The Ohio Academy of Family Physicians has formally congratulated all 132 of the newly sworn-in members of the Ohio General Assembly and offered to serve as a resource to them on health care issues. The letter co-signed by OAFP President Stan Anderson, MD, FAAFP, and Executive Vice President Ann Spicer reads as follows:
“On behalf of the 5,000 family physician, family medicine resident, and medical student members of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP), the only medical society in the state that is devoted solely to primary care, we want to congratulate you on your recent swearing-in as a member of the Ohio Senate/Ohio House of Representatives. Family physicians across the state look forward to working with you on all issues facing the state but particularly on health care.
Family medicine is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a medical specialty in 2019. Family physicians provide comprehensive, continuing health care to individuals and families. Americans make 192 million office visits to family physicians annually, more than to any other medical specialty.
Family physicians provide high quality, cost effective care. Family physicians specialize in caring for the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of their patients and their patients’ families. We emphasize disease prevention and health maintenance in addition to treating illness. And we are trained to care for patients through all the stages of life. We know that patients aren’t just a collection of parts, symptoms, or conditions – patients are whole people who need to be treated as such.
The OAFP is an affiliate constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), one of America’s largest medical organizations with over 131,400 members in all fifty states.
Again, please accept our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes. Please know that the OAFP and the AAFP stand ready to serve as a resource to you and the 133rd Ohio General Assembly. Don’t hesitate to contact us if we may be of assistance.”