CVMS Board Minutes
July 15, 2024

CVMS BOARD MEETING - Revised

MONDAY, 7/15/24, 7 PM

ZOOM

Present:  Drs. Warth, Blackman, Archer, Barr, K. Berger, A. Berger and Jim Beckner.

Absent:  None.

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. 

Finance Report:  Dues renewal is coming up in the fall.  Be thinking about any changes that need to take place. 

Membership Meeting, 9/18/24:  Discussion was held about the best day to hold membership meetings.  Currently the next meeting is Wednesday, 9/18/24, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.  Some felt that the meeting day should be changed to a Friday.  Also, some kind of music is needed to make the event special and inviting.  The meeting should be social only except for a brief welcome and announcements.  There will be handouts with information concerning the Foundation along with a Call for Volunteers.  Alex Berger volunteered to contact Dr. Joseph Koen for his advice on the best night he thinks would work well for many physicians for a membership meeting in the Chesapeake area.   

Dr. Barr suggested we focus on one group at a time, such as medical school residents with a meeting just for them.  Could Chesapeake General co-host a party?  The Medical Staff Office may be a place to start.  Dr. Barr will follow up on this.

Personal outreach is important and could be used to invite physicians to attend our meetings.  It was asked that each Board member contact 3 physicians to provide information about the meetings and invite them to attend.  Dr. Blackman felt we should advertise more about CVMS and explore reasons that might entice physicians to join. 

CME Conference, 11/2/24:  Plans are being made for 4 speakers from 8:00 – 12:00 noon (Dr. Blackman, Dr. D. Talreja, Dr. LaRocque and possibly Dr. Gewanter).  Honorariums of $1,000 each are being offered.  There will be tables for Northwestern, Centerwell and others as vendors, $200 per table.  The budget for the meeting is $8,000 ($4,000 for speakers, $2,500 for CME certification and $1,500 for room and refreshments) at Princess Anne Country Club.  For marketing, flyers, emails and posters should be used. Cost to attend will be $160 for members and $200 for non-members. 

Growing CVMS Membership:  It was suggested that we try to obtain TPMG physicians’ email addresses so that we can market membership to them.  Keith Berger will check with his contact at TPMG to find out if these email addresses can be obtained or if there is some other way to reach TPMG physicians.  Also, would TPMG physicians be able to join CVMS with the dues paid by TPMG as a benefit?  It was noted it is very important to get younger physicians involved in CVMS to carry the torch into the future.  Dr. Mark Winters would be a great contact for us with TPMG as well.

We need to nurture the relationship with TPMG physicians.  TPMG is based in Newport News but has an ever-expanding presence on the Southside.  Dr. Barr would be happy to help in getting TPMG physicians involved. 

Mr. Beckner noted that physicians’ needs tend to evolve as time goes on and differ from those physicians who are more seasoned and retired.

Dr. K. Berger will get a marketing consult from someone he knows, perhaps gratis.  He will pursue this and report back. 

Other Ideas: 

--Public service announcements and TV and radio spots. 

--Can we reach the physicians by going through the various office managers (create an Office Manager’s group?)  The managers could be a great conduit to reaching the physicians and exploring their wants and needs.

Associate Membership:  Discussion was held about how to handle Associate members for CVMS.  It was decided that at this time membership will be MDs, DOs and PhD individuals.  As CVMS becomes larger, the idea of offering membership to other entities such as nurse practitioners, PAs and other classes of healthcare professions will be considered. 

Advocacy Report:

Delegates Meeting, 8/8/24, Olive Garden in Chesapeake at 6:00 p.m.  All CVMS delegates are asked to attend this meeting. 

Dr. K. Berger reported that he and Dr. Eppes met.  The COPN proposal and the psychiatric issues did not progress at all which was disappointing.  Long-term care facilities and hospitals are blocking any changes.  A recent op-ed in the Virginian-Pilot by Bruce Holbrook and Dr. Armistead Williams regarding the physician shortage and lack of adequate help on this from Sentara was informative.  They wrote about Sentara not really providing community service to the local area.  They are currently spending tens of millions of dollars setting up shop in other areas.  That money could be better used to improve healthcare here locally. One recommendation mentioned in the newspaper article would be for Sentara to pay off the medical school debt for any physician that would agree to remain in the local area for 5-7 years after completion of their training. Regarding the COPN issue, Dr. Berger indicated we should speak with Mr. Matt Mitchell, who is an expert on COPN, for advice.

A suggestion was made to send a survey out to local physicians regarding advocacy topics important to them. 

MSV Annual Meeting:  In Norfolk at the Main, 10/17-10/20/24.  All proposals from across the state will be issued for review by delegates about 3 weeks prior to the annual meeting.  Dr. LaRoque will advocate against mandatory MRNA vaccines.  CVMS delegates will present on 3 proposals. 

Corporate Partner Outreach:  Diane Warth, Executive Director to work on this.

CVMS Foundation:  Need an Executive Director and volunteers to start fundraising events.

Articles for Newsletter: More articles are needed for the CVMS newsletter. 

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Diane Warth

Executive Director, CVMS

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Newsletter

Stay up to date on issues and news you need to know. The CVMS Bulletin is published monthly and will list concerns that local physicians have expressed about healthcare in Coastal Virginia and how we can make it better. We will provide potential solutions and let you know what is happening behind the scenes to help solve these problems. Membership is not currently required to receive the newsletter.