Letter from Christopher A. Park MD, Chairman of Physician Wellness Program

Dear Members of the Medical Society of Mobile County and Baldwin County Medical Society,

I am proud to announce that I am the Inaugural chairman of the newly formed Physician
Wellness Program, which will be known as Physician Care, and will serve both the Medical Society of
Mobile County and the Baldwin County Medical Society. I do this in conjunction with our current
presidents George Koulianos and Benjamin Schrubbe, as well as task force members Ellis Allen, Laura
Hollensworth, Bob Israel, and Ron Russell who laid the groundwork for this program. This is an
important program that has long been needed, but even more so in the wake of the COVID‐19 crisis that
has rocked every aspect of our lives professionally and personally. Your fellow physicians know the
stresses that we deal with more than anyone else and we are all going to have periods of time when we
need help. Please know that you are not alone. This program is available exclusively to our Mobile and
Baldwin Medical Society physician members.

The backbone of this program is the Lifebridge Physician Wellness Program, a national
collaboration program from Medical Societies across the country. Lifebridge has served as the template
for this program. Physician Care will be funded in various forms to include sponsorships, corporate
contributions, hospital donations, and ultimately from our physician members. In the upcoming dues
statements for both societies, there will be an opportunity to make a tax deductible contribution to the
trust of $25 each year.

The Medical Society of Mobile County and the Baldwin County Medical Society will provide a
therapeutic option for our members in need. This will include two initial sessions with a counselor at
the Society’s expense keeping the visits anonymous from your practice, the state, your family, your
health insurance company, the hospital systems, and your medical society. We have selected male and
female counsellors for a member in need to choose from. The page on the
website msomc.org/physician‐wellness and baldwincountyms.com has the contact numbers for
our selected counselors and the first two visits will be invoiced anonymously to the medical society. By
doing so, it is our sincere hope that there will be no barrier to seeing a counsellor.

In addition, I hope to have regular physician wellness seminars and sessions to assist the group
as a whole. We were set to launch this program in person at our joint Summer Social on August 25,
2020 at 5 Rivers Delta Center introducing our team and David Rogers MD as our keynote speaker. David
is UAB’s Chief Wellness Officer and has a lot to share as a practicing Pediatric Surgeon and has a passion
for improving physician resilience. However due to COVID and social distancing, we will now be doing
this virtually and hope that you will logon to learn about the program and benefit from David’s
insights. https://www.uab.edu/medicine/magazine/227‐helping‐the‐healers . We are excited to
announce that this online program is CME accredited 1hr.

Wellness is an important program to have for our members and we envision a more robust
physician wellness program going forward. Our hope is to partner with organizations that will help
strengthen and extend our efforts. Wendy Bedsole, the task force, and I are available to any members
that need us, any organizations that wish to support the wellness of our physicians, and anyone with any
questions about the program.

Sincerely yours,

Christopher A. Park MD