Leading from San Juan: the room where we show up for mothers
Why it matters: Every mother who doesn’t come home from delivery is a failure we can trace, in part, to leadership — who’s in the room, and what they choose to prioritize. This week, CSA was in that room.
Live from NMA. I’m writing this from San Juan, where the National Medical Association’s Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly is underway. Today’s Anesthesiology Section leadership session brought together ASA President Dr. Pat Giam, ACOG President Dr. Camille Clare, Columbia Chair Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall, and University of Puerto Rico Chair Dr. Elfren Colón — four leaders, four institutions, one shared urgency.
Why it stayed with me. We didn’t just talk about maternal morbidity and mortality as a statistic. We talked about it as a leadership failure we have the power to fix — and that’s personal for me. It’s the same conversation California Surgeon General Dr. Diana Ramos brought to our own panel during National Anesthesiologists Week. Two rooms, thousands of miles apart, wrestling with the same question: are we leading in a way that keeps mothers alive?
A charge, not just a lecture. Dr. Adam Milam delivered the distinguished LaRoche Lecture on equitable, inclusive care — for our patients, and for each other. It’s the kind of talk that doesn’t let you off the hook. I’m still sitting with it.
Full circle. Dr. Milam stood on our stage too, just two weeks ago at CSA’s Summer Anesthesia Conference in Ko’Olina, chaired by Dr. Ed Mariano. Seeing the same voices show up for us and for our national colleagues is a reminder that this work is bigger than any one meeting. More on that program later in this issue.
Meanwhile, at home: Our legislative team hasn’t paused. Work on SB 1302, the BRN Sunset Review, continues — because protecting our scope of practice is its own act of protecting patients.
Bottom line: I’m proud to represent California in rooms like this one. Whether it’s Oahu, San Juan, or Sacramento, our specialty shows up — for each other, and for every patient counting on us to get it right.
Be well. Be kind. Stay vigilant.
Christina Menor, MD, MS, FASA
President, California Society of Anesthesiologists