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TMA House of Delegates to Go Virtual; Fall Conference Canceled
By Amy Lynn Sorrel

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Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Medical Association Disaster Board voted to conduct a virtual meeting of the TMA House of Delegates that will culminate in a live virtual session on Saturday, Sept. 12. 

The board also voted to cancel the association’s TMA 2020 Fall Conference originally scheduled for Sept. 11-12 in the Austin area. 

TMA leaders will run a limited 2020 House of Delegates meeting using virtual technology that will allow delegates to vote remotely in contested elections and take action on essential house business. 

“The board made the unprecedented decision to conduct a virtual meeting to protect the health and well-being of delegates and all meeting attendees while respecting the traditions and bylaws of this great organization. We did not make this decision lightly,” House Speaker Arlo F. Weltge, MD, said. “Every attempt will be made to ensure that all delegates and members will be able to contribute to the TMA’s policymaking progress.” 

After collecting written testimony and nominations, the house will conduct elections and the reference committees will initiate business over a period of several weeks throughout August and early September. The final live virtual session of the house will take place on Sept. 12, when President Diana L. Fite, MD, will deliver her address, TMA leaders will announce election results, and delegates can consider and vote on reference committee reports and resolutions deemed “essential.” 

More details, including a timeline of business, will be posted on the House of Delegates webpage as they become available. 

Because the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency, the TMA Board of Trustees voted in March to invoke a bylaws provision allowing it to function as a Disaster Board and to assume certain responsibilities of the House of Delegates, TMA’s policymaking body. That included overseeing and conducting elections and installations of TMA officers and other necessary business. 

Due to the cancellation of TexMed 2020, TMA’s annual meeting, the Disaster Board in May acted on behalf of the house to conduct elections for uncontested positions, after postponing contested races.

 

Last Updated On

July 02, 2020

Originally Published On

July 02, 2020

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Amy Lynn Sorrel

Associate Vice President, Editorial Strategy & Programming
Division of Communications and Marketing

(512) 370-1384
amy.sorrel[at]texmed[dot]org  
Amy Sorrel

Amy Lynn Sorrel has covered health care policy for nearly 20 years. She got her start in Chicago after earning her master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and went on to cover health care as an award-winning writer for the American Medical Association, and as an associate editor and managing editor at TMA. Amy is also passionate about health in general as a cancer survivor, avid athlete, traveler, and cook. She grew up in California and now lives in Austin with her Aggie husband and daughter.

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