Member Engagement Update

The mission of the New Hampshire Medical Society (NHMS) is to bring together physicians to advocate for the well-being of our patients, for our profession, and for the betterment of public health. We are a membership organization. We appreciate every member and want to ensure that members are engaged. Over the last year there has been an important restructuring of the NHMS. There is a volunteer Board of Directors to oversee the fiduciary responsibilities of the organization and a volunteer Council that represents the membership and focuses on our mission.  

Prior to the recent by-laws that were updated and passed by the members present at the November 2023 Annual Meeting, any policies created and approved were done so only by the Council of the NHMS. This process did not allow all members to have access to a draft policy or engage in the discussion in support of or opposition to a proposed policy. In the current by-laws, Article 5, section 5 states “After presentation and deliberation at the council, all official policies undergoing draft development or revision must be made available for review and commentary by the full NHMS membership. The membership should be notified and given at least one month to respond with commentary for the NHMS to take under consideration, prior to any motion for official adoption of the policy”. 

We are excited to have formed a Policy Process Committee. We plan to utilize the NHMS Pulse and Legislative Pulse via membership email to send out draft policies after they are presented to the Council. There will be a link to a survey which will prompt a response to a draft policy and offer an opportunity for comments. Once a policy has been voted on and approved by the NHMS Council it will be posted on the NHMS website. We are working on organizing and posting the current policies that were voted on and approved by the Council before the changes to the current by-laws.   

Thank you for your patience as we work towards improving the process of communication and engagement. 

Danielle Albushies, MD
Secretary of the NHMS
Chairperson of the Policy Process Committee