The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS)/Division of Public Health (DPH) is leading an investigation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Tuberculosis Elimination and Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion into a cluster of spinal TB cases following spinal surgeries. Although TB is a reportable disease in Delaware, DHSS/DPH requests clinicians report all bone/joint TB cases among persons who had orthopedic (including spinal) surgery since January 1, 2021, as soon as possible to the DPH Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at (302) 744-4990 (normal business hours) or 1(888) 295-5156 (outside of normal business hours), fax to (302) 223-1540, or email to reportdisease@delaware.gov. Read more.

At the time of this publication, two local media outlets published an opinion piece written by MSD President, Matthew J. Burday, DO. Primary Care is on Life Support in Delaware was carried by both Delaware Online and the Cape Gazette, explaining Delaware's primary care crisis and how Senate Bill 120 can help to address this challenge.

Thank you for being a valued member of the Medical Society of Delaware. As announced at the beginning of May, our Delaware Medical Journal Task Force has been working to reimagine the Journal and is requesting your feedback to help gauge what members would like to see in the new publication.

This survey will close at the end of the day on Sunday, June 6th. Take the survey.

MSD is looking for interested members to join the MSD Bylaws Committee. The function of the committee is to periodically review the Bylaws and recommend revisions and modifications necessitated by changing times, methods, or conditions. Any proposals for amendments to the Bylaws are submitted to the committee for consideration and recommendations. The Bylaws Committee shall have jurisdiction on the interpretation of the Bylaws, resolutions, and rules of MSD. The committee meets on an as-needed basis at a time convenient for members of the committee. For more information on becoming a member of the Bylaws Committee, contact Mary LaJudice at Mary.LaJudice@medsocdel.org or (302) 593-8589.

Delaware First Lady Tracey Quillen Carney, together with the Dual Generation Center at the Stubbs Early Education Center and the Nemours Children's Health Jessup Street Clinic, announced the expansion of the First Chance Delaware initiative. The initiative was launched in 2018 to recognize and facilitate effective partnerships, share best practices, and promote collaboration in supporting Delaware's children. The expansion establishes the Wilmington Community of Hope, to provide direct supportive services to families with a focus on prevention, healing, and wellness in a neighborhood-based approach to address risk factors related to child maltreatment and improve population and community health for children and families. Read more.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has unveiled new names for COVID-19 variants of concern, naming the variants after letters of the Greek alphabet instead of their place of first discovery and is encouraging national authorities, media outlets, and others to adopt the new labels. The four variants of concern, UK/Kent (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1), and India (B.1.617.2), have been given the letters Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta respectively to reflect their order of detection, but the renaming will not replace existing scientific names. Any new variants would continue following the pattern down the Greek alphabet. Read more.

Now is the time of year when you may be returning to your "summer" home and have an alternate address for the season. Please be sure you have notified MSD of your updated mailing address or any permanent changes so that you continue to receive all MSD publications and mailings. To help ensure we have the most current information, please log in to the MSD website using your email and password credentials to update your profile or you can contact Michelle Seymour for assistance (Michelle.Seymour@medsocdel.org or 302/224-4905). We appreciate your help in keeping your information current. Thank you!

MSD is spotlighting physician members throughout the state, highlighting your colleagues, whether they are new to membership or have been a member over the years.

This week's spotlight is on Sarah J. Matthews, MD, a palliative medicine physician with Beebe Palliative Care in Lewes, DE. Read more.

If you would like to be featured in the Spotlight section, please contact Michelle.Seymour@medsocdel.org

MSD is pleased to highlight another of its 2021 Premier Educational Partners, Cover & Rossiter. Cover & Rossiter has been a part of the growing effort to keep our medical professionals educated through its partnership with MSD as a Premier Educational Partner. Cover & Rossiter is an award-winning CPA advisory firm recognized for providing high-quality advice and personalized service to enable clients to achieve their objectives. Cover & Rossiter's core values are built on T.R.U.S.T. For over 80 years we have been guided by the principles of trust, service, and value for our clients and their professional advisors. We are dedicated to creating long-lasting relationships. The better we understand your needs, the better advisors we can be. We believe that an uncompromising commitment to provide superior service is the difference between success and failure. Finally, we seek to create a work environment that values diversity and fosters development, productivity, innovation, and teamwork. One of the industries the firm specializes in is medical and dental practices. There are unique needs due to the growth of health care and technological advances, and the governmental regulations and compliance with the insurance industry. For more information visit https://www.coverrossiter.com/.

MSD's Membership Department is pleased to announce the newest members of the Medical Society of Delaware. Welcome to the third oldest medical society in the country! If you know someone interested in joining the Medical Society of Delaware, please contact Michelle Seymour at (302) 224-4905 or Michelle.Seymour@medsocdel.org.

MSD members are afforded a seven-day review period from the date of this publication to comment regarding an applicant applying for membership. Please contact Michelle Seymour at (302) 224-4905 or Michelle.Seymour@medsocdel.org with any questions or concerns.