OCA Foundation: Giving with Greater Impact

It was a very good year for the OCA Foundation in 2022.

We successfully reached an unprecedented number of goals that opened the door to a more effective on-line presence and in turn generated more opportunities for contributions to the OCA Foundation.

Many of the changes were long overdue. This would include the ability for supporters to make an on-line electronic donation and read a user-friendly website detailing the reasons they would want to support the next generation of gifted osteopaths.

Special thanks are owed to our new two-person team: Gretchen Weinzimer, Executive Administrator; and Alethea Caldwell, Managing Director. This team came to us with over twenty-five years of extensive executive experience and have worked together on many different corporations.

Ms. Caldwell’s experience brings both Governing Board and Executive experience in the public and private sectors of the Health Industry. She held Executive positions at the University of Arizona Medical Center; University of California Irvine Medical Center; Cedars Sinai Medical Center; Ancilla Health Systems; and Blue Cross of California. In addition, she was Secretary of Health for the State of Arizona. It is understood that Ms. Caldwell’s executive experience was well above our OCA Foundation pay grade. We are grateful she accepted the advisory position on a volunteer basis based on her commitment to our specialty. (She’s paid $1.00 annually for tax purposes.)

The list of accomplishments below was made possible by the new executive team and the newly assembled Board of Directors:

— Successful Relaunch of Foundation Website: Develop user-friendly features allowing supporters quick access to funding projects. The new Board wasn’t the first to consider the demand for making possible on-line donations, but the first to invest the monetary resources to design visually appealing pages to offer visitors a firm understanding of osteopathic medicine. Future features will include allowing contributors to learn where their donations have been spent, and/or designating projects to invest in.

— Generating Scholarships: Every effort is being made to maintain the OCA Foundation’s informal policy of extending a scholarship to all medical students or residents applying for one. The generosity of our physicians has made it possible to offer this policy, even during the Covid epidemic, with many courses conducted on-line.

— Recognizing Member Generosity: Physicians who have donated $1,000.00 or more in 2019, 2020, or 2021 were acknowledged at the OCA Conference held in St. Louis, MO in June. The OCA Foundation has received numerous gifts in the past year including $25,000.00 from the Three Cords Foundation. Many of our physician benefactors have also contributed five-digit donations which will prove essential in the funding of scholarships in 2023.

— Redesigning New Brochure: Readers learn their donations support a healthcare specialty with an irrefutable track record for excellence. Their contribution will support training the next generation of doctors in our specialty. OCA members are welcome to display the brochure in their private practices. Contact Gretchen in the office if you would like brochures (818-796-6750, osteopathicCAF@gmail.com).

— Board of Directors: The six member Board represents many of the most committed physicians in the OCA including: myself, Eric J. Dolgin, D.O., FCA, as President; Hollis H. King, D.O., Ph.D., FAAO, FCA, Vice President; John C. Reed, M.D., FCA, Secretary/Treasurer; Richard A. Feely, D.O., FAAO, FCA, Director; Quoc L. Vo, D.O., Director; and Christopher Stephenson, D.O., Physician Director.

Chief among them is John Reed, M.D., who assumed the role of Treasurer, and completely revamped our accounting system. Term limits are necessitating Dr. Reed’s departure as Secretary/Treasurer, but we created a special position to retain his services as a Director at Large. He will become a special advisor to the Board. Christopher Stephenson, D.O., is the most recent addition to the Board, and he has established a reputation for extensive research in the scientific achievements of Dr. Still.

In our most recent membership meeting, Bylaw changes were ratified, and Dr. Stephenson was elected to the Board. In addition, FORCE was approved to become a committee under the Foundation.

Eric J. Dolgin, D.O., FCA, President
The Osteopathic Cranial Academy Foundation