The Kansas City Medical Society welcomes Scott W. Kujath, MD, FSVS, FACS, as our 2021 president. A board-certified vascular surgeon with Midwest Aortic & Vascular Institute (MAVI), Dr. Kujath is the chief of vascular surgery at Kansas City Veterans Administration Medical Center. He has been a member of the KCMS board of directors since 2007 and was president-elect in 2020. He chaired the KCMS Foundation board in 2018. He is 2021-2022 president of the medical staff at North Kansas City Hospital.

Chiefs' offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif will be welcomed as a KCMS Honorary Member at the October 21 Annual Meeting. He is the first medical school graduate to play in the National Football League. This year, he has spent nine weeks caring for patients in a nursing home in his native Quebec.

The Kansas City Medical Society has approved a statement on opening schools safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Decisions on school openings should be guided by science and health care professionals, take into consideration current trends in community spread of COVID-19, and include financial support to provide supplies and increase services for schools.

Thank you to the voters of Missouri and thank you to all the individuals and organizations that worked so hard for passage of Amendment 2. Now, more than 230,000 hard-working Missourians will be able to access the health care they need to remain healthy, contributing members of society.

Check out and share this new two-minute video of KCMS physicians urging the public to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The video was created at the suggestion of KCMS members during the July 11 KCMS webinar on COVID-19 leadership.