President's Message, April 2022
Trude Haecker, MD, FAAP
April: Recharge, Reflect, Recommit
We have reached the end of April and I find myself asking; where has the month gone? Despite the slowdown in the pandemic, time continues to fly by. I hope you had some time to recharge with the recent holidays or a spring break vacation. I want to pause briefly to reflect on all the work that has been done; we have been singularly focused, without much relief, on an ever-evolving wave of COVID variants, and I want to acknowledge all the work we’ve done at the Chapter--from resource and training development to community engagement and coalition building. PA AAP leaders and staff have facilitated invaluable connections at the state level and with the national AAP. It takes a community to secure such impact. As a PA AAP member, you are an invaluable contributor to this work and advocate within our community.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Ambulatory Pediatric Association sessions at the Pediatric Academic Society’s annual meeting. What a thrill it was to be in-person and see so many colleagues from across the nation, the state and even Philadelphia and my own institution. Isn’t it ironic that we have to travel, in this instance to Denver, Colorado, to see one another? While quite hectic, it was so terrific to hear about how the rest of the nation has been dealing with the pandemic and its many effects on children, families, caregivers, teachers, residents and faculty. I was very focused on the sessions on early literacy in primary care. As many of you know, I am a Reach Out and Read (ROR) advocate and it was nice to see that reading has been such a comfort and resiliency tool for families during the pandemic.
On a local advocacy level, it was just announced that President Biden appointed Dr. Ala Stanford, the Philadelphia-based physician and health equity champion who founded the nationally-acclaimed Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium during the earliest days of the pandemic, as Region 3 Director for the DHHS, serving PA. DE. MD. VA. WV and DC. What a terrific choice! To quote: “These regional appointees will be critical to the President’s efforts to rebuild communities most impacted by the pandemic, the economic recovery, and climate change,” the White House said in its announcement.
Our upcoming State Advocacy Day provides an excellent opportunity to participate in the work of the Chapter. Scheduled for June 8, from 9:00am-3:00pm, Advocacy Day will give members a chance to engage and visit with our legislators at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. PA AAP’s annual State Advocacy Day will focus on three key areas: (1) prior authorization reform, (2) early childhood education and (3) the imminent Medicaid redetermination process as the public health emergency ends. More details on these issues and our related asks can be found below. I encourage you to register to join us and connect with colleagues and legislators on critical issues impacting your practice and the health of your patients. Participation is free of charge, and the Chapter will be covering travel expenses, i.e. milage, parking and tolls, for all resident participants. Registration can be found here.
If you are looking to get more involved in the PA AAP, there are many ways to do so, including joining a Committee, see here for details. Please consider running for a position on the PA AAP Board of Directors. See below for additional details and open positions. Elections will be held in late May. Results will be announced in June, and the term begins on July 1. Details on the regions can be found here while information on the responsibilities of the positions will be shared by PA AAP staff shortly.
On behalf of myself, the PA AAP leadership, and staff, thank you! The work you do every day ensures that children grow and thrive. Please let me or Annette Myarick know if we can be of support to you or your colleagues on any practice matters. We can be reached at haecker@chop.edu and amyarick@paaap.org.
Sincerely,
We have reached the end of April and I find myself asking; where has the month gone? Despite the slowdown in the pandemic, time continues to fly by. I hope you had some time to recharge with the recent holidays or a spring break vacation. I want to pause briefly to reflect on all the work that has been done; we have been singularly focused, without much relief, on an ever-evolving wave of COVID variants, and I want to acknowledge all the work we’ve done at the Chapter--from resource and training development to community engagement and coalition building. PA AAP leaders and staff have facilitated invaluable connections at the state level and with the national AAP. It takes a community to secure such impact. As a PA AAP member, you are an invaluable contributor to this work and advocate within our community.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Ambulatory Pediatric Association sessions at the Pediatric Academic Society’s annual meeting. What a thrill it was to be in-person and see so many colleagues from across the nation, the state and even Philadelphia and my own institution. Isn’t it ironic that we have to travel, in this instance to Denver, Colorado, to see one another? While quite hectic, it was so terrific to hear about how the rest of the nation has been dealing with the pandemic and its many effects on children, families, caregivers, teachers, residents and faculty. I was very focused on the sessions on early literacy in primary care. As many of you know, I am a Reach Out and Read (ROR) advocate and it was nice to see that reading has been such a comfort and resiliency tool for families during the pandemic.
On a local advocacy level, it was just announced that President Biden appointed Dr. Ala Stanford, the Philadelphia-based physician and health equity champion who founded the nationally-acclaimed Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium during the earliest days of the pandemic, as Region 3 Director for the DHHS, serving PA. DE. MD. VA. WV and DC. What a terrific choice! To quote: “These regional appointees will be critical to the President’s efforts to rebuild communities most impacted by the pandemic, the economic recovery, and climate change,” the White House said in its announcement.
Our upcoming State Advocacy Day provides an excellent opportunity to participate in the work of the Chapter. Scheduled for June 8, from 9:00am-3:00pm, Advocacy Day will give members a chance to engage and visit with our legislators at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. PA AAP’s annual State Advocacy Day will focus on three key areas: (1) prior authorization reform, (2) early childhood education and (3) the imminent Medicaid redetermination process as the public health emergency ends. More details on these issues and our related asks can be found below. I encourage you to register to join us and connect with colleagues and legislators on critical issues impacting your practice and the health of your patients. Participation is free of charge, and the Chapter will be covering travel expenses, i.e. milage, parking and tolls, for all resident participants. Registration can be found here.
If you are looking to get more involved in the PA AAP, there are many ways to do so, including joining a Committee, see here for details. Please consider running for a position on the PA AAP Board of Directors. See below for additional details and open positions. Elections will be held in late May. Results will be announced in June, and the term begins on July 1. Details on the regions can be found here while information on the responsibilities of the positions will be shared by PA AAP staff shortly.
On behalf of myself, the PA AAP leadership, and staff, thank you! The work you do every day ensures that children grow and thrive. Please let me or Annette Myarick know if we can be of support to you or your colleagues on any practice matters. We can be reached at haecker@chop.edu and amyarick@paaap.org.
Sincerely,
