Wisconsin Association on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

“It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that I have to inform you that former WAAODA Board Member Jim Aro passed away on January 19. He had dedicated his life to the AODA field. Jim truly believed ‘Recovery happens everyday,’ and his counseling helped many others believe and succeed, too. His tireless support of the WAAODA Conferences and Recovery Rallies resonated his steadfast commitment to the cause and the field. I know Jim was very pleased to see the large number of people who attended the 2004 Recovery Rally. I hope that he and his family were able to see all of the benefits from his generosity and hard work. Jim has touched many lives and made a difference. I know I will sorely miss him!”

Dr. Miller has just been elected President-Elect for 2005-07 for the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), which means he also will serve as President of ASAM from April 2007 through April 2009. He is one of Wisconsin’s own — and a national leader in a field that is critical to the health and wellbeing of the citizens of Wisconsin.

Dr. Miller is the Medical Director of the NewStart Alcohol/Drug Treatment Program at Meriter Hospital in Madison, as well as an Associate Clinical Professor at the UW Medical School. He was the founding President of the Wisconsin Society of Addiction Medicine (WiSAM) and is a Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association and ASAM.

ASAM is a national association of physicians dedicated to improving the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions, educating physicians and medical students, promoting research and prevention, and enlightening and informing the medical community and the public about these issues. ASAM is the nation’s largest medical specialty society focusing on addictions, with more than 3000 active members, who are also members of numerous state addiction medicine chapters, such as WiSAM.

ASAM’s major activities include publication of the textbook Principles of Addiction Medicine (for which Dr. Miller was a chapter author) and Patient Placement Criteria for the Treatment of Substance-Related Disorders (for which Dr. Miller served in the Working Group to develop the second edition, PPC-2). ASAM also administers the national
addiction medicine certification program for physicians.

Prior to his election as ASAM President-Elect, Dr. Miller had served ASAM in a variety of leadership capacities:
• As Chair of ASAM’s Reimbursement, Managed Care, and Quality Improvement Committees;
• On the Steering Committee of the ASAM Task Force on Health Care Reform (which developed the ASAM Core Benefit document in 1994);
• As ASAM’s Representative to the JCAHO Hospital Accreditation Program PTAC (to which he was elected Chair in 1998);
• As ASAM’s Delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates (1996-99);
• As Deputy Chair of ASAM’s Strategic Planning Task Force (2000-02);
• As Secretary of ASAM’s Board of Directors (1999-2003); and
• As the Chair of ASAM’s Public Policy Committee (1999-2004).

Dr. Miller is also active in the Wisconsin Medical Society, where he has served:
• As Chair of its Commission on Addictive Diseases (1996-99);
• On the Managing Committee of its Statewide Physician Health Program (1985-97); and
• As Alternate Delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates (2000 to the present).

Because of his wealth of experience, abundant energy and extraordinary commitment to the AODA field, the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services chose Dr. Miller as part of the leadership team to develop policy documents for the State Health Plan in the areas of stigma, screening, prevention, closing the treatment gap and family.

Dr. Miller was the inspiration and driving force for the AODA public health theme of the 2004 WAAODA Spring Conference (“Thriving on Challenges: Integrating a Public Health Perspective into Our Practice”). He also helped organize WADTPA’s first Legislative Breakfast, attended by State Senators and Representatives from throughout Wisconsin. This successful event is scheduled again for the 2005 WAAODA Conference, May 9-11, at the Madison Sheraton Hotel, where Dr. Miller also is one of the workshop presenters, presenting “Buprenorphine Versus Opioid Dependence: What Counselors Must Know.”

Please join WAAODA in congratulating Dr. Miller on his election to lead ASAM and in thanking him for his continued commitment and dedication to Wisconsin as one of our state’s guiding lights in the field of alcohol and other drug abuse.

For more information, please contact: WAAODA, 6601 Grand Teton Plaza, Suite A, Madison, WI 53719, tel. 608.276.3400, fax 608.276.3402, [email protected], www.waaodo.org.