Merger mania is not just a Wall Street phenomenon. With resources stretched to—or beyond—the limit in many of APA’s district branches and an increased commitment to advocacy efforts, there is a growing movement for them to combine their staffs and finances for greater efficiency and influence.

The third set of district branches to follow the merger route are the South Florida Psychiatric Society, based in Miami, and the Florida Psychiatric Society, whose office is in Tallahassee, the state capital. The new district branch will take on the name of the Florida Psychiatric Society.

The pioneers in this endeavor were the Suffolk County and Nassau County district branches in New York state, which combined in January 1996 to form the Greater Long Island Psychiatric Society. Soon after, Indiana’s two district branches came together as the Indiana Psychiatric Society.

The 800-member Florida Psychiatric Society and the 300-member South Florida Psychiatric Society are joining forces to make better use of their financial resources, eliminate duplicated efforts, and simplify the legislative and public policy advocacy efforts, said Margot Adams, executive director of the Florida Psychiatric Society.

On matters dealing with legislation, regulation, and public policy, the two district branches have spoken with one voice through an entity known as the Florida Council of District Branches on which they are both represented. It is also the group that the Florida Medical Association has a liaison with on statewide issues, Adams pointed out. The merger, she noted, "will eliminate the need to always explain what the council’s role is."

Adams will serve as executive director of the new district branch; Doris Shellow, her South Florida counterpart, is about to retire. The Florida Psychiatric Society has had two-and-a-half staff members, while Shellow has long been the entire staff in South Florida.

When the merger takes effect, which was scheduled at press time—May 18—pending approval by the APA Assembly, the 1,100 members of the new district branch will benefit from the strengths of the two organizations, Adams said. She cited as examples the South Florida district branch’s "strong CME programs" and the Florida Psychiatric Society’s "stronger focus on legislation and public policy issues."

The Florida psychiatrists in the three southernmost counties, Dade, Monroe, and Collier, split off from the state association in 1971, in large part because of philosophical differences, explained Miami psychiatrist Daniel Castellanos, M.D. South Florida psychiatrists, most of whom practice in the Miami area, were focused more on professional issues pertinent to practice in a diverse urban area than were their colleagues in the rest of the state. In addition, they tended to be more psychoanalytically oriented, which gave them a practice framework that also differed from other Florida psychiatrists, he said.

In the intervening years, the differences became less pronounced, and the "goals and missions of the two societies have pointed more and more in the same direction," said Castellanos. Merger talk began in earnest about two years ago, he explained, when the South Florida district branch learned that Shellow was planning to retire after 25 years as executive director. That announcement forced its members to decide whether to expend its limited funds on hiring a new executive director or explore the merger route.

The result, said Castellanos, was that the smaller district branch agreed that the "economies of scale" that a reintegration would bring in terms of staff, finances, and clout outweighed concerns of some South Florida psychiatrists that they "would lose their identity as a cohesive organization." Practicality won out, he noted.

Castellanos is president-elect of the South Florida Psychiatric Society, but will be the first president of the new Florida Psychiatric Society once the merger becomes official. Wade Myers, M.D., of Gainesville, his counterpart in the "old" Florida Psychiatric Society, will become the second president of the expanded organization when Castellanos completes his presidential term.

As for some of the logistics of the merger, Adams pointed out that both district branches elected a modified slate of officers this cycle in which each elected some of the officers who will lead the combined branch beginning this month. "We were committed to maintaining geographical balance" among the leadership, she said.

The two organizations have also agreed to add two at-large councilor positions to the governing body of the new district branch. South Florida will become the Florida Psychiatric Society’s 11th chapter.

One of the most pressing problems is integrating the two databases, Adams said, along with the two different fiscal years and billing cycles. In addition, the two psychiatric societies have different dues rates, which will benefit South Florida psychiatrists, since the new organization will adopt the slightly lower dues of the current Florida Psychiatric Society. For the most recent fiscal year, the South Florida district branch set its dues at $425, while the Florida Psychiatric Society charged its general members $405. Members-in-training, who paid $50 to belong to the South Florida district branch this year, will benefit from the dues-exempt policy of the larger district branch regarding MITs.

"We are very excited about the merger," said Castellanos. "We think it will be good for psychiatrists and our patients."