Alabama Governor's Newsletter May 2026
Ross B. Vaughn, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Message
Dear Colleagues,
It has been an exciting year so far for the Alabama ACP chapter. In addition to arranging an interesting winter update on artificial intelligence, your chapter leadership has been actively advocating on behalf of you and our patients at the state and national level. We also have an outstanding chapter meeting planned for next month at Gulf State Park that you will surely want to attend.
We are very appreciative to Dr. Roger Smalligan, Regional Dean of UAB Medicine Huntsville, for hosting our winter meeting in February at their beautiful campus. We revisited the topic of artificial intelligence with sessions on practical applications presented by John Fanning, MD FACP, Huntsville Regional Chair of Medicine, and on legal pitfalls and implications presented by Bradley Byrne, Jr., JD, CPHRM from ProAssurance. Hands-on breakout sessions allowed attendees to use multiple AI platforms to assist in making clinical diagnoses and therapeutic plans.
In March, the chapter sponsored a legislative dinner with 6 of our state senators and 4 state representatives in Montgomery along with myself, Dr. Alan Baggett, Chair of the Alabama ACP Health and Public Policy Committee, Dr. Austin Oslock, Vice-Chair, and ACP Laureate Fellows Dr. Louis Boohaker, Dr. Hope Lackey, and Dr. Will Southall. We had thoughtful discussions about the future of medical education in Alabama and the shared concern about ensuring that our state continues to develop and retain a strong physician workforce. We also shared our lack of support for proposed legislation which would have required additional unnecessary and cumbersome documentation beyond what is already required when prescribing controlled substances.
The national Internal Medicine Meeting in April offered an opportunity for our Laureate Fellows to meet privately with Shari Erickson, Chief Advocacy Officer and Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy for ACP, to discuss the challenges faced by the College and its members in the current political environment as we promote our strong beliefs in evidence based medicine. A joint reception with the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi chapters welcomed our members to San Francisco. And I was proud to lead our new FACPs, Dr. Faheem Shaikh of Hoover, Dr. Rachna Valvani of Florence, and Dr. Nicolas Bordas of Gadsden in the Convocation Ceremony.
Earlier this month, our Laureate Fellows, Drs. Lackey and Southall and I attended the ACP Leadership Day in Washington, DC along with Dr. Michael Broadwell and residents Drs. Matthew Jones and Javid Taghados from Thomas Hospital in Fairhope. We met with our congressional delegation and staff requesting support for specific legislation to help stabilize physician payment, ensure patient access to vaccines, and make medical education more affordable.
In June we will host the 2026 Alabama and Mississippi Chapters Scientific Meeting Thursday, June 04, 2026 - Sunday, June 07, 2026, at the Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 10.5 hours of CME will be available. We will have an update on ACPs national advocacy efforts by David Pugach, Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy at ACP. If you have not already registered, do so now.
I look forward to seeing you next month at Gulf State Park.
Ross B. Vaughn, MD FACP
Governor, Alabama Chapter
UAB Medicine Huntsville, hosts Alabama ACP Winter Meeting 2026.
John Fanning, MD FACP presents “AI in Medicine: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.”
Bradley Byrne Jr JD, presents “Risks of Using AI in Patient Care.”
The Moscone Center, San Francisco, California
Residents and faculty from across Alabama at Internal Medicine Meeting 2026.
Governors from Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi host reception.
Attendees at chapter reception in San Francisco.
New FACPs presented at Convocation, Dr. Faheem Shaikh, Dr. Rachna Valvani, and Dr. Nicolas Bordas.
2026 Alabama ACP Laureate Fellows: Dr. William Southall (UAB) and Dr. Hope Lackey (UAB-Huntsville)
Advocacy Corner
Your Health and Public Policy Committee led by Dr. Alan Baggett and Dr. Austin Oslock monitored health-related bills throughout the legislative session and provided recommendations to the governmental affairs staff of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama regarding ACP's positions. During the session the chapter hosted a dinner in Montgomery with state senators Jabo Waggoner, April Weaver, Larry Stutts, Lance Bell, Sam Givhan, and Dan Roberts and state representatives Norman Crow, Bill Lamb, Curtis Travis, and Patrick Sellers. We discussed ideas to retain medical school and residency graduates in our state. Our Laureate Fellows who are being groomed as leaders in the chapter also attended, giving them the opportunity to build relationships with state lawmakers for future advocacy efforts.
ACP Leadership Day in Washington, DC brought over 480 internal medicine physicians from 49 states to our nation's capital to advocate as a unified voice for internal medicine on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. We visited with both congressmen and congressional staff to request co-sponsorship of the following: the Resident Education Deferred Interest Act which would allow borrowers to qualify for interest-free deferment of their federal student loans while in medical or dental internship or residency; the Protecting Free Vaccines Act which would protect public health by ensuring that patients will have access to well-established vaccines backed by rigorous scientific standards and fact-based science, without cost sharing; and the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill that would help strengthen and stabilize the Medicare payment system by reducing the annual payment cuts in the fee schedule due to the budget neutrality mandate.
Through ACP Legislative Action Center you can enroll in the Advocates for Internal Medicine Network and easily send prepopulated messages to your legislators to support ACP's priority issues.
Dr. Javid Taghados, Dr. Matthew Jones, Dr. Will Southall, and Dr. Hope Lackey on Capitol Hill for ACP Leadership Day
Meeting with congressional staffers.
With Representative Robert Aderholt, District 4.
With Representative Shomari Figures, District 2.
Alabama & Mississippi Chapters Scientific Session
Thursday, June 04, 2026 - Sunday, June 07, 2026, at the Lodge at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama
Don't miss out, register today!