HJNO Jan/Feb 2020

56 JAN / FEB 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS COLUMN MEDICAL SOCIETY Orleans and Jefferson Parish Medical Societies Provide Social and Networking Events for Local Physicians ON October 20, 2019, OPMS and JPMS hosted a Saints watch party in the NOLA Brewing Tap Room. The event, sponsored in part by Patrick Dares of Edward Jones, featured craft beer, food, and a giant screen for physicians and guests to watch and cheer for the New Orleans Saints in their victory over the Chicago Bears. On November 21, 2019, physicians throughout the Greater New Orleans Area and guests were invited to join OPMS and JPMS members at a special wine social titled, The Health Benefits of Wine, featuring winemaker James Moises, MD. The event, sponsored in part by Gulf South Bank & Trust Company, took place at Oak, an elegant wine bar with tapas style dining and live music located on historic Oak Street in the Carrollton neighborhood. A New Orleans native, Dr. Moises is a practic- ing physician and professor of emergency medi- cine at Tulane University School of Medicine. In 2002, he began making wine in Oregon’s Willa- mette Valley with his medical school classmate Mark Wahle, whose family has vineyards in that region. The first vintage was released in 2009. To- day, Moises’ Vineyard &Wines is a small boutique winery, producing about 400 cases a year sold at shops and restaurants in the New Orleans area. To ensure they best serve the needs of members and pro- spective members going forward, Orleans and Jefferson Parish Medical Societies conducted an extensive needs as- sessment and several intense focus groups with academic, private practice, employed, and early career physicians in September 2019. A topic that consistently surfaced with physicians and those in training throughout the process was the need for more networking and socializing events with peers outside of the healthcare setting. With that in mind, the two physician associations went immediately to work on planning a couple of 2019 events to give physicians and their guests an opportunity to enjoy themselves and one an- other. George S. Ellis, Jr., MD President Orleans Parish Medical Society