House of Delegates

HOUSE OF DELEGATES

2023 HOD
Friday, April 21 – Sunday, April 23, 2023

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Fellow Delegates

The 2023 house of delegates is rapidly approaching, and your speakers are finalizing preparations for the big event. This speakers letter details the nominations and election process for the AMA delegation and for Officers, Councilors, and Trustees. The rules committee has met, and the following document explains this process and indicates key deadline dates that all delegates must be aware of. Please review and mark your calendars accordingly.

1.         ELECTIONS
Once again, given this year’s modified meeting of the House of Delegates and policy adopted by the 2020 session of the MSSNY House of Delegates which requires shortening the length of House to two days, time devoted in the past to the election process is no longer an option. Therefore, the committee again recommends suspending the 2016 standing rules on floor nominations, except for the requirement that all prefatory (formerly floor) nominations be supported by a minimum of 10 delegates, and proposes adoption of the following rules and procedures for the 2023 elections that are consistent with the MSSNY Bylaws:

A.         Election of the members of the New York Delegation to the AMA
The 10 candidates receiving the highest number of votes cast shall be elected Delegate, the 10 candidates receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected Alternate Delegate. Candidates are also required to submit a statement of qualification for the position sought, ten delegate signatures/endorsements, a CV or bio, and any conflict of interest they may have.

The deadline for prefatory nominations, should there be any, for candidates for the New York Delegation to the AMA shall be Friday, March 17 at 5 PM April 12 at 5pm.

Election of the Members of the New York Delegation to the AMA shall be electronic. Since the House of Delegates elects half the number of AMA Delegates each year, delegates will be instructed to vote for up to 10 candidates for a full two-year term which will commence in January of 2024. Per MSSNY Bylaws, as this is an odd numbered year, therefore, one resident/fellow physician shall be elected as a Delegate and one medical student shall be elected as an Alternate Delegate each of whom shall serve a one-year term in 2024.

Component societies of the House of Delegates should take note that the deadline for credentialing delegates for voting for the AMA Delegation will be Thursday, March 30 by 5 PM Friday, April 21 at 4pm.

B.         Election of Officers, Councilors, and Trustees
Election of Officers, Councilors, Trustees, and AMA delegates will take place at the live HOD meeting in Tarrytown.  Those listed as nominees in the Report of the Nominating Committee will remain on the ballot for the position indicated.

Those wishing to be considered for any position that either exists or may become available as a result of the election must place their name into consideration by complying with the same requirements as other nominees (see below). These requirements apply to anyone who anticipates becoming a candidate for any office including an office that may become vacant.

The deadline for any candidate to announce plans to run as a prefatory nominee will be Wednesday, April 12 at 5 PM. Background materials for publication on the MSSNY website must be submitted by this deadline in order to be considered; this includes the candidate statement about their qualifications, ten delegate endorsements, conflict of interest disclosure and a bio/CV received. This deadline allows adequate time for the ballot to be updated and published one week prior to the opening of the House of Delegates. There will be no nominations ‘from the floor’ for anyone who has not been vetted by the Committee on Rules and Credentials. Therefore, again, anyone who wishes to be considered MUST be announced for any office – including those offices that could potentially become vacated.

Candidates planning to run: Click here to complete all the forms required

Delegates looking to endorse a candidate: Click here to complete the form

Credentialing for the purposes of voting in elections for Officers, Councilors, and Trustees must be completed by 4 PM on Friday, April 21. 

As noted in our Floor Nomination policy, given the extensive time delegates have to evaluate the nominating committee recommendations and new nominees posted on the website, last minute nominations do not allow sufficient time for voting members of the House to properly evaluate these candidates and their qualifications.

The committee wishes to remind members of the House that all candidates for election should comply with MSSNY policies 207.976.

207.976    Informed Choices for MSSNY Elections
MSSNY will provide all voting members of the House of Delegates with the following information about candidates nominated for election to the Board of Trustees, the Council, Officers, and the AMA Delegation: Medical School, Residency/Fellowship, Specialty, Hospital Affiliations, Practice Setting, and Prior Experience in Organized Medicine. MSSNY will provide candidates nominated for election to the Board of Trustees, the Council, Officers, and the AMA Delegation the opportunity to provide a written statement for distribution to all voting delegates.  (HOD 2015-209)

In the event that the election process for Officers, Councilors, and Trustees creates an office that is unfilled, the vacancy will be filled by the House of Delegates from the list of those who have indicated interest in that specific position, fulfilled the requirements for consideration as a candidate, and have been vetted by the Committee on Rules and Credentials. Those potential candidates will have their materials included on the MSSNY website with other candidates. No additional candidates can be nominated, nor will they be considered.

Rules for Election to Newly Created Vacancies of Officers, Councilors, or Trustees:

~In the event that the initial election process for Officers, Councilors, Trustees creates a position that is unfilled, only candidates who have indicated interest, fulfilled requirements and have been vetted by the Committee on Rules and Credentials will be considered for election to the vacancy. There will be NO opportunity for additional candidates to ask for consideration if they have not anticipated this possibility.
~Materials for these candidates also must be submitted by the deadline of April 12 at 5 PM
~If election for a vacant position is uncontested, the House will vote by acclamation.
~If election for a vacant position has more than one candidate, the election will be conducted by electionrunner.com on Sunday morning. Ballots will be distributed by email to credentialed delegates with a limited window for voting to be announced by the Speaker. In the event that more than two candidates run for a vacant position, and no candidate receives a clear majority vote, a runoff election will be held between the highest vote recipients.
~The election result shall be announced as soon as practical after balloting closes. The candidate receiving a majority of votes cast shall be elected.

2.         CONDUCTING THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Reference Committee hearings will be conducted virtually by the following schedule:
House Committee on Bylaws – Thursday, March 23, 6 – 9 PM
Governmental Affairs & Legal Matters A – Saturday, March 25, 9 – 12 noon
Governmental Affairs & Legal Matters B – Sunday, March 26, 1 – 4 PM
Public Health and Education – Sunday, March 26, 9 – 12 noon
Reports of Officers and Administrative Matters – Monday, March 27, 7 – 10 PM
Socio-Medical Economics – Saturday, March 25, 1 – 4 PM

In order to participate, everyone will need to REGISTER for each individual hearing to ensure receipt of the link to participate. Registration information will be posted after the resolutions have been made available.

Registration will be required so the Reference Committee Chairs can identify who is speaking, resolution authors, and conflicts of interest. A 90 second limitation on testimony will be in effect.  Separate registration is required for EACH reference committee hearing and is unique to the individual registered.

Reference committee reports shall be posted to the MSSNY website no later than Wednesday, April 12.

Details of the CME programs on Friday April 21 will be announced in the next speakers’ letter along with a schedule of the events of the House. Your speakers are looking forward to productive ref com hearings and a great House of Delegates. With all your help, this should be within our reach.