News / Profession

Ohio Association Presses National Unity Issue

Second resolution urges members to support any national association “committed to moving forward toward unity.”
Editorial Staff

The board of directors of the Ohio State Chiropractic Association (OSCA) has passed a second resolution on national unity. While the first resolution, passed on April 3, 2007, not only demanded that the ACA and ICA merge, but also urged OSCA members "to withhold membership support of these national organizations until such time as a merger is complete," the second resolution responds to statements made by the ACA and ICA in the wake of the merger demand issued by the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA).

The second OSCA resolution, passed after "carefully considering statements made by the ACA and ICA," "strongly encourages its members to fully support any national chiropractic association that is also committed to moving forward toward unity by seeking a merger of national chiropractic associations." The new OSCA resolution does not specifically mention the ACA or ICA; however, Woody Woodward, executive director of the OSCA, emphasized: "Our members are bright people. They can read the statements made by the two organizations and make their own decisions."

Woodward added that while the first OSCA resolution was controversial, the intent was not to create controversy, but rather "to let folks know how serious we are about this issue and do whatever we could to help move this profession to unity. Our members are extremely concerned about the national health care debate, which is looming in 2009, and they are pessimistic about how this profession will fare in this debate unless chiropractic physicians are speaking with one voice."

On March 10, COCSA passed a "Resolution on National Unity" demanding that the ACA and ICA "set aside their philosophical and political differences and begin the process of merger." The bold resolution "urges the ACA and the ICA to begin immediate action toward merger with a target completion date of January 1, 2010." By May 1, the ACA had issued a response to the merger demand that concluded with the following: "ACA continues to stand ready and willing to begin merger discussions with ICA leaders. We invite our colleagues at ICA to meet with us to begin the discussions that will hopefully lead to a stronger and more powerful chiropractic profession."

ACA President Richard Brassard, DC, also wrote a letter to ICA President John Maltby, DC, recommending that a merger discussion begin immediately. In his letter, Dr. Brassard stated, "COCSA's resolution on unity challenges both the ACA and ICA to work together to pursue a new future for the chiropractic profession and the doctors and patients that our organizations serve. Accepting that challenge is difficult, because it requires both associations to set aside past differences to find common ground on which to build a relationship. I believe that we can build the foundation of sincere and earnest discussion about ways to address the threats and opportunities facing our profession."

The ICA response to the COCSA resolution, unanimously adopted when the ICA board of directors and representatives assembly met April 27-28, 2007, in Washington, D.C., for their scheduled 81st Annual Meeting, stated, in part: "[W]e can appreciate the desire to further the profession of chiropractic. ICA shares these desires but does not agree on the course of action being proposed. ICA continues to pledge cooperative effort in those areas where a common voice can speak on issues. However, on those issues where a separate voice is needed, ICA will continue to express that voice."

July 2007
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