A longtime relationship between the Connecticut State Medical Society, a leading voice at the state Capitol on healthcare issues, and the Fairfield County Medical Association has fractured after what some members say were years of mutual mistrust and squabbling.
Get Instant Access to This Article
Subscribe to Hartford Business Journal and get immediate access to all of our subscriber-only content and much more.
- Critical Hartford and Connecticut business news updated daily.
- Immediate access to all subscriber-only content on our website.
- Bi-weekly print or digital editions of our award-winning publication.
- Special bonus issues like the Hartford Book of Lists.
- Exclusive ticket prize draws for our in-person events.
Click here to purchase a paywall bypass link for this article.
A longtime relationship between the Connecticut State Medical Society, a leading voice at the state Capitol on healthcare issues, and the Fairfield County Medical Association has fractured after what some members say were years of mutual mistrust and squabbling.
The two groups, which provide lobbying, professional development and other services to their physician members, officially cut ties in July, when the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) took a vote, later changing its bylaws, to “deunify” its connections to the Fairfield doctors group, the Hartford Business Journal has learned. It also restricted Fairfield County Medical Association board members from being on its board.
While the spat could be chalked up to internal politics, it may have broader implications for both groups, including shifts in membership and related dues revenue, depending on how things play out.
“It's never good to have a split like this,” said Dr. Robin Oshman, a Westport physician. “It's like a divorce. Nobody wins. There's always fallout from an event like that.”
The medical society said its decision to cut ties was a response to a similar action taken months earlier by the Fairfield County Medical Association.
Tensions rose this past summer, when the CSMS forced several doctors who were on both organizations' boards to choose sides, arguing that the dual roles would present an “irreconcilable conflict.”
Among other issues, there were also previous disagreements over some legislative efforts — including on bills in 2012 and 2013 that relaxed continuing education requirements and changed malpractice-related rules — to the point where the Fairfield association hired its own lobbyist several years ago.
Strained relations cropped up again in September at the medical society's 225th annual meeting in Southington, when a group of Fairfield County doctors were denied entry to the event to vote for society board seats. Security guards were present, as the society said it suspected there would be an attempt to disrupt the event at the Aqua Turf. Organizers also called the police after the Fairfield doctors were “verbally abusive” — a claim the doctors deny. No charges were filed, according to a police report.
Fairfield physicians said they were upset not being allowed to vote for the society's board members, including a contended president-elect seat. Oshman, the Fairfield County group's endorsed president-elect candidate, lost.
The medical society said it provided plenty of warning that attendees needed to register for the event and that the doctors who were denied access failed to do so.
Members of the Fairfield association said the medical society's communications leading up to the event were deliberately deceptive in an effort to control the vote's outcome.
“They've just done something truly egregious, to keep people out of an annual meeting because they were trying to control the vote,” said Dr. Randy Trowbridge, president of the Fairfield County Medical Association.
CSMS pushed back against virtually every allegation.
“In a profession devoted to caring, it is regrettable and embarrassing that this small group of disgruntled FCMA physicians would resort to angry, aggressive and threatening behavior for no real purpose, and in the process, spoil what should have been a celebratory 225th anniversary event,” the society said in emailed responses to questions from the HBJ.
Membership fight
The spat could make it more difficult for doctors to present a unified front to state lawmakers, either in trying to craft legislation or kill it.
Both organizations could also be impacted financially as they depend on dues-paying members to fund their respective budgets.
Since the two groups split, Fairfield County doctors now have the option of only joining the Fairfield County Medical Association. Previously, they were required to join both organizations.
Alternatively, Fairfield County doctors could decide to join just the CSMS, which signaled in August that it intended to start a chapter in southwest Connecticut — a development the Fairfield County association viewed as an encroachment on its turf.
“There will be an element of trying to get membership from us,” Trowbridge said.
However, the exact progress of that effort is unclear.
“We have numerous Fairfield County members who continue to be active in CSMS, and we will continue to serve them and ensure they are represented on our council,” the society said. “CSMS is obligated to remain the strongest advocate for physicians in every part of Connecticut.”
Fairfield County Medical Association officials said the group has approximately 800 dues-paying doctors, and some don't intend to renew their state society membership in 2018.
Meanwhile, the CSMS as of calendar year 2015 had 4,766 dues-paying members, who contributed $1.6 million in revenues, according to the group's most recently available not-for-profit tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Today, it cost $620 for an annual CSMS membership.
Membership has been a challenge in recent years for medical associations, as healthcare consolidation has concentrated physicians in larger practices or hospitals, not all of which cut dues checks for their doctors.
From 2013 to 2015, the most recent three years available, the CSMS saw its membership drop from 5,800 to 4,766 members. The Fairfield association's dues revenues fell from $401,000 to $352,000 over that same period. It costs $420 for an annual Fairfield membership.
CSMS downplayed any potential impact from the split.
“We foresee continued growth and success at CSMS, both next year and into the future,” the organization said.
The state society is the larger entity, with more financial resources, employing both full-time internal and external lobbyists, the group said.
Finger-pointing
Each side blames the other for the deteriorating relationship.
The CSMS said its deunification vote was sparked by the Fairfield County association's decision in Oct. 2016 to remove language from its bylaws
“The decision to deunify was actually made by FCMA when they changed their bylaws to conflict with those of CSMS, making them a competitor organization,” the society said.
The Fairfield association said it believed the medical society wanted to deunify in the near future regardless. They also argue CSMS wants to be the only game in town and prefers the county associations to be more like “social pods.”
Hartford and New Haven are among other county medical associations. Both are linked with the CSMS.
“I'm speaking for myself, but the feeling I get is that CSMS would like to be the only medical society in the state, which would make it easier for it to get membership and dues,” Oshman said.
After the Southington incident, two New Haven County doctors, Mike Connair and Emily Nolfo, emailed CSMS leadership expressing concerns about what happened and warning it could threaten the financial viability of the group.
“To any neutral observer, it would no doubt appear that the intent was to sway the vote,” they wrote in the email obtained by HBJ, adding “that sponsors witnessed this is unconscionable.”
The email continued: “The 'us versus them' attitude of those on the Council who orchestrated the excommunication of FCMA after years of mutual mistrust and squabbles over control issues has finally blown up in our faces. We believe the events at the Aqua Turf meeting threaten not just the moral center, but the very financial viability of the CSMS.”
Peace offering
Though the relationship between both groups has been strained, each said it hopes to quell the beef.
“While this FCMA decision [to deunify] is regrettable, we have made it clear they are welcome to come back at any time, as our bylaws allow, and we are doing everything to make that happen,” the state society said. “In the meantime, all Fairfield County physician members of CSMS are welcome and valued.”
Mark Thompson, executive director of the Fairfield County association provided this statement: “Although it was unfortunate that [CSMS] chose not to let eligible members vote in the election because they were not registered for dinner, and then to call the police on their own members, [FCMA] remains steadfast in its desire to work with the state medical society for the betterment of patient care in Connecticut.”
Correction: The original version of this story said CSMS voted to deunify with the FCMA in Feb. 2017. The vote was in July 2017, CSMS says. In addition, its bylaws were not changed immediately, but several months later, in September.
