Monday Rx: Giving Thanks, Medicine for Masks and Wellness Engagement Groups November 23, 2020 Clear As Mud, COVID-19, Facilitators, los angeles county, medical association, Medicine for Masks, Podcast, Public health, Rapid Response 3.0, Thanksgiving, Wellness Engagement Groups 1306 Giving Thanks To give thanks this week is an understatement. On behalf of the LACMA board of directors, our executive committee, and our partners, thank you! Thank you for everything you do on the behalf of your patients, each and every day. Medicine for Masks This week, the recently formed Southern California Medical Society Presidents Council, led by LACMA president Dr. Diana Shiba, drafted a letter signed by 8 presidents representing Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, and San Diego in support of our public health officers and implore residents to wear masks outside the home to save lives. The campaign called “Medicine for Masks” alerts the public about the importance of wearing masks in public to prevent further loss of life, while also stressing the importance of hand-washing and social distancing. Through this unprecedented regional effort, covering 56,000 square miles and nearly 23 million people, the “Medicine for Masks” effort deploys social media, earned media and the membership and networks of the eight medical societies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as it collides with the annual flu season. The U.S. has the world’s highest number of cases and deaths from the Covid-19 virus, with nearly 11.5 million infections and 250,000 deaths, per data from Johns Hopkins University. A recent study from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects that universal masking could save an additional 130,000 lives through the end of February 2021. The Coalition is also concerned about the potentially devastating impact that a severe annual influenza season could have when combined with rising coronavirus cases, leading to a “twindemic” that risks overwhelming hospitals and PPE supply. Additionally, the coalition recognizes the importance of promoting continued economic recovery and the safe re-opening of schools and supports coordinated economic and public health measures that will facilitate these public goals. View Official Letter Here COVID-19 Rapid Response 3.0 Update As you know, we were going to launch the PPE distribution effort but will table the outreach to members after the holidays in order to make sure we are able to help as many practices as possible. The process will be similar to previous efforts in that physicians will simply fill out a form and we will ship boxes to each practice. LACMA has more than $1.3 million in PPE supplies and we will update members with further details. Dr. Cesar Chavarria Shares His COVID-19 Journey Don’t forget to subscribe, download and listen to Dr. Chavarria's experience dealing with the pandemic. He details his experience as a physician going from practice closure to reinventing the practice of medicine. Visit https://anchor.fm/lacma for more details. The podcast episodes wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of the Patient Care Foundation. If you would like to help medical students in need, visit them here. Facilitators Invited to Apply for Wellness Engagement Groups The California Medical Association’s (CMA) wellness program (CMA Wellness) and LACMA are excited to announce that physician wellness engagement groups are forming in your area. Wellness engagement groups hold monthly discussions to cultivate professional fulfillment and provide support to physician colleagues. Meetings are currently held virtually but will possibly meet in person when public health protocols allow. Groups are led by volunteer physician facilitators, and participants reflect all specialties, practice settings and backgrounds. We invite you to become a physician facilitator to lead a wellness engagement group. The facilitator receives support in the form of training materials and discussion questions. Facilitators are: ■ Willing to complete an application and disclosure form ■ Willing to take on the responsibility of hosting and facilitating a group ■ Passionate about the well-being of colleagues ■ Willing to recruit colleagues to form a group ■ Able to have a neutral voice during group discussions ■ Able to respect confidentiality ■ Great communicators Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for more information. If you are interested in facilitating a group, please complete and submit a facilitator application. We encourage facilitators to recruit a group of 6-8 colleges to form a group. However, it is not required and CMA Wellness and LACMA can assist facilitators with forming groups, as needed. As a facilitator, you choose the day and time to hold the monthly groups. Participant enrollment will open in mid-December. We hope you will consider joining this exciting opportunity and serving as a wellness champion for your colleagues. Please contact Erin Henke directly if you have any questions. Email Erin at ehenke@wellphysicianca.org or call (415) 302-2746. Your Chance to Win PPE! We are raffling off 2 boxes of PPE every 2 weeks until December 31, 2020. There will be 2 winners (every 2 weeks) and each box contains a 2 month supply of PPE valued at nearly $4,500. Eligibility: Individual self-paying members are eligible for this raffle. How to enter: To be eligible for this raffle, simply renew your annual membership online or send in your renewal check in the mail and you will automatically be entered for the raffle drawing during that 2-week time frame. Please note that your name will be entered for only one raffle. Winner Announcement: You will receive an email from Lisa Le informing you that you’ve won. Questions? Email Lisa Le at lisa@lacmanet.org Enter the current raffle now by clicking the renewal link below. Renew Membership #MondayMotivation "Focusing on one thing that you are grateful for increases the energy of gratitude and rises the joy inside yourself." Gustavo Friederichsen Chief Executive Officer Los Angeles County Medical Association “If it matters to our LACMA members, it matters to me.”