ASNY 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW!

20/20 Vision: Hindsight View

#ASNYPROUD & #ASNYSTRONG

Dear Colleagues:

On behalf of the Acupuncture Society of New York, we want to thank all of you for your support, commitment and participation in what will always be remembered as one of the hardest for us as professionals and human beings in New York.

What we did at the beginning of this pandemic in the first wave will protect all of the profession from having to endure months of fear, worry and panic for themselves and their families, as well as their patients who suffered throughout this crisis. As we end this winter with a second wave of this virus raging, we can also be proud of the amount of work we did throughout the year. We fought to be added to the Essential Services list without referral, wrote a Covid-19 Reopen Guidelines Manual, created multiple social media campaigns and responded to the US Supreme Court recently.

ASNY closed the year with its Annual Meeting fully online and added four new board members: Kim Creaven, Kat Mackenzie, Renee Nearpass, and our first Student Representative, Zakiya Cush.

As we head into the Year of the Metal Ox, we will continue our advocacy and public outreach. We wish all of you a healthy & prosperous 2021!

The ASNY Board of Directors

ASNY 2020 Annual Meeting

Record Numbers for

ASNY Membership, Elections & Meeting Attendance

The Acupuncture Society of New York doubled its membership this year with a notable increase in the number of students joining and the number of active participants on BaseCamp. ASNY had 20% of members vote in this year's elections (as compared to 10% last year.) Finally, ASNY had 93 registrants for its Annual Meeting which doubled the number that attended online and in person in 2019. ASNY's goal is to continue to increase the services, outreach, value and benefits for its members and hope to double the numbers again in 2021! We recognize that we exist for you and because of you! YOU ARE ASNY!

Video of 2020 ASNY Annual Meeting

ASNY 2020 Year In Review PPT with Notes

CONGRATULATIONS TO NEW & RE-ELECTED ASNY BOARD MEMBERS

ASNY 2020 Member Business Elections

Vice President: Peter Caron

Board Member Re-Elect: Carl Castillo

Board Member Re-Elect: Mona Yuan

New Member Elect: Kim Creaven

New Member Elect: Kat Mackenzie

New Member Elect: Renee Nearpass

New Student Member Elect: Zakiya Cush

ASNY Ends 2020 On a High Note!

DECEMBER 2020:

ASNY RESPONDS TO

SUPREME COURT OPINION

NEW YORK, NY, December 10, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Acupuncture Society of New York, (ASNY), would like to thank Governor Cuomo and the Supreme Court for recognizing the essential role that Licensed Acupuncturists provide during this pandemic. As the only group listed from the "essential health care operations" in a concurring opinion issued in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, New York v. Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York, No. 20A87, we want to clarify our role in the public health system as it has been related to "secular convenience." Acupuncture does not discriminate based on faith; nor does pain or addiction. Medical needs are not a secular or religious issue. Licensed Acupuncturists treat patients who may otherwise need treatment in emergency rooms for acute & chronic pain, stress, and substance abuse disorders. We decrease the burden for hospital emergency departments by managing serious non-COVID related ailments. While New York must pause for this pandemic, pain does not pause.

Prior to being added to the Essential Services List by Executive Order 202.6, ASNY, in conjunction with our New York State Licensed Acupuncturists developed the ASNY COVID-19 Reopen Guidelines: Recommended Best Practices to ensure the safety of our patients, practitioners, and the general public. The guidelines detail pre-screening, arrival procedures, waiting room considerations, treatment policies and post-treatment disinfecting activities that follow guidelines from the New York Department of Health and the CDC. Licensed acupuncturists understand that during these times, the safety of our patients is as important a focus as the treatments of our patients.

Acupuncture is an evidence-based non-pharmacological treatment for pain that is endorsed as an important option by the National Governors Association Report on Expanding Access to Non-Opioid Treatments for Chronic Pain Management. This evidence is why the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) covers acupuncture and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now covers acupuncture for chronic low back pain.

Finally, ASNY recognizes that in the middle of a second wave in New York, people need their support systems, whether secular or religious. We believe it is essential for our fellow New Yorkers to engage in all avenues of activities that bring them comfort, reduce their pain and stress, and safely find relief in difficult times. We are all in this together.

To View ASNY Reopen Guidelines

135 News Outlets Picked Up Press Release Globally: View Here

ASNY Member Submission Wins Video Contest for NCCAOM/ASA 2020 Acupuncture Medicine Day!

ASNY would like to congratulate ASNY Professional Member Dan Wunderlich for his winning video submission in the NCCAOM/ ASA 2020 Acupuncture Medicine Day Video Contest. Dan’s video entitled “Bringing Acupuncture Medicine to the Underserved” was selected as the winner in the Acupuncture Accessibility and Community Engagement category. We encourage all ASNY members to watch the uplifting and inspiring video which highlights the medical outreach work of Global Healthworks Foundation (GHF), the not-for-profit organization that Dan founded. It can be viewed using this website link: https://tinyurl.com/GHFvideo

This year’s annual celebration encouraged participants to reflect on the impact acupuncture treatments have within our local communities and through global outreach, in the context of how we as acupuncture practitioners can “be the voice, be the bridge, be the change” for healing in our hurting world. With its authentic volunteer commentaries and patient testimonials attesting to the far-reaching impact on more than 56,000 underserved patients, the winning video truly represents our profession at its best!

Besides having a busy acupuncture practice in New York City, Dan is heavily involved in humanitarian outreach work– primarily with GHF. The all-volunteer, charitable 501(c)3 organization provides high-quality, cost-free healthcare to medically underserved communities, serving most recently the indigenous communities in the Northwestern region of Guatemala. Typically, the healthcare services include acupuncture, therapeutic soft-tissue bodywork, Chinese herbal remedies, Reiki energy healing, rehabilitative body movement exercises (e.g., qigong, yoga), and nutritional and lifestyle counseling. In addition to direct patient care, GHF works to train local health advocates in the communities it serves to empower their communities with tools for sustainable health.

The winning video explains how Global Healthworks Foundation thinks beyond immediate treatment and healthcare delivery by planning for the sustainable accessibility of its community-based medical outreach programs. Two-three times a year, GHF volunteers and its Quiché-based team of local health promoters participate in large-scale medical missions, which offer acupuncture medical services to some twelve-fifteen hundred patients in a span of just five or six days. In addition, the Foundation’s ongoing Mobile Clinic program expands acupuncture accessibility by literally bringing the medicine of acupuncture to underserved communities throughout the Highlands of Guatemala.

During the pandemic, the Foundation initiated a COVID-19 Response Initiative to deliver Quarantine Kits to families in need. The kits were designed to minimize the effect of the global pandemic on families, and they contained healthy food staples, face masks, natural plant medicines, and instruction materials to help educate people on steps they can take to prevent and respond to the spread of the coronavirus. GHF’s local on-the-ground Mobile Clinic Team was able to safely create and deliver the Quarantine Kits following strict physical distancing and sanitation guidelines.

When asked why he does this work, Dan echoes a slogan for the Foundations healthcare delivery model: “Shifting Healthcare With Kindness and Compassion”. Dan responds: “I do this work because I can. Kindness has the power to change the world. It brings people together.” And, he adds: “Besides, doing good for others feels good!”

Dan says he is happy to model what ‘practicing good medicine’ means to him, and he is very proud of the healthcare practitioners that volunteer with GHF –which has included more than forty-five fellow New York-based practitioners. He describes each GHF volunteer as a true catalyst for change on a global level. Having said that, Dan adds volunteering on an international medical mission is not the only way practitioners can “give back”. “We can share our powerful medicine with those less fortunate, including those who do not have access to conventional healthcare, by volunteering in our own backyards, in our local communities – perhaps in a monthly cost-free or sliding-scale community clinic.”