Dear Colleagues,
What a weekend.
Saturday morning began with our virtual Board of Directors meeting — a full and meaningful agenda that included CoLDaN’s recommended nominees for CSA elected positions for the 2026–2027 year. I am so proud of this slate. Dr. Antonio Hernandez Conte and the CoLDaN committee brought their usual care and intentionality to the process, and the candidates speak for themselves. You can meet them here. The work of building and sustaining leadership doesn’t happen by accident. Thank you to CoLDaN for their time, dedication and service to the CSA this year.
Then Saturday afternoon, drove with a friend and colleague to Orange County for Christopher Tirce’s Celebration of Life. I don’t have words that feel adequate. Being in that room — with his family, with colleagues who loved him, with friends who knew him outside the OR — was one of the most tender and heavy experiences of my year as President. There were photos of Chris fishing, laughing, in scrubs. Memorial cards. Candlelight. People telling stories about a man who showed up for everyone around him without being asked. I shared the love and memories of Dr. Tirce from the CSA family at the event. I left with a full heart and a quiet resolve to keep honoring what he stood for.
If you haven’t had a chance to read the tribute in our June 2 newsletter, please do.
One of the things about our world that always amazes me is how small it actually is. One of my co-residents was at the memorial and was a good friend and colleague of Dr. Tirce’s. We caught up some and he happen to be going to a concert last night with two other friends from our residency class and had an extra ticket—so the day ended with spending time catching up with three friends from residency.
These moments we must all cherish and not take for granted….and always remember you are loved and have many around you who care about you even if you feel like you are alone—You are not.
To Our Graduates and Our Newest Colleagues
Congratulations to the Class of 2026. You made it through one of the most demanding training environments in medicine, and anesthesiology is better for having you. And to our incoming interns and CA-1 residents just starting this journey — welcome. We see you, and we are glad you are here.
A Note on Advocacy
California’s state budget has been through the legislature and the governor’s office—it has meaningful news for Medi-Cal, for Proposition 35, and for Denti-Cal — and our team has been in the thick of those conversations. I’ll have a fuller update in the coming weeks.
I do want to name one disappointment directly: AB 408, the Physician Health and Wellness bill, has been pulled from the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda. It will not advance this session. That stings. Physician wellness is not a niche issue — it is a patient safety issue, and it is personal. We will continue to push. We are one of two states in the whole country without a Physician Health and Wellness program and yet the largest state in the country. This is not ok. Physicians will die. The program is necessary to prevent just what the opposition says it will allow—physicians who are willing to seek help early and not feel convinced they must hide and not seek help for mental health and substance abuse disorders.
More to come as we head into the HOD in September and close out this governance year. Until then —
Be well. Be kind. Stay vigilant.
Christina Menor, MD, MS, FASA
President, California Society of Anesthesiologists