10.25.2023 OMA Board Book

OMA’s Support of Local Obesity Group(s) Formation OMA BOT Meeting 10/25/2023

Prepared by: Teresa Fraker

Historical Context: The OMA pursued the concept of developing and supporting local OMA Chapters primarily between the years of 2018-2019 to determine the feasibility, fiscal ramifications, needs of chapters, etc. In informing these efforts, the OMA partnered with external consultants to best consider the path forward. The OMA announced publicly in 12/2019 the intent to move forward with chapters in twelve different locales across the United States, however, the program did not move forward due to multiple other competing priorities within the OMA including the pandemic and changes in OMA leadership to name a few. Currently, there are no existing chapters that OMA directly oversees, nor is there an appetite for the OMA to oversee these groups. Instead, the OMA can consider providing the local groups a variety of resources and various means of support as an additional revenue opportunity for the organization that has not been previously realized. Current State: The BOT leader most passionate about this work is Anthony Auriemma, MD, JD, FOMA, who has served in various prominent leadership roles with a longstanding local obesity in his home state of Illinois: https://illinoisobesitysociety.org/ As such, Dr. Auriemma has become informally known as the “local obesity society expert” to many obesity medicine clinicians across the country, who call on him for counsel, advice, and insights. Further, pharmaceutical industry partners such as Lilly and Novo Nordisk have been encouraging and fiscally supporting such local OM groups. Since the Fall OMA Conference in October of 2022 in Anaheim, CA, the OMA staff have arranged for space allocation in the host hotel for Dr. Auriemma to preside over an informal networking meeting during the OMA’s in-person conferences to gather these groups to share ideas, best practices, “how to” ideas, and the like. To date, there have been two such informal meetings, with a third meeting planned for 10/28/2023 from 5:30-6:30 PM CT during the OMA’s Fall 2023 Conference. The contact list(s) have been primarily communicated through word of mouth, therefore, the invitations to these meetings have been curated from the main contact list versus inviting all of the in-person attendees at the various OMA Conferences. There has been an average of 17 participants in attendance and while primarily anecdotal, it is estimated that there are currently close to 20 local obesity groups formed (or seeking to form) across the country. Because of the growing interest in this concept, the OMA Staff Leadership Team has monitored the number (and variety) of requests that increasingly come to various members of the OMA staff for support over the course of 1/2022—present. The OMA staff receives one to two requests per month for various types of “asks” from these groups, which in turn require use of the OMA staff’s time and resources.

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