The head of the Puerto Rico Medical and Surgeons Board, Dr. Alicia Feliberti, vehemently defended the organization’s obligatory membership, while at the same time, drawing a line on the sand against those who want to eliminate it.
For more than three hours, Feliberti, who became the head of the Board earlier this year, fended off accusations and arguments from several members of the House Governmental and Health Committees, who probed her on the matter.
“We strongly believe in obligatory membership. Back in 2001, the medical professionals voted to once again make membership obligatory. Since then, it has been that way. We see no reason for any change to the status and will defend against any attempt to destroy the Board,” Feliberti said.
The president of the organization cited the voluntary aspect of the Board as the main reason for ongoing obligatory membership, expressing that if it was not for the inscription dues, the Board could not perform the civic activities it currently does.
Among the activities mentioned by Feliberti were the obligatory 20 credit certification seminar each physician needs to complete every year, the voluntary clinics the Board offers and the orientation prevention campaign it has embarked since 2001.
Her comments came at the beginning of the Committee’s hearing into House Bill 2770 which calls for an addendum to Law 77, in order to eliminate the obligatory membership to the Board as a requirement to practice medicine on the island.
According to the bill’s proponent and Chairman of the Government Committee, New Progressive Party Rep. Johnny Méndez, he have received more than 400 certified letters from doctors asking to amend the law and allow for membership to be voluntary.
The medical board is one of the newest professional organizations in Puerto Rico. It was created back in 1994.
Since then it has regulated the practice of medicine on the island, until 1997, when obligatory membership was abolished. The Board once again took control of the profession in 2001, but with the creation in 2009 of the Board for the License and Medical Conduct, it main regulatory function was again passed on to the State.
In 1997, a similar measure that allowed for voluntary membership was signed into law by then-governor Pedro Rosselló. According to Feliberti, the law had a dramatic effect on the Board’s membership as it dropped to 2,600 associates, from a high of 9,000 in 1996.
In 2001, the Popular Democratic Part controlled legislature rewrote the law, providing the mechanism of a referendum inside the medical profession to determine if they once again wanted membership to be obligatory.
Currently, the Board has a membership of 10,562 health providers. Tuition for inscription is $ 300 annually, with an operating annual budget of just above $3 million.
“If this bill passes, most of our members will no doubt leave the Board. Our institution provides a valuable service to the community. It does more than regulate our profession. It gives back to the people with non-profit programs, such as helping our island combat the recent dengue epidemic,” Feliberti said.
The head of the Board also criticized what she called “a small group” of physicians who, for the second time, is asking for voluntary membership.
“Democracy calls for participation. We had our referendum and it was for obligatory membership. The time for those who opposed it has passed,” Feliberti said.
Her comments were quickly condemned by Méndez who stated that “democracy is not served when only a few are allowed to vote and those who do not participate in the electoral process are counted one way.”
Feliberti admitted that in the referendum of 2001, the Board counted votes from non-participants in the process, as affirmative to the obligatory option.
Méndez asked Feliberti to provide the Committee with the acts of the 2001 referendum as well as the financial records of the organization for the past five years. He gave her until Wednesday to submit the requested documents.
Politics and counter charges dominated most of the session as NPP lawmakers blasted Feliberti for her recent comments to the media that stated that the NPP-controlled legislature is out to “destroy the Board because of is political views.”
House Vice-President, Angel Rodriguez asked Feliberti to tone down the rhetoric so that dialogue can flourish.
Maybe one of the lighter moments of the day came when PDP Rep. Jaime Perelló asked the physicians who jam packed the House session room, to openly express their opinions on the matter.
Only one medical professional raised his hand to demand an end to obligatory membership.
The Committee also heard from two of those 400 health providers who expressed that, because of their belief in voluntary membership, the Board has made several referrals to their internal Ethics Committee.
“Because the State took control of the regulatory aspect of the medical profession in 2009, the Board does not have a regulatory function, thus the obligatory aspect of membership should be abolished immediately,” Dr. Natalio Debs, a plastic surgeon said.
Concurring with Debs was Dr. Humberto Quintana, a local cardiologist who in the past has openly campaigned for the abolition of obligatory membership.
“To make voluntary membership is to allow those who truly believe in the functions the Board provides, an opportunity to remain. This would make the organization’s top structure more appreciative of the rank and file member, something it has failed to do so far,” Quintana said.
For the head of the House Health Committee, NPP Rep. José Torres, both arguments are equal , but his opinion is that all associations must be voluntary in nature.
“I have expressed in the past that there is a need to make an open electoral process in the organization. We need to devise a mechanism wherein everyone can participate and not take their absent votes for one thing or another,” Torres said
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