VOLUME 32, ISSUE 2

ACTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS
TSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JANUARY 25, 2020

The Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA) has many strong examples of leadership within our own society as well as throughout organized medicine, including within the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). It is a privilege to get to learn so many lessons from those who have come before us and taken the lead in support of our specialty. Our current TSA President, Dr. Bhaskar Padakandla, has done a great job leading our society and will soon pass the torch to another experienced leader, Dr. Amr Abouleish, who is well equipped to lead our society during an important Texas legislative year. Many of you saw that our dynamic and well-spoken TSA Past President, Dr. Ray Callas, was recently installed as the President of the Texas Medical Association (TMA). He becomes only the third anesthesiologist to serve in that capacity since the inception of the TMA (Dr. Valington Fontain Borum was the first 1988-1989, followed by Betty Pearce Stephenson 1994-1995, both of whom are TSA Past Presidents!).

  1. Recognized Clayton Devin, Bonnie Bruce, Chris Bacak and the entire TSA staff for all they do for the Society.
  2. Introduced Mr. Craig Chick the new TSA Legislative Consultant.
  3. Accepted Dr. James Arens’ offer to develop options for a memorial in honor of Dr. Catherine L. Scholl.
  4. Approved motion to offer financial support annually to one TSA resident member from each Texas residency program to attend the ASA Legislative Conference.
  5. Approved an additional $10,000 for support of the residents to the ASA Legislative Conference.
  6. Noted that when tagging the TSA on social media posts or when asking TSA staff to distribute links, the posts and/or links should focus on anesthesia only.
  7. Appointed Milan K. Sheth, MD to the office of Delegate, Place 5 in District 8.
  8. Appointed Sandra J. Alexander, MD to the office of Alternate Delegate, Place 5 in District 8.
  9. Announced that Frank A. Rosinia, MD is the new Chair at UT-San Antonio.
  10. Accepted Dr. Charles Cowles’ offer to report to the ASA Equipment and Facilities Board any concerns members may have regarding equipment issues.
  11. Recognized Dr. Chris Miller for his organization of the Transition to Practice Program.
  12. Recognized Dr. Stacy Norrell for leading the Ad-Hoc Committee on Childcare.
  13. Approved motion to budget $8,000 for childcare at the TSA annual meeting and to allow Drs. Stacy Norrell and Katherine Hagan and Clayton Devin to address any legal concerns that may impact the TSA, to finalize all logistics including the member cost, and to submit a report to the Board by April 1, 2020.
  14. Expressed gratitude to the Board for approving health insurance for the TSA office staff. The health insurance benefit took effect on January 1, 2020.
  15. Noted that speakers who failed to respond timely to last year’s Annual Meeting deadlines will not be invited back to speak.
  16. Tasked the Education Committee with monitoring workshop attendance in 2020 and creating a proposal for moving forward that will prevent no-shows from occurring.
  17. Requested that the Meeting Committee address the issue of members attending the Annual Meeting without completing the registration process.
  18. Announced that the Governmental Affairs Committee has opted to direct members to the Texas Department of Insurance’s website for information regarding SB1264.
  19. Encouraged members who are aware of anyone promoting independent practice by CRNAs in Texas to contact the Texas Medical Board. The Attorney General’s Opinion No. KP-0266, dated September 5, 2019, states that “A certified registered nurse anesthetist does not possess independent authority to administer anesthesia without delegation by a physician”.
  20. Confirmed that the Governmental Affairs Committee is prepared to present TSA issues to legislators during the interim.
  21. Announced that members of the TSA will receive a 20% discount for FAIR Health data packages.
  22. Informed the members that the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Wednesday Night Leadership Dinner will forward a recommendation electronically to the Board for consideration.
  23. Announced that Dr. Joy Hawkins from Colorado will present the Betty P. Stephenson Lectureship at this year’s annual meeting.
  24. Expressed gratitude to members who delivered TSAPAC checks.
  25. Approved a 2.3% cost of living increase for all TSA staff back dated to January 1, 2020

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