AAFP Congress of Delegates – #1

by UAFP Alternate Delegate, Kirsten Stoesser, MD

I am pleased to provide an update following the first day of the 2022 AAFP Congress of Delegates (COD) in Washington, D.C.! The conference runs this year from Sept 19-21, and it presents a welcome return to in-person attendance, following two years of virtual meetings.

The Utah delegation arrived over the weekend to meet with representatives from every state in the country, along with representatives from Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the US Uniformed Services, to discuss proposed resolutions and determine which will become eventual policy positions endorsed by the AAFP. Attending from our chapter are Saphu Pradhan, MD, the UAFP president, our two delegates, Thea Sakata, MD and Jordan Roberts, MD, our two alternate delegates, David Cope, MD and myself, Kirsten Stoesser, MD, and our chapter CEO, Maryann Martindale.

The day started off with a Town Hall Meeting, led by AAFP president Sterling Ransone, MD and including Ada Stewart, MD, prior president and current Board Chair, as well as members of the Board of Directors of the AAFP. Key areas of focus for the AAFP in the past year included advocating for increases in Medicaid payments, support for global health educational initiatives, and a commitment to supporting diversity and equity. The AAFP Board of Directors also reiterated the AAFP position that all reproductive health services are essential to general health care, and that the AAFP is unequivocally opposed to any legislation that interferes with the physician-patient relationship. In the afternoon we gathered with delegates from the Western States for a meeting to present each state’s new resolution proposals, and to garner regional support.

Our Utah delegation has three resolutions we are bringing forth for consideration to this congress, as well as two resolutions that were extracted from the 2021 COD for additional discussion. The evening concluded with a session to meet the candidates running for next AAFP president, for the Speaker and Vice-Speaker positions, and for seats on the Board of Directors. The next few days will be a whirlwind of policy discussions and decisions, and we will bring you further updates each day as events occur.