Greetings, Los Angeles Academy!
As 2025 winds down and the lights of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s begin to shine on Los Angeles, I am deeply grateful for each of you — Family Physicians who keep our county healthy. This year has challenged us, refined us, and reminded us why our work is so important. In uncertain times, we have once again shown that Family Medicine is guided by heart, determination, and hope.
We began 2025 confronted with public health wake-up calls that tested our systems and our resilience. From incoming infectious threats like the clade 1 mpox case to the devastating death of a child from an avoidable measles complication, we were reminded that prevention and science trust continue to be our most important assets. All of us feel that sense of urgency in the exam room and community clinic, but every conversation about vaccines, every collaboration with schools or places of worship, every word of reassurance to a worried parent, that’s also how we spread healing.
This year further demonstrated that the health of our patients depends upon the health of the planet. Wildfires and intense heat waves are not abstractions, these are what our patients breathe and live within. From counseling families about smoke exposure to collaborating with the LA County Heat Action Plan, Family Physicians have been Climate Health champions. This is not “extra,” it is at the very core of who we are, healers of people and places we care about.
We also faced the stark reality of an escalating primary care workforce emergency. Despite significant investment in CalMedForce, the reality is that the Physician shortage in California means the number of doctors lags far behind what is needed: more hands, more hearts, and more healers. Every unfilled primary care position means lost preventive care, longer wait times, and lost chances to connect. LAAFP, CAFP, and AAFP continue to champion fair reimbursement, strong residency pipelines, and assistance for those who commit to serve where they are most needed.
Public-Health budget cuts only added to these pressures. But when things get tough, Family Physicians deliver. We remain steadfast for our patients, ensuring continuity, compassion, and care over fear and bureaucracy.
You have shared how pharmacy closures and CMS rule changes have complicated day-to-day practice. But you’ve also demonstrated remarkable creativity: helping patients through barriers, incorporating telehealth into your practices, and preparing for upcoming legislative changes. Family Physicians are pragmatic innovators, taking obstacles and turning them into possibilities.
Public Health efforts from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health are continuing to emphasize the importance of immunization, cancer screening, and health equity. Our specialty is particularly well-suited to make those priorities a reality, to take policy and turn it into care, and data into dignity.
Amidst all these deep challenges, there is one thing that is most relevant: our patients’ trust. That is what we are great at as Family Physicians!
I couldn’t be prouder of the leadership we have had this year from each of you, from attending POP! and AMAM and FMX, mentoring early career physicians, advocating for a just health system, and leaving your doors open along the way — as Family Physicians do. You embody the best of what it is to be a clinician and citizen.
As you drape cobwebs and pumpkins, gather around for Thanksgiving with family and friends, and welcome a new year, take a moment to glance back at all you’ve accomplished. Each flu vaccination, each counseling session, each smile exchanged in moments of fear or fatigue, that is the passionate, diligent work that keeps Los Angeles healthy and thriving — and that’s you!
Let’s close 2025 with optimism. Mentor a student. Serve on a board. Campaign for equitable care. And never lose sight of the reason we do what we do, because health is the foundation of human dignity, and healing is a work of hope.
From all of us on the 2025 Los Angeles Academy of Family Physicians LAAFP Board, thank you for being the pulse of our county’s health. Wishing you calm, rest, and rejuvenation these holidays, and a 2026 with joy, resilience, and purpose!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry P. Abraham & the LAAFP Board
