Hezekiah Beardsley
CT Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
104 Hungerford St.
Hartford, CT 06106
Voice 860-525-9738
Fax 860-727-9863
Executive Director
Jillian Wood
jwood@aap.org
Welcome to the Hezekiah Beardsley Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics web site. Our Chapter has over 500 active members committed to both improving the health and safety of Connecticut’s children and supporting those who provide care to these children.
Our goals for the past year were developed through a strategic planning process with input from our membership. These included:
- Increase children’s access to mental health services
- Support legislation to protect the health and safety of CT children
- Improve continuing education programs for members and other child health providers
Poor access to mental health services for children is a national crisis and a national disgrace. In Connecticut, Academy leaders have met regularly with the leaders of the Connecticut Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (CCCAP) to improve access to care. This working group is lead by Chapter Vice-President Ron Angoff and Andy Lustbader, working with the CCCAP’s Julian Ferholtz and Davis Gammon. Through this collaboration, we are training pediatricians to do more mental health care in their offices in order to decompress psychiatrist’s appointment books, thus reserving these precious visits for those children who most need them. Locally, we facilitate meetings between pediatricians and psychiatrists to enable better collaboration on care of individual cases, mutual educational, and hopefully to find models of care that meet local needs for both kids and those who care for them. In this effort, we have the active encouragement and cooperation from state government. We also were one of five chapters out of 22 applicants to receive grant from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute for Child Health Quality to develop quality improvement programs in physician’s offices in the management of ADHD.
This was also a banner year for the Academy’s legislative initiatives, spearheaded by our Government Liaison Committee co-chaired by Sandy Carbonari and Jonathan Stein. After five years of Chapter advocacy, and in the face of legislative gridlock from huge budget deficits, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a ban on smoking in public areas and enacted the second stage of graduated licensure of new teenaged drivers. The smoking ban is the second such ban nationally, and applies to government and school buildings, healthcare institutions, restaurants and bars, elevators and college dormitories. The expansion of graduated licensing limits the number of passengers that new drivers may carry for the first six months of their license. The CT AAP’s record of legislative success is annually one of the nation’s best, this year however, our lobbyist Judy Blei surpassed even her high standard of accomplishment.
Advocacy and services for members remain a Chapter emphasis. Through the leadership of Jill Wood, we provided HIPAA training to many pediatricians and their office staff, greatly aiding them in understanding and responding to the new regulations. We were also well represented at the White Coat Rally at the Capitol protesting the skyrocketing costs of malpractice insurance in Connecticut. Our professional and community educational programs continue to expand, highlighted by our 25th annual School Health Conference and many continuing education programs held throughout the year and at our successful annual meeting in June. At the School Health Conference, the first annual Martin Sklaire Award recognizing personal effort in promoting school health was given to its namesake, who continues to chair the Chapter’s School Health Committee. Marty’s work in school health was also recognized this year with an AAP Special Recognition Award.
In the coming year we will repeat our strategic planning process and then design strategies to meet the needs and address the problems identified by our members. We have already convened a committee to develop strategies to prevent and treat childhood obesity and have initiated our new EPIC Program (Educating Providers in Clinical settings) that will bring continuing education in developmental screening and management of child abuse to provider’s offices.
We are proud of our Chapter’s record of accomplishment and intend to use it as a base for even greater accomplishments. I encourage all members to join one of our many committees or working groups so that, together, we can make Connecticut a better place to live and grow, both for kids and those who care for them.
Thank you.
