TO: COPP Members

Nov.11, 2022

Greetings!

1. Three new members were voted to membership of COPP: Drs. Ed Gamboa who is currently Chairman, Membership Committee, Aimee Mabini and Jay Seldera.
2. The Commemorative  Book and Golden Anniversary Journal is available by contacting the office of the Executive Director, Dr. Daniel Fabito. The book and Journal were well received by the attendees of the Golden Anniversary celebration held in Las Vegas, Nevada recently. Those who attended the dinner received their copies for free as previously mentioned. Those who wish to receive their copy by mail are requested to send a tax deductible donation of $75.00 or more to SPSA to cover expenses related to the printing of the book, mailing and in support of the Humanitarian projects of our Society.
3. Books will be delivered to various Institutions in the Philippines and in this country per recommendations of Dr. Philip Chua. Members of COPP visiting the Philippines during the next two months have been requested to make these errands.
4. The SPSA-PCS SURE Commission Rural Surgery Outreach Program will most likely launch it’s pilot program early this year. A general surgeon and Anesthesiologist has been interviewed virtually with my participation representing our Society to serve for three months in a newly constructed public Hospital in the Province of Sorsogon. Should the pilot program prove successful, partnerships with other Filipino-American organizations based in this country and Canada will be invited to join the SPSA- PCS Sure Commission Rural Surgery Outreach program, details of which will be laid out.
5. An Ad Hoc Committee to serve as an oversight for the program has added two new members: Drs. Ed Barcelona and Ed Gamboa beside myself and Dr. Honorio Cruz.

As I have previously suggested, my goal during the next few months is to get a sense of how we should proceed in order to keep our Society going for its next era: SPSA, 2.0. We currently have the Annual Surgical Mission to the Philippines led by Ed Barcelona who is currently actively preparing for next year and beyond and a potential partnership program with the PCS Sure Commission Rural Surgery Outreach program. If we decide to continue with the status quo, then there is nothing more to be done. On the other hand, if we attempt to develop other programs that will attract the younger generation of practicing Filipino-American and Filipino-Canadian Surgeons to join our Society by virtue of programs relevant to their respective practices, then we must re-structure the leadership of our Society, transitioning to a younger set of leaders. For example, the American College of Surgeons sent out a clarion call to its membership to support its effort in preventing a 4% cut in Medicare reimbursement for surgical services. This will have a negative impact on Surgeons practices and we (SPSA) as a Society should be a strong advocate to support the ACS efforts by contacting our respective Congressional delegates. We must remember that the healthcare workforce in this country is 20 – 25% International Medical Graduates. Another issue is the disparity in the delivery of health care in this country. As a current recipient of Medicare, I am firmly convinced that Medicare for all should be the norm. Without Medicare, it would have been extremely difficult for me to afford all the health services I have received in the past few years.  Efforts like this through a new SPSA leadership of active practitioners will gain the attention of the younger generation of our colleagues.

I welcome all of you to participate in this discussion so that we can develop a consensus of how we should proceed in our effort to launch SPSA 2.0

Thank you,

Hernan