{ association insights } A unique and important election T
he original plan for my first article was to take the easy way out and have the MDA publish my “In- coming President’s Address” from
the November House of Delegates. Recent developments in the world of Missouri den- tistry, in the form of Delta Dental of Missouri (Delta), have changed those plans, and I felt it necessary to address our membership about these events.
First, some background. Delta Dental of Mis- souri is a non-profit (355 corpora- tion; 501c4) organization, and is governed by a 13-member board of directors. These directors are elected to staggered three- year terms in annual voting by the Delta membership. Every Delta provider is allowed to vote. Although a system is in place for providers to nominate a candi- date through a petition process, candidates for election to the board of directors usually come from the Delta board itself.
In 2013, two candidates went through the petition process, were nominated by provid- ers, and were elected to the Delta board. Last fall, five more positions on the 13-member Delta board were up for election—two public directors and three dentist directors. Five Delta board-nominated candidates and five petition-nominated candidates were running for these open positions (since this fall, an additional petition-nominated canidate has been approved). If the petition-nominated candidates were all elected, the breakdown of the petition-nominated directors to board-nominated directors on the Delta
board would be 7-6 in favor of the petition- nominated.
The election originally was scheduled to be held by direct ballot in Jefferson City on Friday, November 7, but has been resched- uled and reformatted to be held by mail, and to include Delta members in both Missouri and in South Carolina. (That last sentence is a significantly condensed version of a process that included multiple attorneys, lawsuits and a Circuit Court Consent Order.)
year, with five of 13 seats to be elected, the culture and the balance of power in the Delta boardroom could be altered significantly.
As with many elections, issues and personal choices may be complicated and confus- ing, but one thing is clear: If you’re a Delta provider, you need to be engaged and vote in this election.
To aid in this, the MDA had planned to host a neutral forum at its January Winter Session meeting where all board-recommended and petition candidates could provide information about themselves. Due to scheduling conflicts for many of the candidates, the forum could not be held. Instead, the MDA has made available biographical information about the candidates on its website at
www.modental.org/delta.
Balloting will be conducted by mail, fax or email beginning January 31, 2015 with ballots required to be received by February 13, 2015. This is a unique and important election.
Delta is in a relatively unusual position as a provider of dental insurance, due to its non-profit status. Its mission is not simply to be a dental insurance company, but also “to promote social welfare and dental health in the assembly of scientific information, dental research and for the purposes of benevolence and charity of civic interest.” This language is taken directly from Delta’s original Articles of Agreement at its founding in 1958. It is not run by a crew of anonymous, corporate board of directors elected by shareholders focused on profit, but by a board comprised of direc- tors elected by us, its provider-dentists. This
Election results will be announced, and the new Delta board will take office on Friday February 20 at the Delta annual meeting, to be held at Stoney Creek Inn, Columbia, Mo. The new board, whatever its composition, will have the fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of Delta Dental of Missouri. That will not change. What may change, however, is how the Delta board carries out its mis- sion.
All elections have consequences. The long- term consequences of this election will not be known for some time, but without your informed participation, the immediate re- sults may be more predictable. f
CONTACT DR. SOKOLOWSKI at president@modental. org with comments or questions.
The following is a summary of details from the Delta Dental of Missouri Notice to Members of Annual meeting. The full notice, and other information, can be accessed at www.
modental.org/delta. The 2014 annual meeting of the members of Delta Dental of Missouri will be held at 3 p.m., Friday, February 20, 2015, at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center, 2601 South Providence Road in Columbia, Mo. At the annual meeting, the president and chief financial officer will report on the activities and financial condition of the Corporation and announce the results of the election of directors. The Corporation shall carry out its 2014 election of directors in accordance with the following schedule: On or about January 31, 2015, the Corporation will mail out ballots to each member. The voting period for director election by mail-in ballot is January 31-February 13, 2015. The deadline for members to return their director ballots (via mail, email or fax) to BKD, LLP is February 13, 2015. A ballot will only be considered to have been received if it has been physically received at the designated address on or before February 13, 2015.
8 focus | JAN/FEB 2015 | ISSUE 1
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