The Surgical Scene


Official Newsletter  of  the  Virginia  Chapter  ACS Spring 2011


www.virginiaacs.org President’s Report Craig S. Derkay, MD, FACS President, Virginia Chapter-ACS


Virginia’s Surgeons continue to be challenged by the economic climate and the policies of our state and federal government. Your ACS chapter has been coordinating efforts with the Medical Society of Virginia and the American College of


Surgeons to stay ahead of the issues and to advocate for patients and physicians in the Commonwealth. In the past several months we have supported medical liability reform stabilizing Virginia’s Medical Malpractice cap for the next 20 years as well as legislation that protects peer review and quality assurance documents from discovery. We anticipated that the Governor would sign HB1459 and SB771, which received overwhelming support in the General Assembly in the


White Coats on Call


The Virginia Chapter participated in its first White Coats on Call day in conjunction with the Medical Society of Virginia (MSV) on Wednesday February 9th in Richmond. Although it was not specifically planned this way, our day coincided with the portion of the Session where the House and Senate exchange bills. This resulted in few committee meetings the morning we visited and more time for us to sit down face-to-face with our Senators and Delegates. We had particu- larly useful sessions with Senators Ralph Northam, Jeffrey McWaters and Ralph Smith as well as Delegates Greg Habeeb and Manoli Loupassi. Our morning ended with our delegation being formally recognized by the Senate at the beginning of their afternoon session.


Grant from the American College of Surgeons to offset the expenses of the event. The Virginia Chapter was awarded a “Day at the Capitol” Chapter Advocacy Grant from the American College of Surgeons to offset the expenses of the event. We are grateful for the assistance of Amy Hewitt Assistant Director of Political Advocacy at the Medical Society of Virginia for the planning and implementation of the event. The Chapter was also fortunate to have Alexis Macias Regional State Affairs Associate at the American College of Surgeons join us for the day. The Chapter’s White Coat Day will be featured in the April MSV Newsletter.


coming days, and were dismayed that, despite the support of the medical society, trial lawyers, state hospital and healthcare associations, he vetoed it on the grounds that it would add costs to the system without offering offsets. As physicians residing in a state that already ranks 49th out of 50 in Medicaid reimburse- ments to providers we felt additionally challenged by a 4% cut scheduled to go into effect in July and worked successfully to convince the House of Delegates to put this … continued on page 2


Join us!


2011 Annual Meeting May 13—15, 2011


Inside this issue: President’s Report 1 White Coats on Call 1


Membership Recruitment Campaign


2011 Leadership Conference & Fourth Annual


Joint Surgical Advocacy Conference


Rural Surgery Committee Update: Is Bigger Better?


5 Humanitarian Award Recipients 7


ACS Rural Surgery Symposium and Skills Course


8 2 Annual Meeting Update 3 3


The Virginia Chapter was awarded a


“Day at the Capitol” Chapter Advocacy Grant


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