Where in South Carolina is Dr. Snyder?

By Dr. Bruce Snyder, SCMA President

Where in South Carolina is Dr. Snyder?  That was the recent text message from my wife as I was preparing to leave Columbia a few weeks ago.  The unfortunate thing is that she didn't know where I was and her question was serious!  I had been able to attend the first hour of the SCMA Childhood Obesity Taskforce, and then drove to downtown Columbia to the South Carolina Health Coordinating Council General Meeting.  In addition, recently, I have spoken to an enthusiastic audience at the Greenwood County Medical Society about the SCMA legislative agenda and the benefits of membership. Dr. Larry Ware, the SCMA Board Chairman, and I, along with our spouses have also had a delightful dinner with four Rock Hill physicians in the home of the local SCMA District Trustee, Dr. James Welch and his wife Sheree.  We discussed their efforts to re-energize the county society and I am certain that they will be successful.  When I have met with physicians across the state I have been asking what they see as their local health issues, how they are addressing them, and what the SCMA can do to help. This last week I spoke to the Sumter, Clarendon, and Lee  Medical Society.  Dr. Blanchard, a retired OB/GYN physician expressed her concern that the state was not doing anything to combat the issue of an increasing percentage in our state of children born out of wedlock.  I provided her with both my email and snail mail address and have asked her to send me an Op-Ed piece that the SCMA can help her have published.

I have moderated an afternoon session at the TAP (Trustees,  Administrators, and Physicians) Conference, jointly sponsored by the SCMA and the South Carolina Hospital Association, in Hilton Head.  On the way to Hilton Head for the meeting, I stopped in Columbia for an interview with WIS Television to discuss the new health insurance exchanges. Then Friday morning at the meeting I participated in a panel discussing the activities regarding Proviso 33.34, the Medicaid Accountability and Quality Improvement Initiative funded by our state legislature this last year.  The next week I was able to provide an update of our obesity prevention and treatment activities to the Statewide Stakeholders Meeting at the DHEC auditorium. This month I will also attend the  meetings of state medical associations in Georgia and North Carolina, hoping to bring back new information to the SCMA and South Carolina physicians.

As you can tell, the last month has been busy and I have been on the road from Greenville frequently as President of the SCMA representing you and all that you do for our fellow citizens of South Carolina.  The coming months will also be busy travel times as I attend the AMA Interim Meeting as well as the Columbia and Charleston Medical Societies.  I have promised my wife I will do a better job of keeping her informed where I am at all times when I travel.  And I promise you I will not be texting and driving!