Foundation Annual Report and 2023 Annual Meeting Minutes
The Washington Academy of Family Physicians Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Academy. While independent from the Academy, it works synergistically to advance the mission and goals of the Academy, specifically in regards to work force and leadership pipeline development.
The Foundation began planning for the fiscal year July 2023 – June 2024 in the first quarter of 2023. The Finance Committee, Executive Committee, Board, and Executive Director reviewed the Foundation’s assets, our strategic plan, and recent years’ allocations of funds. We discussed how to plan for the ongoing philanthropy of the Foundation and remain nimble to adjust to emerging needs and opportunities. While committed to the plethora of recurring annual awards and scholarships, we recognize the value of one-time awards to address acute needs born from a more rapidly changing environment.
In recent years, the Foundation has given:
- One-time awards to the public health departments in those Washington state counties with a family physician serving as their public health officer
- One-time awards to residencies to assist in anti-racism or health equity efforts
- One-time grant opportunities to the three medical schools for DEI training of off-site clinical faculty (two of the three medical schools submitted proposals that were accepted)
- One-time grants to five Washington state family medicine residencies serving clinician shortage areas
Last year’s intended one-time support of sending residents to the WSMA annual leadership conference in Chelan was so popular, the Foundation Board decided to renew and expand the support. In 2023, eight residents from four residencies attended the conference; in May 2024, the Foundation will send 18 residents from 10 residencies to the conference.
In 2024, we had an unprecedented number of applicants for the Washington delegation to the AAFP National Conference of Constituency Leaders (NCCL). Beginning in 2023, the Foundation began financially supporting an alternate delegate for each of the five constituencies included in the conference helping to double our delegation from five up to 10 family physicians. This year, the Foundation is supporting an additional two attendees — increasing our delegation from a total of 10 up to 12. NCCL is where many current and past leaders started their leadership journey, and the Foundation is excited to continue to strengthen its support of this invaluable pathway to engagement of historically underrepresented family physicians.
The Foundation was also pleased to support 30 Washington medical students in attending the AAFP National Conference. While the event is important for students later in medical school to connect with residency programs, there were a significant number of attendees in their first and second years of medical school. Research has shown that medical students are more likely to choose family medicine as a specialty the more they attend National Conference.
In addition to the above-named distributions, the Foundation continues to allocate annual funds to the following:
- Grants to all three medical schools to support their family medicine interest groups (FMIGs) and other family medicine functions and events
- An annual student and resident retreat, organized by the student and resident trustees
- Diverse Constituency Scholarships for first-year medical students with demonstrated interest in minority health and primary care
- Roy Virak Memorial Family Medicine Resident awards for outstanding second-year residents
- Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award
- Scholarships to allow medical students and residents to attend the Family Medicine Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC
- Research grants and awards to medical students involved in summer externships
- Vision 2020 awards to assist practicing family physicians with leadership and communication skills
The Foundation supports these programs and projects thanks to the demonstrated financial commitment of our members. With gratitude to the Academy membership for its continuing financial support, the WAFP Foundation Board recommits to utilizing its resources strategically, equitably, and transparently to improve the lives of Washington state family physicians and our patients.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Hong, MD, FAAFP
WAFP Foundation President
Board, Officer Nominations to the WAFP Foundation
(to be approved at the 2024 WAFP Foundation Annual Meeting)
| Office | Nominee | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary | Farion Williams, MD | 2027 |
| Director | Jessica Bloom, MD, FAAFP | 2027 |
| Director | Po-Shen Chang, MD, FAAFP | 2027 |
| (for approval) Resident Trustee | Zoe Bartynski, MD | 2026 |
2023 Foundation Annual Meeting Minutes
(for approval at the 2024 WAFP Foundation Annual Meeting)
Renton, WA
Friday, April 28, 2023
1 p.m.
The WAFP Foundation held its 2023 annual meeting at the Academy’s 2023 House of Delegates (HOD). All WAFP members were invited to attend. Sixty-three delegates and alternates in addition to members of the Academy and Foundation boards were present and voting.
Call to Order
Dr. Stan Garlick, Foundation President, called the meeting to order at 1 p.m. He welcomed attendees to the annual meeting and reviewed the agenda.
Dr. Garlick directed attendees’ attention to the Foundation Annual Report provided by the Foundation Board and briefly recapped the Foundation’s work during the past 12 months.
Officer and Director Elections
Dr. Garlick moved to the next order of business: Officer and Director Elections. After introducing the slate of officers put forward by the Foundation’s nominating committee, Dr. Garlick invited discussion and objections to the slate.
Hearing no objections, the following Officers were elected by acclamation.
- President: Molly Hong, MD, FAAFP
- Vice President: Kristin Larson, MD
- Treasurer: Michael Luce, MD, FAAFP
- Assistant Secretary-Treasurer: Tobe Harberd, MD, FAAFP
Dr. Garlick then introduced the slate of directors proposed by the Foundation’s nominating committee and the recommendation for Resident Trustee made by Resident members. He invited nominations from the floor for open Director positions. No additional nominations were offered, and the following directors were elected by acclamation:
- Director: Hang Chau-Glendinning, DO
- Director: Julia Hamilton, DO
- Director: Laramie Lunday, MD
- Director: Jennifer Maxwell, MD, MPH, FAAFP
In addition, Sankalp Katta, OMS-2, was affirmed as Student Trustee to the Foundation Board.
Consent Agenda
Introducing the final piece of business, Dr. Garlick asked for review of the Foundation’s Consent Agenda, which consisted of the minutes from the 2022 WAFP Foundation Annual Meeting; Foundation Board Minutes from September 2022 and February 2023; and the 2023 Annual Report to the Membership. He noted the items would be voted on in one vote without debate unless any are extracted from the consent agenda for discussion and asked for extraction.
Hearing no extractions, Dr. Garlick invited members to vote to approve the consent agenda. Receiving a majority vote in favor of the consent agenda, the items were adopted.
2023 Family Medicine Educator of the Year
Dr. Garlick introduced the WAFP Foundation’s 2023 Family Medicine Educator of the Year, Dr. Rob Epstein. Dr. Epstein was congratulated by those in attendance and made brief remarks.
Concluding Remarks and Adjourn Foundation Business
Dr. Garlick called Dr. Molly Hong, Foundation Vice President, to the stage. Dr. Hong noted that this was Dr. Garlick’s final annual meeting as Foundation President and thanked him for his years of service (director from 2009 to 2014; vice president from 2014 to 2017; and president from 2017 to 2023). Dr. Garlick thanked Dr. Hong and encouraged membership to continue its support for the Foundation. No further business was heard.
Adjourned at 1:25 p.m.
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To access the 2024 House of Delegates front page, click HERE.
On this page:
- WAFP Foundation annual report
- WAFP Foundation Board and officer nominations (will be posted when available)
- 2023 WAFP Foundation annual meeting minutes (to be approved at the 2024 annual meeting)