In 2008, Wanda Sweatt, a school cafeteria worker, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. She was working, paying her bills, and getting by, but she didn’t have health insurance. Today, she’s cancer free. She credits Project Access, one of the key services of the Chattanooga Medical Society, with saving her life.
Through Project Access, members of the Medical Society provide charity health care to low-income, uninsured residents. Since the creation of the program in 2004, its physicians have treated over 7,200 individuals.
“It’s a big clinic without walls,” says Rae Young Bond, executive director of the Medical Society.
The professional organization has been committed to building a healthier community for more than 100 years.
“A lot of the early focus of the Medical Society was on the presentation of papers and furthering the knowledge of its physicians. Medical education 130 years ago was quite different than it is today,” Bond says.
Through the decades, member physicians have consistently been at the forefront of improving the health of local residents. Early in the 20th century, they were involved in addressing urgent public health issues such as epidemics. Later, they led the charge in promoting vaccinations for diseases such as polio. And they were an integral part of the movement to form the Department of Health in the State of Tennessee.
Today, the Medical Soc-iety also serves as an advocate for its 620 member physicians. For example, the organization’s Governmental Affairs Committee and delegates to the Tennessee and American Medical Societies monitor legislation and regulatory activity in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., and advocate for the interests of physicians and their patients.
Members also go to the state capitol for “A Day in Nashville,” where they meet with members of the Hamilton County delegation and learn more about the legislative process.
“When you’re a doctor, you diagnose and then treat a problem. You take a scientific approach. The legislative process is nothing like that, so it’s always an eye-opening experience for our physicians,” Bond says.
In addition to building a healthier community and advocating for physicians, the Medical Society offers grievance resolution, provides medical personnel services, publishes a membership directory, manages a physician referral service, and engages in community advocacy.
Through its grievance committee, the Medical Society helps patients and member physicians resolve misunderstandings, communication difficulties and fee disputes. The process helps to ensure physicians-patient relationships adhere to the highest ethical standards. A Judicial Council addresses peer disputes.
The Medical Society also provides temporary and permanent medical personnel. Staff members at the organization take care of the paperwork, and Medical Society members receive discounted rates.
The annual Medical Society membership directory is a vital tool for physician referrals. Bond says it’s the area’s leading source for physician information, as hospitals, health care practices and other medical professionals use more than 2,000 copies of the pictorial index. Only members are listed and receive referrals from those who use the directory.
The Medical Society’s on-line physician referral service provides hundreds of referrals each year in a variety of specialties. It’s free to members and the public.
“Patients can visit our Web site at www.chattmedsoc.org, and if they’re looking for a gynecologist, then they can look at the backgrounds of local physicians through links on our page,” Bond says.
In addition, the Medical Society continually monitors issues of public concern in an effort to improve the quality of life in Chattanooga. The organization uses letters to the editor, guest spots on TV and radio talk shows, magazine articles and other venues to address important issues.
The Medical Society has a full agenda that keeps its staff busy throughout the year. For example, the organization is currently gearing up for its annual Youth Leadership forum, scheduled to take place in June. Developed to encourage young people to consider careers in medicine, the week-long program gives participants an opportunity to learn about different health care specialties.
“Students spend half of each day in didactic sessions learning about what it’s really like in an ER, for example. During the other half of the day, they shadow different physicians during surgeries or office visits,” Bond says.
All rising juniors and seniors who reside in Chattanooga can be nominated to participate. Bond says students are always thrilled to see what the practice of medicine is actually like, but stresses there’s a serious purpose behind the program: “We’re concerned about future shortages of health care professionals.”
With its long history of working to improve health in the community and the quality of local care, the Chattanooga Medical Society can rest assured the city will Continued to be an attractive place to practice medicine, and that some of the students who attend its forum will someday fill its membership ranks.