2018 WA-ACEP Summit to Sound
Save the meeting date!
May 31-June 1, 2018
Seattle, WA
Save the meeting date!
May 31-June 1, 2018
Seattle, WA
WA-ACEP leaders attended the ACEP Leadership and Advocacy Conference in March 2017. Physicians met with the Washington Congressional delegation. Above, WA-ACEP met with Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Below: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers with WA-ACEP leaders.
WA-ACEP Past President John Matheson, MD, FACEP, Emergency Department Chair and Medical Director of Kadlec Regional Medical Center, set the alarm to be at KNDU studios bright and early Feb. 1 to educate the station’s viewers on influenza, when to use the ER and vaccination. Watch his interview.
WA-ACEP President Nathan Schlicher, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP, and WA-ACEP Secretary-Treasurer Liam Yore, MD, FACEP testified before the House Health Care and Wellness Committee Jan. 18 on Surprise/Balanced Billing. Schlicher and Yore said HB 1117 would create a deflationary spiral, underfunding Emergency Departments and increasing crowding and wait times.
Dear Members,
Please let me first thank you for the amazing care that you and your teams are delivering in this time of unprecedented capacity and throughput challenges. I have heard from many of you of the disaster capacity plans you are engaging in, the near misses in your lobbies, and the stress your staff is under everyday in this flu pandemic. It is an honor to represent you in these times of challenge.
Washington ACEP has been attempting to advocate on the statewide level for solutions. In effort to ease capacity concerns at EDs in parts of the state, the WA-ACEP Board of Directors is advocating for statewide solutions and resources at multiple levels. WA-ACEP representatives have been in contact with the Department of Health (DOH), the Health Care Authority (HCA), the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), Chief Medical Officers, as well as the Northwest Health Care Network, among others. All are concerned about capacity and looking for ideas.
The findings as of Jan. 12 are:
What you can do:
These are challenging times. But we are emergency medicine. When the rest of the house of medicine falls, we rise. Out of this crisis, let us see this as a shared opportunity and forge out of this crucible a resolve to stop diversion and address systemic crowding.
Thank you for your continued perseverance. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I or we can be of further help.
Best,
Nathan Schlicher, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP
WA-ACEP President