Upcoming ICA Election for President

Forwarded by Dr. Tom Klapp for members of the International Chiropractors Association

It’s happened in Florida and Rhode Island.
It’s happening right now in Vermont. Your State may be next!
An Urgent Message From Dr. Tom Klapp
About the Upcoming ICA Election for President
(Call 1 888 705-4099 toll-free to hear a message from Dr. Klapp)

Dear ICA Member:

What’s happened in Florida and Rhode Island? They’ve changed the legal name of chiropractic to “Chiropractic Medicine.” How did you feel when you just read those two words? You probably felt the same way I do when I read them–ANGRY, and frustrated. Who is going to stop this from sweeping the country? The only one who will stop it is you, the ICA member. How are you going to stop it? Only your continued support of the ICA–and by getting more of your friends and colleagues to join the ICA will stop this threat. In my opinion, the ICA is the ONLY credible association capable of standing up against–and stopping–the forces of “chiropractic medicine.”

Now, more than ever before, the ICA needs strong, focused leadership to battle the forces that would steal our history, tradition and principle. The days of the ICA standing by and letting others do our work, are over.

Two years ago, Dr. Bob Hoffman was elected President of the ICA. In those two years, Dr. Hoffman has led a movement in the ICA. Under Dr. Hoffman’s leadership, the ICA has dramatically increased its communications to its membership and amongst the leadership. The ICA has begun to open the lines of communications between the ICA and the profession like never before. At our recent mid-year Board meeting, the Board of the ICA debated the concept of publishing a newspaper and mailing it to the entire profession on a regular basis.

Under Dr. Bob’s leadership, we’ve begun to put the “I” back in the ICA by sponsoring many ICA programs outside the US. For the first time, we’ve undertaken the strategic planning process that is so necessary for the health and well-being of any association. The pride, passion and purpose of the ICA has definitely increased under Dr. Hoffman’s leadership.

As you know by now, Dr. Hoffman has decided not to seek another term, and he has asked me to run for President to continue his initiatives and reforms. He has endorsed me to be the next ICA President and I have gratefully accepted his support.

The purpose of this letter is to ask you to support–and vote for–me as well.

Below are some of my qualifications and reasons to consider supporting me to be your next President.

My leadership platform for the ICA:

I will work to stop “chiropractic medicine” once and for all.

I will work to get the ICA’s message out to the entire profession. I believe it’s critical to begin to communicate our message to the entire profession–not just in the U.S., but internationally as well. The newspaper project (discussed above) is one that has explosive potential for the ICA’s influence in the profession.

I will work to expand the program and seminar function of the ICA. Our programs are a very effective outreach for the ICA to non-members. There is a tremendous need to communicate the ICA principles and values to our profession; programs and seminars provide a wonderful medium to do that. I will work to bring more success-oriented chiropractic programs, teleconferences, conventions, etc. to ICA members.

I will work to establish an ICA “Practice Hotline” to answer our members’ questions about practice, insurance, Medicare problems/questions, and any other issues that may arise for our members. I will establish an ICA “panel of experts” to make sure the answers to these questions are as accurate as possible.

I will work to establish a program for new graduates to introduce them to the ICA and to help them get established in practice (and pay off their often-astronomical student loans).

I will work for more and better strategic planning–both short and long-term. Planning, along with better communication, is the key to increasing our success. I have been instrumental in initiating the strategic planning process in the ICA. Now, we need to expand, improve and further implement it.

I will seek better ways to do everything. I will look for better ways to fulfill the ICA’s vision and mission.

I will continue to raise the level of communication from the ICA to its membership–and from the membership to the ICA. Maintaining a high level of two-way communication will keep everyone in touch with current events and issues in the profession.

Reasons I believe I’m uniquely qualified to be your next President:

I have leadership experience. I will provide the ICA with the kind of leadership that it needs to adapt to the ever-changing chiropractic environment. I have served in many leadership positions within the profession in twenty-one years of practicing chiropractic. The most important of these include: Board Member of the ICA; President of the Michigan Chiropractic Council; and President of the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA).

I have the respect of many leaders in the chiropractic profession. I have worked for over a decade in the ICA leadership–first as a Representative Assemblyman, then as a Board member.

I’ve also been involved in COCSA since 1992. One of my major accomplishments in COCSA was to help establish the mission statement that guides COCSA today. That mission statement reads: “The mission of the Congress is to provide an apolitical forum for the promotion and advancement of the chiropractic profession through service to member state associations.” The “apolitical” aspirations of COCSA began only after we adopted this mission statement in 1995.

This past April, COCSA sponsored a Chiropractic Leadership Conference where a veritable “who’s who” of the profession gathered to agree upon a common vision of the future of the profession based on the very ICA-oriented ACC’s Chiropractic Paradigm.

I want to serve. I want to make a difference in the ICA and in the profession. I want to take the ICA (and its message) to the profession rather than wait for the profession to come to the ICA. I am willing to do the hard work the ICA President must do. I’m ready to travel, to speak, to attend the meetings, to do the nitty-gritty work I believe is necessary to do this job well.

I have extensive experience in running a large state association. I ran the Michigan Chiropractic Council for eight years. During that time, our membership went from less than 100 to over 900 doctors. We went from being in debt and having to close our Lansing office due to lack of money to actually having a large surplus in our account. My experience in association management makes me uniquely qualified to understand the dynamics of the management of the ICA.

I can relate to practicing doctors of chiropractic. Like the vast majority of ICA’s members, I make my living practicing chiropractic. I have a large, subluxation-focused chiropractic practice. I have multiple associate doctors in my practice, which will allow me to devote the necessary time to the presidency. I know the challenges and problems as well as the great rewards and joy of practicing this great profession in the 21st century.

I can relate to new doctors of chiropractic. I have hired and trained many new graduates as associates in my twenty-one years of practice. I know their concerns because they’ve shared them with me. I know what new doctors have been taught and I know why the ICA’s message–more than ever–is what they need to hear.

I’m in touch with the profession. For the last five years, my wife, Kim and I have traveled around the country teaching other DC’s how to implement our benefit-oriented, long-term (B.O.L.T. Chiropractic Seminar) model of chiropractic success in their practices. I’ve seen first-hand how hungry the profession is for our message.

I’m for cooperation–not merger–with the ACA. Let me make this very clear, I don’t believe it serves the ICA’s best interests to merge with the ACA. Much has been said and written about why the ICA should–or should not–merge with the ACA. In the 1980’s, I voted against merger–twice. I’m still against it. It’s my belief that the ICA should pursue a course of cooperation with the ACA when it serves the chiropractic principle to do so. There are many points of agreement between the two associations and we should make every effort to advance the profession when we can. In those instances when we don’t agree, we will do as the ICA has always done–stand-up for what’s right and what’s best for chiropractic.

I will appoint some new committees and review the established ones. As the President, I will appoint two new committees that I believe are crucial to the success of the ICA and the profession in general.

I will appoint a “ways and means” committee (no, we don’t have a ways and means committee!)

I will appoint a “CCE” committee. I believe the CCE represents the biggest threat to traditional chiropractic values because the CCE determines what is taught in our colleges. The mission of a CCE committee will be to keep the ICA leadership and membership informed of changes in chiropractic educational standards and the activities of the CCE itself. I will appoint an ICA liaison to attend every CCE meeting possible. This person’s mission will be to express the ICA’s views on chiropractic education.

In addition to appointing these new committees, I will undertake a thorough review of all existing ICA committees to ascertain that each is functioning properly and effectively to further focus the resources of the ICA.

I will work to get the ICA’s message out. In the entire time that I’ve been a member, the ICA has never had a publication that it distributed profession-wide. Our ability to focus on our mission and to successfully promote our views has suffered. Everyone, it seems, is reporting on the ICA’s activities and telling their version of what the ICA is all about–except the ICA! As I mentioned earlier, the ICA Board has explored the feasibility of starting our own newspaper. We’ve taken the first steps toward getting our message out to the entire profession. I will make it a priority to see to it that the ICA’s newspaper is successful.

I will work to make the ICA more responsive. In the past, the ICA has often been accused of being unresponsive–to our members, to other chiropractic organizations, to internal and external challenges. Some of these criticisms have merit. The point is, that the ICA is a membership-driven association and as such, utmost priority should be given to serving the membership.

Growing the ICA will be a priority. Our chiropractic colleges are graduating new doctors at an unparalleled rate. Yet, the ICA hasn’t seen the growth that would be expected given the number of new graduates. For a variety of reasons, we simply aren’t reaching the new doctors. I will work hard to change this problem.

I am team-oriented. Historically, the ICA President has been an individual who has taken on many of the burdens of leadership alone. I believe there is a better way. I will work with ICA leaders (past and present), members, and staff persons to begin to cultivate the great talent we have within the ICA. The ICA should become a wellspring of leaders-in-training for our profession. I will work to nurture new, strong leaders for our future.

I have asked Dr. Gene Cretsinger, the Chairman of the ICA Representative Assembly, and the acting chairman of the Distinguished Fellows of the ICA, to run with me as my choice for ICA Vice President and he has accepted. All who know Dr. Cretsinger know he is a man of great integrity and wisdom. He is a solid, well-grounded doctor of chiropractic who the ICA membership can be proud of and who will raise the level of respect for the ICA–both inside AND outside the ICA. I am very proud of and confident in my choice of Dr. Cretsinger to be my “running mate.”

As your new President, I will work to bring all factions of the ICA together to make one, unified, dynamic, powerful chiropractic organization. I will work with the other members of the ICA’s Board of Directors, the Representative Assembly and the membership to take the necessary steps to raise the ICA to its full potential as an international chiropractic association. At the same time, I will honor and respect the ICA’s rich history and tradition as the conscience of the profession, the guardian of the chiropractic principle and the defender of our chiropractic values.

The following ICA leaders have endorsed me for ICA President:
(This is a preliminary list. More doctors are adding their names to it every day)

The Nominating Committee of the ICA
Dr. Bob Hoffman, President of the ICA
Dr. James Gregg, Past President of the ICA
Dr. Tim Tarry, Past Vice President of the ICA
Dr. William Caddell, Past ICA Representative Assembly Chairman
Dr. Michael Brickman, ICA International Director
Dr. Michael McLean, ICA Board Member and Legislative Chairman
Dr. Christopher Quigley, ICA Board Member
Dr. Hugo Gibson, ICA Board Member
Dr. John Hofmann, Past ICA Representative to the CCE
Dr. Charles Ribley, Past ICA Assembly Representative, Michigan
Dr. Michael Petrie, ICA Assembly Representative, Florida
Dr. Brad Robinson, ICA Assembly Representative, Virginia
Dr. Ken Hughes, ICA Assembly Representative, Michigan
Dr. Joe Lupo, ICA Assembly Representative, Michigan
Dr. Kerry Kilpatrick, ICA Assembly Representative, Michigan
Dr. John Russo, ICA Assembly Representative, New York
Dr. Stephanie Youngblood, ICA Assembly Representative, Nevada
Dr. Alan Lichter, ICA Assembly Representative, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Evalie Heath, ICA Assembly Representative, Zimbabwe, Africa
Dr. Stuart Hoffman, ICA/Chiro-Secure President
Dr. Kevin Fogarty, Past President, Florida Chiropractic Society

I have also been endorsed by the Michigan Chiropractic Council to be the ICA President.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read this and I look forward to serving you–and the ICA for the next two years.

For chiropractic,
Thomas M. Klapp, D.C., F.I.C.A.

planetc1.com-news @ 5:46 am | Article ID: 982763179