2001-2002
REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD FOR CHIROPRACTIC
Submitted by:
Drs. Joanne Amicola-Olgee, D.C., Delegate and Benjamin Bartolotto, D.C.,
Alternate
Events/Achievements
1.
The single most defining
event that shaped this past year, perhaps more in New York State than in most
other places, was the terrorist attack on our nation, in particular, the
devastation of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Led by Board Chair, Dr. Margaret Verhagen
who, along with others, spent countless wee hours at Ground Zero relief centers
after a full practice day in the office, New York State Board Members not only
served regularly onsite and fund-raising drives for months after the event, but
provided early leadership in organizing chiropractic services for the relief
effort and helping to facilitate participation, especially by out-of-State
licensees. Also, the Office of the
Professions’ website provided a source of documentation for New York State
licensees who downloaded their license verifications for submission to Red
Cross, FEMA and other relief organizations.
At its meeting on October 26th in New York City, the Board
heard Dr. Robert De Bonis, D.C., Vice-Chair, describe in emotional detail what
it was like to be there at the site helping the relief workers. He read one of his recorded memories as
follows:
“One morning after adjusting a lot of rescue workers,
I was sitting down trying to collect myself for the ride home. It was about 1:00 a.m. and I had been at the
Jacob Javits Center since 8:00 p.m. after a full day at the office. I was tired, looking at an hour’s drive.
On the sofa next to me was a rescue worker who
happened to look over at me and began sharing his appreciation for all we were
doing. I looked at him and saw from a
patch on his shoulder that he was ‘Search and Rescue’ from Colorado or
California. I don’t recall which,
because I was pretty hazy, but I knew he wasn’t from around the corner. So I was thanking him for his long, hard
efforts and the fact that he was away from his family for weeks. In his modesty, like so many of these
heroes, he said he was just doing his job.
We talked for a while and he told me he had been on
site for ten days. He remarked that his
team usually starts to ‘break down’ after ‘day seven’ into a disaster, which
may involve forest fires, earthquakes, floods, whatever. Yet, he noted, here they all were at ‘day
ten’, sleeping a few hours a night on floors and cots, and they were ‘all
whole, all healthy and able to perform at their peak levels’ which meant 20-hour
shifts.
The only
difference between this experience and the others, he went on to say, was that
in this operation, when his men ‘got off the pile, they would grab a shower, a
hot meal, and get adjusted, massaged or see the acupuncturist.’ He said that we were keeping them
going. He told me that he was including
the care his team was receiving from us in his daily reports to ‘the higher ups
at FEMA.’ I told him that he just made
my day, and suddenly, I had the energy to get up and make the drive home.”
2. The Board has begun to draft Practice Alerts designed to define good practice and, consequently, deter professional misconduct. Alerts can also benefit licensees and consumers by broadening their understanding of the law, rules and regulations that define professional practice, including what constitutes unprofessional conduct. The Practice Alerts reflect the collective experience of the members of the State Board for Chiropractic along with input from a variety of sources, including chiropractic organizations and practitioners, chiropractic educators, Office of the Professions’ staff, and other State Boards for the Professions. They will cover such topics as: Advertising or Soliciting for Patients, Sexual Misconduct, Record Keeping and Documentation, Animal Adjusting, and Multidisciplinary Practices. The Board hopes they will be ready for dissemination by the fall of this year.
Challenges
1.
Fiscal Constraints – Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, the
Governor issued a directive that virtually froze all hiring, out-of-State
travel, all non-critical regulatory actions, all expenditures that were not
deemed to be critical to the public health and safety, and, most recently, a
rescission of a 3˝ percent raise for all senior managers in State
government. The challenge of conducting
business in such an atmosphere not only precludes many “business-as-usual”
activities, but our very participation at the Annual Meeting of the FCLB/NBCE. We were fortunate to be able to secure
funding for at least our Delegate, although our Alternate is attending at his
own expense.
2.
Regulatory Partnerships – The Board continues its efforts to encourage rival state
chiropractic organizations to conduct business, especially legislative
initiatives, in a collegial manner and in the interest of the public as well as
the profession. In August, the
organizations met with a paid professional facilitator, and worked out initial
steps for engaging in cooperative legislative action for the good of the
profession and its consumers. The Board
applauded this effort, and hopes the organizational leadership will continue
its commitment to forge cooperative ventures.
How Has FCLB Helped?
Power Polls – continue to provide rapid collection and dissemination of pertinent
information about the profession and its regulation
FCLB
Official Directory – provides ongoing and
useful information, a frequently used desk reference