The officers and governing Council members of the Health Law Section recently held the Spring Council Meeting in La Jolla, California. It was great to be together with the Section’s officers, at-large Council members, and other Section leaders. It has been two years since we had an in-person Spring Council Meeting. I have to admit that large meetings over zoom are not quite the same as in-person.
During the Spring Council Meeting, there were several topics of discussion that highlighted both the value of being an ABA Health Law Section member, and the challenges that we continue to face as we continue to hopefully work towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the topics that were discussed by Section leaders at the Spring Council Meeting included:
- The Section’s initiatives to involve and recruit young lawyers and law students to become members and future leaders of the ABA and the Health Law Section.
- The Section’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the Health Law Section, including leadership and programming. During the Spring Council meeting, Tracy Porter, who is a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, otherwise known as the Boule, gave a presentation on the initiatives of the Boule to promote diverse corporate governance. Mr. Porter is the founder and Chair of the Blacks on Corporate Boards Committee of the Boule.
- The webinars, member benefit programs, and other activities of the Section’s Interest Groups, Task Forces, and educational outreach groups.
- The Section’s collaboration initiatives with healthcare associations, such as the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the Chicago Medical Society, and the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), as well as other ABA Sections.
- The Conferences of the Health Law Section, including the Washington Health Law Summit, the Physician Legal Issues – Healthcare Innovation Conference in Chicago, and the upcoming Emerging Issues in Healthcare Law Conference in Miami, Florida on April 27-30, 2022.
Finally, I am personally grateful to be Chair of the Section this bar year, and want to encourage all of our Section members and leaders to utilize and promote all of the opportunities through the Health Law Section.