Newsletter August 15, 2014

In this issue: WPMA Podiatric Reconstructive Rear DPMs Giving Back to their Communities Foot and Ankle Surgery through Volunteering with Special Olympics Symposium Results and Analysis of the Primary The Wisconsin Podiatric Medical Association is Elections pleased to announce our 2014 Annual Membership Meeting that will be held on Podiatrists Making Saturday October 25th. This year's meeting promises to be Connections exciting as we shift our focus from the business side of the profession to the surgical. We have three popular and local Podiatrist Seeking Position! speakers lined-up. Please join us for a day of learning, camaraderie and fun! Learn more here.

Third year podiatry resident in Kingston, DPMs Giving Back to their Communities New York is interested through Volunteering with Special Olympics in a podiatry position in Wisconsin. On August 2nd, Special Olympics of Wisconsin held their annual Fit Feet View curriculum vitae event, at which 207 athletes were and cover letter here. screened. Sixteen volunteers

(including 10 podiatry students from Any additional questions, please Rosalie Franklin University) made the contact Alex Curfman, event a success. DPM at (224) 425- 2618. Special Olympics Fit Feet is a free podiatric screening for participating Special Olympics athletes For Sale! evaluating ankles, feet, lower extremity biomechanics, and proper shoe and sock gear. Fit Feet also provides referrals for those Practice for Sale participating Special Olympics that require follow up services.

WISCONSIN- Three unsung podiatry heroes of the Fit Feet program are WPMA . Practice for members Dr. Birute Balciunas, Dr. Jesika Posthuma and Dr. Brant sale. Owner retiring McCartan. Here are a couple of fun facts that you may not have after 40 years and was known about each: Residency program • Dr. Balciunas started the Fit director and Chairman Feet program here in of 3 local hospital Wisconsin (!) and since its staffs. Practice referral inception has served as their based from Clinical Director. Dr. Balciunas surrounding physicians recruits podiatry students to and patients. Avg. 50- help run the Fit Feet 60 new patients per Dr. Balciunas in action. month. Mix of screenings. In fact, she has insurance with driven down to Chicago to pick Medicare, Title 19, & the students up in a van and drive them to Eau Claire, private. 4 treatment where the screenings have been held in years past. In rooms, new X-ray unit, addition to all of this, Dr. Balciunas has also been the and EHR system. Will Clinical Director for Fit Feet foot screenings for Special stay to facilitate Olympics in Minnesota. Melissa Schoenbrodt, Special transition. Reasonably Olympics Wisconsin Director of Wellness Initiatives, priced. Call Louis R describes Dr. Balciunas as "amazing"! Lapow, DPM at 414- • After serving as a volunteer for the past several years, Dr. 254-1944 or [email protected]. Posthuma attended the Clinical Director training at the Special Olympics USA Games this past June in New ************ Jersey. She joins Dr. Balciunas as one of only two Special Practice for Sale Olympics' Clinical Directors in the State. Dr. Posthuma's dedication to serving these appreciative athletes is 30+year Podiatry admirable! practice for sale. Office building in prime • Dr. Brant McCartan was location. Well involved with the Fit Feet established practice with a solid referral program with Special base and an excellent Olympics Massachusetts reputation . Close before moving to Wisconsin proximity to hospital last summer. In the just and surgical center. over a year since his arrival Located in West in Wisconsin, he has Bend,WI. If interested volunteered at two Fit Feet contact Terry Benda events and two Foot Health DPM for more education stations! He even details.... brought two residents to Dr. McCartan with the athletes. [email protected] volunteer with him at an ************ event. What a great learning experience for new DPMs. Two exam chairs We're sure the athletes in Wisconsin are happy recipients of Dr. McCartan's professional care! PDM JW104B power chair. Used but in We would additionally like to recognize WPMA member good shape. New volunteers Dr. Molly Meier and 3rd year resident Dr. motor. Matching stool. Eoin Gorman, who took time out of their busy schedules to $1300 pick up in volunteer at this year's 2014 Fit Feet event. The impact your care Franklin, WI. has on others is truly amazing. Ritter power chair. Next year's Fit Feet event will be held on August 8, 2015 at Carroll Used and in good University in Waukesha. Special Olympics Wisconsin welcomes shape. Includes stool. any podiatrists interested in volunteering in Wisconsin or $1100 pick up in Minnesota to contact Melissa Schoenbrodt at 608.442.5676 or by Franklin, WI. email.

Email Bill Weis for info Special Olympics Wisconsin has also added Foot Health and pictures education stations to several local competitions and is interested [email protected].

in offering more throughout the state. If you are interested in volunteering a few hours at a Foot Health education station (involves measuring athletes shoe size, recording size on a take home sheet along with handing out education materials on foot & nail care and giving athletes a new pair of socks), please contact Melissa Schoenbrodt.

Results and Analysis of the Wisconsin Primary Elections

Submitted by WPMA Lobbyist and Legal Counsel Tony Driessen

While there were no major upsets in Wisconsin's August 12th primary elections, there were several notable outcomes. In particular:

• The race for Attorney General produced a clean win for Democratic candidate Susan Happ. She is now the District Attorney in Jefferson County. She defeated State Rep. Jon Richards of Milwaukee and Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne. She will now face well-funded Republican candidate Brad Schimel, the DA for Waukesha County. • Out of over 50,000 votes cast, conservative State Senator of West Bend is reported by the media to have won the Republican primary election for Cong. Petri's open seat by only 215 votes. A recount is expected to be sought by State Senator who came in second. Leibham had the support of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and other business groups. • In the unpredictable race for the open 21st State Senate seat in the Kenosha area, Van Wanggaard defeated Tea- Party challenger Jonathan Steitz. The outcome was not close, which was a surprise to some of Wanggaard's supporters. • Republican State Representative Gary Bies of Door County was defeated in his race for Secretary of State by Julian Bradley. • Incumbent Congresswoman Gwen Moore (Dem - Milwaukee) defeated former State Senator Gary George. • Democratic State Senator John Lehman won his primary election race for lieutenant governor. His opponent was a Madison activist. • Democratic Assembly members advanced in their State Senate bids in the Janesville and the Superior areas. Rep. prevailed against former Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan in the 15th Senate district. Rep. Janet Bewley won in the 25th State Senate district. • The two Democratic candidates running for the open Dale Schultz seat has Ernie Wittwer and Pat Bomhack only two votes apart. The winner will face well-funded Republican Rep. in this Democratic-leaning Senate district. • In the State Assembly, there were multiple candidates running for the many open seats. A Realtor prevailed over an MD supported candidate in the Waukesha area, and in Door County a veterinarian won against a dentist in the Republican primary elections. Several races are too close to call and recounts may occur. • Seven primary election winners in the State Assembly have no opponents in November. These candidates are virtually assured of being elections:

Assembly District 10 - David Bowen (Dem) Assembly District 45 - (Dem) Assembly District 58 - Bob Gannon (Repub) Assembly District 59 - Jesse Kremer (Repub) Assembly District 60 - Robert Brooks (Repub) Assembly District 78 - Lisa Subeck (Dem) Assembly District 97 - Scott Allen (Repub)

What can we learn from these primary election results? These lessons could be drawn:

• There was not a Tea Party election "wave" in Wisconsin. • There continues to be advantages if one is an incumbent. It is an asset not a liability. • Legislative races continue to be local ones. • Candidates who are in tight races and who invest in "shoe leather" and door-to-door campaigns do well with voters. • Experienced women candidates do well, particularly among Democratic voters in Wisconsin.

The November 4th general election in Wisconsin is only about 80 days from now. Huge spending on the race for Governor is certain to occur. Which candidate is best able to induce their supporters to get out and vote will be decisive.

For a look ahead, please see this report by Marquette University Professor Charles Franklin. Prof. Franklin is regarded as an objective and often accurate source of polling in Wisconsin. A complete list of primaries results can be viewed here. Podiatrists Making Connections

Submitted by WPMA Public Policy Coordinator Mike Thompson, DPM | [email protected] | 262-657-4677

The primaries are behind us, and we are on the way to the general elections. The WPMA and the APMA, as well, will continue to monitor the elections and support candidates who have the interests of our profession foremost. We will employ our limited financial resources in the most expeditious manner possible.

Starting this issue, we will be presenting a new feature as part of this column, discussing members who have made important connections with candidates/legislators that have brought benefits for us. There is no better person with whom to begin than Dr. Vic Soderstrom of Whitewater and Fort Atkinson. We spoke to Vic recently, so that he could refresh us on the long Dr. Vic Soderstrom history he has had with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. For those of you who weren't practicing then, in the early 1990's the WSPM/WPMA was involved in one of its greatest legislative battles. The state was revising the Wisconsin Hospital Code, the rules that govern the legalities of running those institutions, including who is allowed on the medical staff. Our goal was to insert the word "podiatrists" right with MD and DO. Prior to that time, whether podiatrists served on the active medical staff, allied staff or not at all was optional for hospitals and we had great difficulty getting on staff at many hospitals, both large and small. Vic had been trying unsuccessfully to get on staff at the Fort Atkinson hospital, and discovered that his current state senator was also on the Board of Directors of the hospital. He was acquainted with her and approached her to get her support for our Hospital Code revision, as well as his joining the staff. Her response was that she would neither support nor oppose either our legislation or Vic's hospital application. Vic was upset and learned that Scott Fitzgerald was running against her in the Republican primary, so he made a point of meeting this alternative candidate, who was a virtual unknown at that point. He liked Scott Fitzgerald, gave him a contribution, and proceeded to take him around town, introducing him to people Vic knew, including the Administrator at the hospital where he was seeking staff privileges. Obviously, Fitzgerald won the primary and has gone on to a position of considerable influence in state government. To this day, when Vic sees him, Fitzgerald will tell people that Vic was the first person to support him and get his campaign off the ground.

The Hospital Code revision passed, Vic got on the medical staff, and our battles have moved on. However, this relationship keeps on paying dividends over twenty years later. We asked Vic for any suggestions he had for members contacting candidates/legislators. He recommended limiting your contacts to one or two legislators, but to get to know them and show up at their fundraisers often - two or three times per year if they hold that many. He noted that many of those events are small, often at private in homes, and the suggested contribution to attend is very low. Furthermore, since the crowd in also usually small and the candidate/legislator may have plenty of time to talk, it is a great opportunity to get to know each other. One doesn't need Direct Givers funds for those events, but if you have time to request a check and your account is funded, a check from the Direct Givers Program provides even more benefits for the profession. Vic noted that in first getting to know the person, you need to tell him/her only two things: your name and that you are a podiatrist/foot doctor. Until you become familiar with each other, those are the most important things, and any other conversation is secondary.

Vic noted that it is the personal contact that is vital. Sometimes, you can use other avenues, such as your children go to school together, of you both attend your kids' athletic events, or church, or any of a host of possibilities that may occur. Just don't pass up an opportunity to know this important person.

Finally, as we savor the last half of August and the campaign season gets into full swing, we want to thank the following members who have attended political fundraisers since our last report: President Nick Lombardo (two events,) Neal Katz, Vic Soderstrom, Tom Czarnecki, and Jack Hutter. We would also like to extend a special "thank you" to our members who have contributed their Direct Giver's funds. Your contributions allow the WPMA to have a presence at these events. If we call you, please respond favorably, as the benefits can be great.