Advocacy and the POA

Over the past few weeks, I have been so impressed with POA doctors! On March 25th, more than 80 doctors and students attended the POA Lobby Day in Harrisburg. These volunteers met with legislators to discuss the bills that are so important to Pennsylvania optometrists and our patients. This day came together with the help of so many people and, while I can’t name everyone, there are a few people I want to recognize: our Legislative Affairs Committee and its chair, Dr. Rich Christoph, and especially Dr. Perry Umlauf. The day was made successful with tremendous support from POA Executive Director Joe Ricci and our awesome POA staff. Dr. Linda Casser, our State and National Education Chair, and her team designed the necessary handouts and training material for our doctors. Everyone worked together with our fantastic local society presidents to organize the volunteer doctors and students. Salus University and, in particular, Drs. Mike Mittelman and Melissa Trego were very supportive; they even rented a bus to bring the students to the capitol! So many other people were involved to make this day a success including our lobby teams, our board and, most importantly, the volunteer doctors and students who took the time away for their offices, school, and their families to come to Harrisburg to represent us. Thank you very much, everyone! This day was extremely well coordinated; we had over 25 meetings with our legislators. In addition, many other meetings have taken place in our local districts both before and after Lobby Day. 

In early April, a dozen Pennsylvania doctors gathered in Washington, D.C. for three days to represent our state at AOA on Capitol Hill 2019. In total, there were over 600 doctors and students present at this meeting! I would like to thank our Pennsylvania delegation for their time and effort. We had many meetings with our Senators and Representatives in D.C. and numerous meetings occurred both before and since then in our local districts. During our time in D.C., Pennsylvania was proud to have one of our own legislators, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, win the AOA Healthcare Leadership Award, which was presented to him by his keyperson and long-time POA member, Dr. Bob Bittel.
Photos from both of these events can be seen in this issue of the Keystoner. More are available on our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

As you read this, I hope you are as proud of our POA volunteers and staff as I am. If you are reading this and inspired to help, there are several opportunities. Please consider serving as a keyperson to your state and/or national legislators. This is easier than it sounds; all of the information you will need can be found on our website under the Advocacy tab. Dr. James Deom is the chair of our Keyperson Committee and he and his committee would be happy to help you. Another way we could use help from everyone is by donating to our PAC (Political Action Committee) on the state and national levels. Contribution forms are available at http://pennsylvania.aoa.org/documents/PA/POA-POPAC-pledge-form.pdf. Dr. Greg Caldwell, the chair of the POPAC Committee, would also be happy to assist you. 

Protecting our profession and ensuring we move forward is an immense responsibility and we need everyone’s help!

Lori Gray, O.D.
POA President