA reserve account to be a strategic reserve and not a funding line item in the budget.
  19. Recognized and applauded Bonnie Bruce, Ashlee Quick and all member volunteers for manning the PAC booth during the annual meeting.
  20. Charged the ASA Alternate Director with the responsibility of organizing the ASA PAC traveling booth at future TSA annual meetings.
  21. Recognized and applauded Chris Bacak for coming in under budget on the digitizing of the office files project and her overall assistance throughout the year.
  22. Announced that Peni Sanjoto, MD has been appointed as the interim chair of the TSA Resident Component.
  23. Charged the Administrative Affairs Committee, Communications Committee and Chris Bacak with reviewing social media coverage during the TSA Annual Meetings.
  24. Informed the members that there were 557 attendees at this year’s meeting.
  25. Requested that members of the Board forward suggestions on improving traffic in the exhibit hall to Dr. Vijay Gottumukkala via Chris Bacak.
  26. Charged Bonnie Bruce with reviewing the benefits of serving refreshments at the TSAPAC booth.
  27. Charged Drs. Evan Pivalizza and John Scott with reviewing the information, providing guidance and a plan for moving forward to the Board in January. In addition, this line item needs to be reviewed annually not only for the financial aspect but the appropriateness as well.
  28. Charged Dr. Evan Pivalizza with reviewing and determining which budget line items should be separated from the annual meeting budget.
  29. Approved motion to schedule the first 2018 Board meeting in Austin on January 28th.
  30. Charged the Judicial Committee with exploring the possibility of developing a conflict of interest statement for Board, House, and Committee Members, as well as consultants and other contract hires of the TSA (modeled after the ASA COI) and with exploring a mechanism to address COI complaints. The Committee will report back to the Board in January.
  31. Informed the members that the TSA Bylaws will be followed and the Executive Committee will appoint the Vice-Speaker. An email will be sent to the membership asking interested members to submit their curriculum vitae and their reasons for wanting to serve. Training will not be a requirement.

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