Legislative Updates
The California State Legislature returned to session on January 6, 2025. The lower house, the State Assembly, has 23 new members. The composition is 60 Democrats, 19 Republicans, and 1 vacancy. Robert Rivas, a Democrat from Hollister, will continue his role as Speaker of the Assembly for a second term.
The upper house, the State Senate, has 12 new members. The composition is 30 Democrats, 9 Republicans, and 1 vacancy. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Healdsburg, will continue his role as President pro Tempore for a second term.
Democrats maintain supermajorities in both houses.
Upcoming Meetings & Events
January 2025
January 28: CMA Webinar: New Laws Affecting Physicians in 2025
January 30: CMA Webinar: Managing Medicare in 2025
February 2025
February 6: Editorial Committee Meeting
February 7: Med Poets Society – SSVMS Poetry Group
February 8: SSVMS Honors Medicine
February 12: Physician Peer Group – El Dorado Hills
February 12: Physician Peer Group – Newcastle
February 20: Public and Environmental Health Committee Meeting
March 2025
March 6: Editorial Committee Meeting
March 10: SSVMS Board of Directors Meeting
March 12: Physician Peer Group – El Dorado Hills
March 12: Physician Peer Group – Newcastle
March 20: Public and Environmental Health Committee Meeting
March 30: National Doctor’s Day
April 2025
April 3: Editorial Committee Meeting
April 9: Legislative Advocacy Day
April 9: Physician Peer Group – El Dorado Hills
April 9: Physician Peer Group – Newcastle
April 17: Public and Environmental Health Committee Meeting
Recent SSVMS Committee Activity
Editorial Committee
The Editorial Committee is responsible for planning, soliciting articles, editing, and publishing SSV Medicine. The committee met in December and January to discuss articles for the next two editions, to review the transition between digital magazine hosts, and to explore expansion of audio/video components.
Emergency Care Committee
The Emergency Care Committee studies issues related to emergency care services and facilities, trauma, patient transport and triage, disaster preparedness and on-call issues within the region. The committee also serves as liaison with government agencies responsible for emergency services, transport and disaster planning. Further, the Emergency Care Committee provides quality improvement oversight to SSVMS’s SMART Medical Clearance Protocol. This committee met in December to discuss the region’s ambulance patient offload times.
Public and Environmental Health Committee
The Public and Environmental Health Committee studies and makes recommendations regarding public and environmental health issues affecting the health and wellbeing of our community. The committee met in October to speak with Fearless Advocacy on the importance of improving car-centric transportation systems to Complete Streets, an approach to planning, designing and building streets that allow space for people, bikes, cars, mass transit, shared mobility, and refuge. The committee met in December to establish creation of standardized talking points for issues SSVMS takes positions on as well as to restructure Committee scheduling.
Joy of Medicine Advisory Committee
The Joy of Medicine Advisory Committee includes the Sacramento region’s leaders in physician wellness and advises SSVMS’s Joy of Medicine Program. The Committee met in December to review year-end data (more than 50 physicians utilized counseling sessions), to discuss the next iteration of the bi-annual burnout survey with planned to launch in the spring, and to explore the opportunities within the Mentorship in Medicine Program.
