On Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021, in Boston, the ACEP Council conducted its annual elections.

ACEP President-Elect Christopher S. Kang, MD, FACEP.

Christopher S. Kang, MD, FACEP, from Washington is ACEP’s new President-Elect. Dr. Kang will serve one year as President-Elect before becoming ACEP President during ACEP22 in San Francisco. He was first elected to the ACEP Board of Directors in 2015 and takes on this role after serving as Board treasurer in 2019–2020 and the Chair of the Board in 2020–2021. Dr. Kang will become ACEP’s first Asian-American president.

ACEP Board of Directors members (from left) J.T. Finnell, II, MD, MSc, FACEP; Rami R. Khoury, MD, FACEP; Heidi C. Knowles, MD, FACEP; and L. Anthony Cirillo, MD, FACEP.

The ACEP Council also elected four members to the ACEP Board of Directors:

• L. Anthony Cirillo, MD, FACEP (incumbent), from Rhode Island
• J.T. Finnell II, MD, MSc, FACEP (incumbent), from Indiana
• Rami R. Khoury, MD, FACEP, from Michigan
• Heidi C. Knowles, MD, FACEP, from Texas

These Board members will serve three-year terms that expire in October 2024.

ACEP Council Vice-Speaker Melissa W. Costello, MD, MS, FACEP, FAEMS (left); and Council Speaker Kelly Gray-Eurom, MD, MMM, FACEP.

Kelly Gray-Eurom, MD, MMM, FACEP, from Florida is the new Council Speaker. She takes on this role after serving as Vice-Speaker since 2019. She will serve a two-year term.
ACEP Council elected Melissa W. Costello, MD, MS, FACEP, FAEMS, from Alabama as its new Vice Speaker. She will serve a two-year term.

It’s a historic moment for ACEP Council leadership. This marks the first time the Council has elected women to serve as its Speaker and Vice Speaker concurrently.

Council Conducts Hybrid Meeting; Considers Record Number of Practice, Clinical Issues

The 2021 ACEP Council considered 82 resolutions—the most ever—during its annual meeting Oct. 23–24, including proposals related to scope of practice, rural emergency medicine, clinical issues, and emergency medicine practice trends.

This year’s Council meeting was a hybrid experience, with some members of Council in person in Boston and others participating and voting online. The ACEP Council represents all 53 chapters, 40 sections of membership, the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

The resolutions adopted by the Council are not official policy until approved by the ACEP Board of Directors.

The full compendium of resolutions under consideration can be found at www.acep.org/council.

The 2021 Council adopted these resolutions, with some amended or substituted:

• Amended Resolution 10(21): Board of Directors Action on Council Resolutions—Bylaws Amendment
• Resolution 12(21): Permitting Bylaws Amendments on the Unanimous Consent Agenda—Council Standing Rules Bylaws Amendment
• Resolution 14(21): Establishing a Young Physician Position on the ACEP Nominating Committee
• Amended Resolution 18(21): Change to ACEP Conflict of Interest Statement
• Substitute Resolution 19(21): Clear and Complete Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the Council Meeting
• Resolution 21(21): Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Resolution 22(21): Expanding Diversity and Inclusion in Educational Programs
• Amended Resolution 23(21): Media Marketing of Value of Emergency Medicine Board Certification
• Amended Resolution 26(21): Advocacy for Syringe Services Programs and Fentanyl Test Strips
• Substitute Resolution 28(21): Consumer Awareness Through Classification of Emergency Departments
• Amended Resolution 29(21): Downcoding
• Resolution 30(21): Unfair Health Plan Payment Policies
• Amended Resolution 31(21): Employment-Retaliation, Whistleblower, Wrongful Termination
• Amended Resolution 32(21): Firearm Ban in EDs Excluding Active Duty Law Enforcement
• Resolution 33(21): Formation of a National Bureau for Firearm Injury Prevention
• Resolution 34(21): Global Budgeting for Emergency Physician Reimbursement in Rural and Underserved Areas
• Resolution 36(21): Mitigating the Unintended Consequences of the CURES Act
• Amended Resolution 38(21): Prehospital Oversight and Management of Patients Experiencing Hyperactive Delirium with Severe Agitation
• Substitute Resolution 41(21): Take Home Naloxone Programs in Emergency Departments (in lieu of Resolutions 40 and 41)
• Resolution 42(21): Administration of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Emergency Department
• Resolution 44(21): Caring for Transgender and Gender Diverse Patients in the Emergency Department
• Resolution 46(21): Effects of EM Practice Ownership on the Costs and Quality of Emergency Care
• Amended Resolution 48(21): Financial Incentives to Reduce ED Crowding
• Amended Resolution 50(21): Harms of Marijuana
• Amended Resolution 52(21): Standardization of Medical Screening Exams of Arrested Persons Brought to the ED
• Amended Resolution 54(21): Understanding the Effects of Law Enforcement Presence in the Emergency Department
• Amended Resolution 55(21): Patient Experience Scores
• Amended Resolution 56(21): Race-Based Science and Detrimental Impact on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Communities
• Amended Resolution 57(21): Social Determinants of Health Screening in the Emergency Department
• Resolution 58(21): Updating and Enhancing ED Buprenorphine Treatment Training and Support
• Amended Resolution 59(21): Use of Medical Interpreters in the Emergency Department
• Amended Resolution 60(21): Accountable Organizations to Resident and Fellow Trainees
• Substitute Resolution 61(21): Advocating for a Required Emergency Medicine Experience at All U.S. Medical Schools
• Amended Resolution 62(21): Support of Telehealth Education in Emergency Medicine Residency
• Amended Resolution 63(21): Physician-Led Team Leader Training
• Amended Resolution 64(21): Rural Emergency Medicine Education and Recruitment
• Amended Resolution 65(21): Rural Provider Support and a Call for Data
• Amended Resolution 70(21): Creation of Specialized Scope Expansion Advocacy Teams for State Level Advocacy
• Amended Resolution 72(21): Fair Compensation to Emergency Physicians for Collaborative Practice Agreements & Supervision
• Amended Resolution 74(21): Regulation by State Medical Boards of All Who Engage in Practice of Medicine
• Resolution 81(21): Leon L. Haley, Jr. Award
• Amended Resolution 82(21): Defining the Job Description of an Emergency Physician

Adopted in Part:

• Resolution 49(21): Forced EMS Diversion
• Amended Resolution 47(21): Family and Medical Leave

Referred to the Council Steering Committee:

• Resolution 15(21): Member Determined Council Representation

Referred to the ACEP Board of Directors:

• Resolution 37(21): Physician Pay Ratio
• Substitute Resolution 66(21): ACEP Promotion of Emergency Physician Led Teams (in lieu of Resolutions 66, 67, and 76)
• Resolution 73(21): Offsite Supervision of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants