September 29, 2011 — The American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) House of Delegates (HOD) met recently in Portland, Ore., to elect new leadership, approve new policies, and set the course of the association for the next year.
Delegates focused their energy on how the chiropractic profession can seize new opportunities that healthcare reform implementation will bring in the next several years.
Members of the HOD elected a new president, Keith Overland, DC, of Norwalk, Conn., to lead the association during this pivotal period. Overland brings a wealth of political experience to the position, having served previously as ACA vice president and as chair of the ACA’s Political Action Committee.
In his home state, he served as co-chair of the Connecticut Governors Committee on Physical Fitness, a member of Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s (I-Conn.) Health Care Task Force and a member of Rep. Christopher Shays’ (R-Conn.) Task Force on Human Services. Overland has also made a name for himself in sports chiropractic, having worked with the New York Mets, the United State Speed Skating team, the United States Olympic Training Center, The World Games in Taiwan, and countless other state and local teams.
In his first remarks as president of the association, Overland called for continued efforts to unite the profession and urged HOD members to “recommit with passion and enthusiasm to ACA.” He stressed that “failure is not an option for this team.”
Joining Overland on the association’s Executive Committee are Vice President Anthony Hamm, DC, of Goldsboro, N.C., and Chairman of the Board of Governors Robert Mastronardi, DC, of Warwick, R.I.
Other leaders elected to the association’s Board of Governors (BOG) include:
- David Herd, DC, of Geneva, N.Y., Council of Delegates (COD) president; Upstate New York delegate
- Cynthia Vaughn, DC, of Austin, Texas, COD vice president; East Texas delegate
- Robert Tennant, DC, of Shirley, Ind., District 3 governor
- Kelli K. Pearson, DC, of Spokane Valley, Wash., District 1 governor
- Continuing on the BOG are:
- Rick McMichael, DC, of Canton, Ohio, immediate past president
- F. Dow Bates, DC, of Des Moines, Iowa, District 2 governor
- Robert Mastronardi, DC, of of Warwick, R.I., District 4 governor
- John McGinnis, DC, of Sumter, S.C., District 5 governor
- Michael Simone, DC, of Dacono, Colo., District 6 governor
- Joseph Morelli, DC, of Waipahu, Hawaii, District 7 governor
In Council of Delegates elections, Herd and Vaughn were elected as president and vice president respectively, and Dr. Michele Maiers, of Minneapolis, Minn., was elected secretary.
Approved resolutions
The HOD also approved several important policies, many supporting ACA’s efforts to position DCs as conservative primary care doctors who can help fill the looming primary care workforce gap. Among them:
- “Chiropractic Physicians Training as Primary Care Physicians.” The ACA policy informs the healthcare consuming public, policy makers, and payers of the fact that chiropractic physicians are well-trained, portal of entry physicians currently providing primary care services.
- “ACA Support for Antidiscrimination Language in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).” Expanding on the anti-discrimination provision (Section 2706) included in the healthcare reform law, the ACA policy lists four specific examples of discriminatory practices that could be harmful to public health by restricting access to chiropractic care.
- “Position on AMA’s Discriminatory Resolutions and Practices.” The policy opposes attempts by the American Medical Association to limit the use of the titles doctor, resident, and residency to physicians licensed to practice medicine, podiatrists, and dentists.
- “ACA Support of the APHA Chiropractic Section 2010 Policy Statement on Musculoskeletal Disorders as a Public Health Concern.” The ACA policy supports the American Public Health Association’s Chiropractic Section policy stating that musculoskeletal disorders are a public health concern.
- “Scope of Practice.” The policy states, “It is the ACA’s position that the scope of practice of chiropractic physicians and post-doctoral chiropractic specialties should be determined by the education and training provided within CCE accredited institutions and/or the education and training provided through post-graduate/post-doctoral courses and specialties. The ACA encourages individual states and U.S. Territories to establish uniform scopes of practice commensurate with contemporary education and training.”
All of ACA’s current policies are available online.
Primary Care Clinical Symposium
ACA, the Oregon Chiropractic Association (OCA) and the University of Western States (UWS) partnered to present the Primary Care Clinical Symposium immediately following the HOD meeting. DCs from a number of states earned eight continuing education units while learning from leaders in the chiropractic profession.
Featured topics included: functional gastrointestinal diagnosis and treatment, head injuries/concussions, otitis media in the chiropractic patient, emergency management, health coaching and wellness promotion, common issues in women’s health, conservative care of irritable bowel syndrome, conservative management of diabetic and peripheral neuropathy, and hypertension.
For photos from the events in Portland, Ore., visit www.flickr.com/acatoday.
Source: American Chiropractic Association, www.acatoday.org
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