greatest chance of success. But we would be remiss if we didn’t discuss a couple of disappointments. The legislature continues its erosion of women’s reproductive autonomy and also weighed in this year with a pause in genderaffirming care. The legislature moved pretty quickly on several of these bills, leaving those of us working on behalf of the medical community frustrated with the lack of time to counter misconceptions and inaccuracies and to truly present and debate the science. These are definitely hot-button issues and we recognize that our members do not all hold the same position on these procedures. However, our priority is not the specific procedure, but rather to preserve the physician/ patient relationship, to protect the discussions you have with patients over various treatments — regardless of the procedure — and to ensure physicians are not under threat of licensure or legal impacts for providing safe, scientifically-sound care. Our hope is to continue these important discussions with legislators and work to ensure that physicians and their patients are able to make critical healthcare decisions outside the realm of political and societal influences. As we continue our advocacy work, we welcome input from our members on issues they would like us to address, gaps or areas that could be improved or fixed, etc. As my early example of well-care visits shows, input from members, such as Dr. Chen, is vital for us to be effective in our advocacy. If you would like to get more involved, please consider joining our Advocacy Committee. You can sign up using the QR Code below. https://utahafp.regfox.com/join-a-uafp-committee To see our final bill tracker, go to https://utahafp.org/utleg2023 Family Medicine Day on the Hill Each year during the legislative session, UAFP hosts a Day-on-the-Hill. It is an opportunity for our members to learn about the legislative process and meet with legislators to discuss various bills. This year we hosted the Black Physicians of Utah (BPOU). We began the day with “Legislature 101” — a presentation outlining how the Utah Legislature works, what is entailed in passing legislation, information about the makeup, and general advocacy information. We worked closely with Dr. Richard Ferguson, the founder and President of BPOU, to discuss ways for physicians of color to advocate, the critical need for diversity, and presented several bills that were of specific interest to the group. We invited legislators to join us and present some of their bills, and this year we had an outstanding showing, including numerous representatives and senators, many representing those in attendance. We also were fortunate to have a special visit from Lt. Governor Deirdre Henderson. She spoke of the importance of healthcare to the Governor, the need for more primary care physicians and especially the need for diversification of the healthcare workforce. The event was informative and gave attendees a good insight into the legislative process and showed them how to be active participants in health care advocacy. Huge thanks to Dr. Ferguson for joining us and bringing this important perspective to our advocacy work. Mark January 29, 2024 on your calendars to attend next year’s event. We’ll be joined by the Association for Utah Community Health (AUCH) and Utah Public Health Association (UPHA) for Primary Care Day on the Hill. UAFP hosted Black Physicians of Utah (BPOU) for a Day-on-the-Hill, and we were joined by several legislators and even had a special visit from Lt. Governor Diedre Henderson. 23 |
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