Last Friday afternoon something historic happened. Almost 3,300 Washington dentists made their voice heard at the Delta Annual Member Meeting by adopting game-changing governance amendments to Delta’s Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. Nearly 70% of Delta member dentists participated in this vote — close to doubling the participation in the special meetings we organized in 2017 and 2018. Thank you to everyone who voted, you made this possible!

The successful adoption of these governance changes means that we are on track to settle Bradshaw, Irwin, Russell, and WSDA v. Washington Dental Service, and that we have locked in a win better than what we could have achieved through litigation alone.

I want to thank all of the dentists who have supported our governance campaign over the past three and a half years. This accomplishment is bigger than any one dentist or WSDA. It exemplifies what we can accomplish when we work together to improve patient care. Please take a moment to let this sink in — especially in a year as tumultuous as 2020, when good news is hard to come by.

Last Friday was not the end of the book, just the end of an important chapter in our history with Delta Dental of Washington. I look forward to working with all of you in accomplishing even more in the years ahead.

We will share more about our work with Delta on advancing solutions to the state’s dental workforce shortages and other important topics as developments arise. To learn more about this ongoing work, please read the Memorandum of Understanding that Mark Mitchke and I signed on Friday after the Delta Annual Member Meeting.

Thank you for your support of organized dentistry,

Dr. Dennis Bradshaw
WSDA President