Dr. Steen--reading from the By-Laws on this subject, Chapter I, Section 6, page 16--"It shall (the Board of Censors) investigate charges preferred against a member and report its conclusions and recommendations to the Board of Directors for action."
Dr. Thompson--I think our action here, if we approve such a report, means we are satisfied with the way the Board of Censors has handled the complaints brought to its attention, and it means that the Society is acting, not just 3 men.
I move that the report of the Board of Censors be approved.
Motion seconded by Dr. Hayden, and carried.
Dr. Bernstein--At the last meeting the matter of telephoned complaints was raised, and it was moved that we write to the Arizona Medical Association for a copy of the forms which they use in handling. We have a reply form Mr. Carpenter to our request in which he states that the only form developed by them is one providing for an affidavit to be taken by the complainant(s) releasing "privileged communication" to be made available to the Committee in review of medical and/or hospital reports, and enclosing a copy of the same. This is applicable only to written complaints, as they do not act upon telephoned complaints.
The letter from Mr. Carpenter was read by the Secretary, Dr. Hileman.
Discussion:
Dr. Costin--Why could we not make up a form?
Dr. Engle--As I understand it, this affidavit also contains a release to use the information contained in the complaint. The Arizona Medical Association thinks it necessary to have such an affidavit, and I think we should have one also. We are liable, too.
Dr. Costin--Could not the secretary tell complainants over the 'phone about the affidavit, and have them sign it and send it in.
Dr. Kent--I move that we have such an affidavit and follow through on this.
Motion seconded by Dr. Carreras, and carried.
Dr. Bernstein--I wonder if we are handling these things in a method satisfactory to all?
Dr. Engle--I have a recommendation which follows from this discussion, about some things that Maricopa County Society provides that ours does not. They have a rather elaborate setup and they have organized to provide their Society with a lot of services. It is difficult for us to know whether we need something like that, particularly, or entirely. One thing that would help us to know what kind of an organization we need, would be for us to spend an hour some evening listening to Mary relate to us, in an organized way, a report on exactly how many requests from people in this Society she has handled, broken down into what they were, or whatever the people are asking our Society to do for them. If we knew what is needed, we would have a better way of knowing what improvement should be made. But unless we do this, I do not see how any of us can have the first idea of what goes on, and I have been here for three years. I do not know what the community is requesting from us. I would like to suggest that, at some meeting soon, we listen to a report from Mary that is inclusive for the previous month, no matter how long it takes.
Dr. Bernstein--Actually, the thing is serious, and a large matter to consider. I have the feeling that probably some time during the first week of next January I may have a semi-crystallized idea as to what kind of a Society we should have, and what we lack. That is the structure of our organization, and it takes a lot of time to become acquainted with it. It occurred to me that our structure is lacking--in other words, there are a lot of forms that are lacking, and Dave's (Dr. Engle's) point is "How can we know", for instance, what sort of things pass through this office--do we meet them or do we ignore them? I do not think any of us fully understand this. Mary could present from her notes some kind of a review of what is done and then we can decide whether it is efficient or hap-hazard, and what can be done about reorganization of our structure. If we are doing a
