May 19th, 2013 TAC Meeting Minutes

May 19th, 2013 - Tennessee Acupuncture Council Meeting Minutes

In attendance:

Jill Kelly Chad Dupuis Dr. Ning Wang

Sheila Day, Steven Day Joel Packard

Bret Moldenhauer Mary Helen Robert

Angela Buckridge Lisa Holt

Wayne Stephens Margie Wesley

The May 19th meeting called to order at 11am by Jill Kelly, Chair of TN Acupuncture Committee.

Agenda:

1. Executive reorganization of the Tennessee Acupuncture Council (TAC).

2. Compose a mission statement, business statement, and determine business structure.

3. Establish TAC as a Non-Profit 501c cooperative.

4. Establish TAC as a political alliance which has legislative support to further our industry as a viable division of professions.

5. Establish officers consisting of a president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer for TAC. In addition, 2 representatives from each region will execute meetings, policies, elections, programing and organization structure by proxy.

6. Establish regional initiatives which allow TAC to be managed by representatives in West, Middle, and East TN.

7. The distribution of regions will be initially established as Johnson City/ Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis TN.

8. Determine a survey/voting platform for officers before the August, 2013 state committee meeting.

9. Establish a membership drive to enroll L.Ac’s across the state to participate in TAC.

10. Determine a value for our TAC members.

11. TAC website: Proposed that TAC have a two-fold purpose. First, establish a professional website for our licensed L.Ac’s in TN. With access to this, practitioners will receive state news, legislative updates, events, social media, outreach, national news, CEU opportunities, etc..

Second, establish a professional website which lay persons, other medical professionals and consumers will find information about TAC, and the practice of L.Ac’s in TN.

12. Discuss the developments of the Dry Needling issue in TN.

As the meeting got underway, a lively discussion about the reorganization of TAC developed. All agreed that reactivating a purposeful and tenacious alliance for professional support in TN is necessary in order to move our group forward.

A motion was made to establish officers for TAC as well as representatives from each region. The motion was seconded and voted for and passed 12(y) to 0 (n).

Jill Kelly will be contacting existing representatives in each region to determine who will be interested in continuing to serve, or to relinquish duties to another interested party.

It is in the interest of the organization that we have officers voted in before the executive committee meeting in August 2013.

Currently, Chad Dupuis has agreed to coordinate a web based site that will allow all of our members to vote on candidates of their choice. He will also develop our website and newsletter. Thank you Chad!

Steven Day, Sheila’s husband, spoke about ideas to support TAC in its political and business structure. He offered consultation/ counseling services for our TAC officers and Chair and Co Chair of the Executive Committee. Mr. Day also agreed to introduce Bret to Senator Sheila Butts, who may serve as a potential legislative ally.

Bret got us up to speed on the Dry Needling issue in TN. At this time, a packet containing a letter of introduction, a position paper, and a verification letter was prepared for legislators and administrators who can assist the Committee with reaching the state Attorney General for review. At this time, the PT board has been made to strike from its website any language alluding to DN until further review. PT’s continue to practice without proper training or standards in this state. Senator Jim Tracy has also been contacted regarding this matter. We are awaiting any word from these advocates regarding the next steps in our process.

All agreed that a large scale petition campaign to our patients and consumers will be essential to educate the community about DN. Suggestions are welcomed. Please talk with all of your patients, families and friends. Write your legislators or find someone who knows them personally that may support our profession.

It was agreed that each member of TAC receive a copy of the by-laws so that we are knowledgeable about our legislative process.

For all of our professionals who were not in attendance, we missed seeing you there. The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, July14, 2013 at 11am. We encourage your participation so that you have a voice in our organization!

Please contact your representative for contact information and further TAC organization news.

The TAC meeting was adjourned at 2:00 by Jill Kelly.