The IWCI is sad to report that attorney Christopher Cross passed away in his sleep on Saturday September 28, 2024. Chris was 63 years old.

Those who knew Chris will remember him as one of the most kind, sincere and genuine attorneys we have ever had in the worker’s compensation Bar. Personally, I worked with Chris for over 6 years, and he was an immense influence in helping demonstrate how to practice law vigorously in defense of a client, yet in a compassionate and collegial manner. Having known Chris for 27 years, I never once heard him raise his voice or make any case personal among the parties or other attorneys. I will miss his laugh, his warm nature and his friendship.

Chris was a long-standing friend to IWCI and the worker’s compensation community in general. He presented at a number of IWCI seminars over the years and was a mainstay at our Annual Conference. If you did not know Chris personally, you definitely saw him around. If you did know Chris, you will miss him dearly.

Please join the IWCI Board in remembering our friend Chris Cross, and please keep his family in your thoughts. For those who are interested, his services are Friday, October 4, 2024. Details on arrangements can be found at the link below:

https://www.flannerbuchanan.com/obituaries/christopher-cross

Farewell Chris. We will miss you.

Steve Koers, IWCI President- October 3, 2024

I have always loved baseball. I grew up with the Chicago Cubs always on TV, I played in little leagues, All-Star and Pony leagues (way back before travel ball was a thing) and high school. My roommates in college played on the team and I just never lost my joy for the game. Much of it is just that it encompasses so much of what the summer is all about, and that sheer optimism and hope for what lies ahead. Now that baseball is back in season, it just feels like things are getting back to normal. The weather is getting warmer, plants are growing and joy and optimism for the future months are expanding. Setting aside that the runner above technically should have been out, but the way he used his helmet to touch the base just made me smile for a moment! That’s the joy of baseball and the anticipation of what might be next.

With that context, I just wanted to touch base and let you all know what is happening around the diamond at the IWCI and what is rounding third and racing for home.

We are rolling out some new content where we will highlight an IWCI Board Member so you can all get to know us a little better! We also plan on providing updated information on all future events for each of our Chapters. Please keep an eye out for this information!

As we mentioned in the last newsletter, the Northeast Chapter has re-started operations and has had a few very successful events so far. Keep looking out for emails from the NE President, Jordan Tait.

In more Board news, please join me in welcoming Angela Elkins and Andrea Grubb as our newest IWCI Board members! They have already been to a couple meetings, and we love their input. As a reminder, if you are interested in joining the Board and helping with our programming, please login into the Member section of www.iwci.org and submit a Board Application.

Finally, on the Board member front, we are sad to report that our Treasurer and (at least two time) past President Vernon Poland has announced his pending retirement and resignation from the Board. Vernon has been an extremely valuable and dedicated member of the Board for so many years. I know he has always been valuable in providing any guidance and assistance I have needed and has served so many different roles. It is rare for someone to volunteer so much to an organization, and we have been very blessed to have Vernon’s steady hand for so many years. We will miss you Vernon and thank you so much for all your incredible years of making the IWCI a better place!

Additionally, we are proud to announce the Dr. Courtney Johnson will assume the role of Vice President of the IWCI and will become our next President in August of 2025! With Vernon leaving us, Dr. Bob Gregori will also take over as our new Treasurer. Please join us in welcoming Courtney and Bob to these new roles!

We also have some excellent events upcoming, so mark your calendars!

You should be seeing emails in support of the 2024 IWCI Golf Outing on June 21, 2024, once again at Ironwood. Who will win the Coriden Cup this year? I know I want it back! Get those teams ready and please consider sponsoring a hole and joining in on the fun.

Our Annual Conference will once again be held at the Marriott North at Keystone at the Crossing. This year it will take place on August 8 and 9, 2024. We have an excellent slate of topics and some very entertaining speakers and are finalizing our agenda at this moment. Please look out for more information in the coming weeks.

We are also working on another fun event in the Fall. I’m not ready to announce that one yet, but we are looking at a fun and unique get together. We also are planning on a Holiday get together sometime in early December, so watch for more information.

Finally, we have a Membership Committee looking into some exciting additions to member benefits, including updating our website. We haven’t touched that in a few years, and it is time to add some new content. Also, any and all suggestions are always welcome.

Thank you for circling the bases with us. We hope to see you all at one or more of our events soon!

Steve Koers

IWCI President

Like many, I ushered in 2021 by saying good riddance to 2020! It was an unmeasured year presenting many obstacles and a “new normal” that we all hope is temporary. I would like to thank our members and sponsors for supporting our abbreviated educational schedule last year. We are cancelling our educational luncheons through the Spring of 2021. We will finalize plans for activities in the second half of the year, when COVID abates.
IWCI is pleased to announce that we will host an educational webinar on March, 4 2021, COVID in the Workplace. The agenda will include 4 speakers; a physician, an attorney, the Indiana Work Comp Board and a Master Work Comp Advisor. We plan to discuss COVID exposure and risk, claim history (to date), legal aspects and clinically what is being noted to include a discussion regarding Long COVID and how to treat the associated myriad of symptoms. The webinar will conclude with a panel discussion designed to address attendee questions. Stay tuned – more details will be posted on our website soon!

As we welcome a fresh, new year – may we all look forward to once again gathering together. I’m hopeful that we are able to resume our August seminar, whether in-person, remote or a hybrid event. Please know that the IWCI Board will work diligently to renew our educational efforts in a safe and fun way!

My parting thought for you…
Two years after the end of World War I and the last Pandemic (Spanish Flu), America ushered in the ‘Roaring 20’s’. Culture, media and the role of women in society revolutionized during this decade . The economy was booming! Let us have faith that history does tend to repeat, and the remainder of this decade will rock and roll!

Dr. Robert Gregori
IWCI President

With Labor Day, comes the end of summer and recognition that this year, like all others, has been flying past us.  Even though we were locked down for months and emerged wearing masks and social distancing, time has not slowed down.  Many of us have endured hardships and some of us, illness or worse.  At IWCI this year, we too have been managing without.  We cancelled most of our luncheons, our annual seminar, and the holiday party.

As many of you know, we normally host our Annual Golf Outing in June.  We elected to postpone the event this year for obvious reasons.  Fortunately, the COVID State numbers are starting to fall, and Golf venues have successfully been open for months.  Therefore, we are excited to report that on October 2^nd we will be hosting the IWCI annual golf event.  This year will feature the addition of the Coriden Cup, which will be presented to the winner of the golf outing.  The event honors a long time IWCI supporter and attorney, Terry Coriden.  The players will compete for the trophy, which the winner will hold until the following year.  The winner’s names will be permanently engraved on the trophy.

We recently opened registration and are happy to note many sponsorship spots have been taken.  However, we still need golfers!  So please support this years IWCI’s main event and sponsor a hole or register a foursome to golf for the honors of being the first winner of the Coriden Cup.  This year’s theme is “Legends in Sports”.  Participants are encouraged to dress as their favorite sports legend (please see our website for details).

Other events that are still on the schedule this year include a luncheon on October 15^th at the Ritz Charles, featuring spine surgeon, David Schwartz, M.D. with Ortho Indy.  On November 5^th, the Indiana Work Comp Board will be speaking on EDI update, claim filings/COVID, legislative updates and PPIs.  We hope to have many attend these luncheons live but the presentation will be available as a webinar for those not ready to venture out.  The North West Chapter also has a webinar on September 23^rd featuring Dr. Khanna (Spine) and one on Ethics in October (see website for details).

We hope to see you at this year’s golf outing and have every intention of resuming a full schedule of pre-COVID IWCI events, conditions permitting, as we move into 2021.  I am also hopeful that next year will be less stressful and a bit more normal.  Please stay safe.  I look forward to seeing you all in the near future!

One year ago, a viral pandemic of COVID’s magnitude was predicted by only a few virologists.  Although I recognized this potential, it was only a fleeting occasional thought.  This time of year, typically brings IWCIs annual seminar where many of us gather to be educated or catch up with old friends.  We would have already had 2 to 3 educational luncheons and been chatting about who had the longest drive at the Golf Outing, months before.  Well, as we all know, this year has been much different.  Who would have thought we would be wearing face masks for much of our waking hours or having to social distance when partaking in social activities?  Many of us are now working from home and the only happy hours we get to enjoy are virtual.  My educational engagements this year have been conducted online and many others postponed or cancelled.

I am once again saddened to report that your IWCI Board recently elected to cancel this years Holiday Party.  There was unanimous agreement that we could not safely host an indoor event with hundreds of people.  However, we did feel that an outdoor event where people could social distance posed much less risk and as such, we are moving forward with plans to host the IWCI Golf Outing on October 2^nd.  As this will likely be our only major event of the year, we are encouraging our sponsors to consider supporting this event.  As a business owner, I realize budgets are tight, but I also believe that the educational opportunities that are central to IWCI’s mission provide a vital resource for work comp community.  For those businesses that are weathering the storm, I would kindly ask that you continue your sponsorship of IWCI in order to help us be able to provide the same great opportunities to our members that they have enjoyed in the past.  I am hopeful that we will have plenty golfers out enforce to compete for the first Coriden Cup.  Stay tuned for the registration link that will soon be available on our website.

We are still scheduled for luncheons at the Ritz Charles October 15^th and November 5^th.  Dr. Schwartz will present on Spine Surgery in October and the WCB will be addressing questions raised in the recent survey to members at the November event.  We all miss the camaraderie of our group events but we are hopeful that next year we may return to some sense of normalcy.

Dr. Robert Gregori

IWCI President

Most of you are likely starting to resume a few activities outside your home, but are still cautious about fully normalizing your day to day schedule.  We are certainly not at the end of the road, but I am optimistic that soon we will once again be able to enjoy things like sporting events, concerts or going to the movies.  As I last reported, we were eager to resume our June and August IWCI events, potentially with the addition of a virtual component.  However, after much deliberation and diligence, the IWCI Board has elected to cancel the June luncheon and the August Seminar.

We appreciate the feedback many of our members provided.  Although a handful were eager to attend a live event, many were not ready or allowed to by their employers.  Some of our speakers also expressed concern about attending a live group event.  In addition, sponsor attendance and thus, their financial support, was on shaky ground.  Lastly, the costs to host a virtual event would almost double our expense and was somewhat prohibitive.  Given all of these factors, the IWCI Board felt the most prudent decision was to cancel the Annual Seminar.

On an optimistic note, we have decided to reschedule the June luncheon to October.  The IWCI website will be updated soon with the specific date. If you previously registered to hear Dr. Schwartz speak on “Spine – Surgical Decision Making in Work Comp”, we would ask that you remain patient as we anticipate his presentation will be just as exceptional this fall.  Although cancelling the ‘big event” this summer was a very tough decision, know that we are committed to our members and need to keep everyone’s health front and center.

As disappointing as this news may seem, I would remind you that our Golf Outing is scheduled for October 2^nd with a theme of “Legends in Sports”.  In addition, this will be the inaugural “Coriden Cup” in honor of attorney Terry Coriden.  I am assured that this year’s winners will not only have bragging rights but also their names engraved onto this trophy recognizing Terry and his years of service in the workers comp community. We are also actively planning the Holiday Party, which promises to be another great time at the Columbia Club Friday December 4^th.

We will miss seeing many of you over the next couple of months but that will make our reunions in October all the more special.  Thank you in advance for supporting IWCI during these unusual times.

Robert Gregori, M.D.
IWCI President

Equanimity: A good word anytime, but especially now.

For those of you who practice meditation, the word equanimity is part of your vocabulary.  As I try to start my day with a dedicated time for mindfulness, I often hear those guiding my breath using this word.  Equanimity is the ability to maintain an evenness of mind, especially under stress.  Getting through these times, maintaining calm can be challenging.  Pause and take a deep breath as we start to get to the other side of this pandemic.

I am sure most of you have experienced virtual meetings like Zoom with colleagues or friends as a way to maintain some social connectedness.  The IWCI Board has used this tool to meet and plan our course in these uncertain times.  We held off on hard decisions but feel we have a good plan for future IWCI events that we can now share.  Our goal is to offer these events in the safest possible manner that follows the Federal, State and Local guidelines.

For those of you registered for the luncheon with Dr. Schwartz postponed due to COVID-19, we are hoping to have the event as planned, on June 25, 2019, at the Ritz Charles.  I am assured from the venue that they can accommodate us, making sure to space seating so that appropriate social distancing can be maintained.  However, for those of you preferring to stay home, we will also offer a live stream of the event so you can “virtually” attend.  In the next few days, those that have registered will receive a survey regarding their preference so we can adequately prepare.

I hope most of you have blocked your schedule for our Annual Seminar on August 13^th and 14^th at the Eastside Marriott.  We have an agenda packed with informative medical and legal topics.  We are also pleased to announce the Indiana Work Comp Board will again participate this year. Currently, we are planning a live event with a virtual attendance option.  Recognizing we cannot predict the future, we are planning to have CEU credits available regardless of the meeting format.  The Marriott also assures me they will do everything in their power to ensure safety of their guests and staff.  Hopefully, three months from now we will all be comfortable attending an event of that size.

For those who participate in our Annual Golf outing, please note this year’s event will be postponed until October 2^nd.  Our Holiday Party is still scheduled for December 4^th at the Columbia Club.  Although many of these dates are months down the road, hopefully they give everyone something to look forward to.  While we are all eager to gradually resume some form of normalcy, we recognize we must all continue to do our part to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.  I am hopeful that scientific research being conducted today will help us to minimize future effects of this devastating virus.  Hopefully, we will be better prepared for what lies ahead of us and can face any challenges to come with equanimity.

Dr. Robert Gregori

IWCI President

Fellow IWCI Members,

Like many other organizations, we have elected to scale back activities in the near future to be proactive in our efforts to slow the spread of this pandemic virus.  For years, the medical community has discussed the inevitable expectation of a pandemic virus of significant consequence.  Clearly, it is difficult to be fully prepared for such an event.  While it is important not to let fear overwhelm our ability to make rational decisions, caution and safety must be paramount.  We are all very much impacted by COVID-19 whether exposed or merely affected by the social impact.  We are doing our small part to keep our members safe by cancelling next week’s Indy and Northwest luncheons.  Fortunately, Dr. Schwartz understands our decision and kindly offered to reschedule the event.  We are looking at potential dates in May or June, should the venue be available, and we will keep you all posted regarding specifics.  The Northwest luncheon will not be rescheduled.

I trust all of us can do our part to help contain this virus, so in the next month or two our lives may regain normally.  There is value in experience, and I trust we will be better prepared for future incidents.  I am hopeful that we can all stay safe and find some hope knowing that this too shall pass.