State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (SDMAC)

During a period of limited medical resources the SDMAC is activated to develop guidance that is based on strong ethical principles, the rule of law, and to ensure the equitable and fair delivery of medical services. The SDMAC is currently activated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SDMAC Advisory Committee Members

• Chair: Azita Hamedani, MD, MPH, MBA Emergency Medicine Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine (UW Health)
• Elizabeth Bade, MD Primary care, Medical Director (Scenic Bluffs Community Health Center—rural provider)
• Mario (Riccardo) Colella, DO, MPH Emergency Medicine Chief, Division of Emergency Medical Services (MCW) State EMS Medical Director (DHS)
• Chris Crnich, MD, PhD Infectious Diseases, Chief of Medicine (Middleton VA Hospital)
• Gina Dennik-Champion, MSN, RN, MSHA Executive Director (Wisconsin Nursing Association)
• Arthur R. Derse, MD, JD Bioethics (MCW), Emergency Medicine (MCW/Froedtert)
• Christopher G. Green, MD Chief Medical Officer (Wisconsin Hospital Association)
• Michael Gutzeit, MD Pediatrics, Chief Medical Officer & Chief Safety Officer (Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin)
• Michael Lohmeier, MD Emergency Medicine, Chief, Division of Emergency Medical Services (UW Health), Regional Medical Director (UW Health Emergency Education Center)
• Silvia Munoz-Price, MD, PhD Infectious Diseases, Enterprise Epidemiologist (MCW/Froedtert)
• Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD Infectious Diseases, Medical Director for Infection Control (UW Health)
• Leann Smith DaWalt, PhD Senior Scientist (Waisman Center), Director (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities)
• Marcia Stickel, RN, BA, BSN Advocate and nursing consultant for individuals with intellectual or development disabilities (IDD)
• Jon Temte, MD, PhD, MS Family Medicine, Associate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement (UWSMPH), Chair (WI Council on Immunization Practices)
• Pamela Wilson, MD Family Medicine, Vice President of Medical Affairs (Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers)

DHS Staff/Ex-officio Members

• Joe Cordova Emergency Response Coordinator, Threat Liaison Officer (DHS, Division of Public Health)
• Doug Hill State Contractor for Crisis Standards of Care (DHS)
• Jon Meiman, MD Family Medicine, Chief Medical Officer of Environmental & Occupational Health (DHS, Division of Public Health)
• Ryan Westergaard, MD, PhD, MPH Infectious Diseases, Chief Medical Officer of Communicable Diseases (DHS, Division of Public Health)

The SDMAC currently has two active subcommittees: therapeutics and vaccine. Both were established to develop recommendations to the DHS Secretary on allocation of scarce resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Therapeutics Subcommittee Members

• Co-chair: Alyson Capp, PhD Director of Ethics (Advocate Aurora Health)
• Co-char: Sarah Sorum, PharmD Executive Vice President
• Helen Marks Dicks, JD State Issues Advocacy Director (AARP Wisconsin)
• Steven R Leuthner, MD, MA Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and Center of Bioethics and Medial Humanities (MCW & Children’s Wisconsin)
• J. Njeri Wainaina, MD Associate Professor (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• J. Paul Kelleher, PhD Associate Professor (UW-Madison)
• Eric Marty, MD Director of Palliative Care (Agrace)
• Margret Nolan, MD, MS Physician Scientist (UW-Madison)
• Dennis Brierton, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP
• Elizabeth (Liz) Laubach, PharmD, BCPS Regional Director of Pharmacy (Ascension Wisconsin)

Vaccine Subcommittee Members

• Co-chair: Ann Lewandowski Founder (Wisconsin Immunization Neighborhood); Program Manager, Southern Wisconsin Immunization Consortium (Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative)
• Co-chair: Jonathan Temte, MD, PhD Associate Dean for Public Health and Community Engagement (UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health)
• Edward Belongia, MD Director, Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Population Health (Marshfield Clinic Research Institute)
• Silvia Munoz-Price, MD, PhD Professor, Clinical Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases (Medical College of Wisconsin); Enterprise Epidemiologist (Froedtert)
• Rob Gundermann President and CEO (Coalition of Wisconsin Aging and Health Groups)
• Mary Muse Chief Nursing Officer, Director of Nursing (Department of Corrections)
• M. Riccardo Collela, DO, MPH Professor and Division Chief (EMS Medicine); Director, State of WI EMS Medical & Trauma; Medical College of Wisconsin
• Mitchell Hagopian, Attorney Managing Attorney for Community and Institutions (Disability Rights Wisconsin)
• Rajiv Naik, MD, FAAP Medical Director of Informatics and Pediatrics (Gundersen Health System)
• Jim Conway, MD, FAAP Professor of Pediatrics (UW-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health)
• Thomas D. Harter, PhD Director, Department of Bioethics and Humanities (Gundersen Health System)
• Chris Schwake, MD Pediatrician (Children’s Medical Group); Regional Medical Director (Children’s Wisconsin)
• Daryl Daane, RPh Pharmacist Pharmacy Director (Department of Corrections)
• Dan Hopfensperger Former Director, Wisconsin Immunization Program, H1N1 Incident Command, Immunization Lead
• Arthur Derse, MD, JD Professor and Director, Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• Janet Zander, CSW, MPA Advocacy and Public Policy Coordinator (Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.)

DHS Staff/Ex-officio Members

• Devlin Cole, MD, MPH Preventive Medicine Resident, PGY-2 (UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health)
• Stephanie Schauer, PhD Immunization Program Manager (Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health)

All SDMAC-related meetings are public meetings and posted to the Wisconsin Public Meeting Notices & Minutes website. Public meeting notices and materials are posted at least 24 hours before meetings.

SDMAC

Meets as needed.

SDMAC Vaccine Distribution Subcommittee

Meets as needed. 

SDMAC Therapeutics Subcommittee

Meets as needed.

Current public meeting postings

Wisconsin Public Meeting Notices & Minutes website: to find an upcoming SDMAC meeting, filter by Upcoming Meetings and search for State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee. Public meeting notices and materials are posted at least 24 hours before meetings.

Past public meeting postings and reference material

Wisconsin Public Meeting Notices & Minutes webpage: to find a past SDMAC meeting, filter by Past Meetings and search for State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee.

Links for all recorded meetings

• SDMAC video webpage: to find past SDMAC, Ethics Subcommittee, Therapeutics Subcommittee, and Vaccine Subcommittee meetings.
• Long-Term Care Subcommittee videos: to find past Long-Term Care Subcommittee meetings.

Vaccine distribution

• Priority Group 1b
• Phase 1a Guidance for Vaccinating Entities to Prioritize COVID-19 Vaccine in Priority Populations
• Recommendations for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services when Distributing Phase 1a COVID-19 Vaccine Allotments to Vaccinating Entities
• Guidance for the State of Wisconsin on Distributing a Multiple Dose Series of COVID-19 Vaccine

Ethical frameworks

• Ethical Framework for the Allocation of Therapeutics for COVID-19 in Wisconsin
• Ethical Allocation Framework for Bamlanivimab Treatment of COVID-19 in Wisconsin

For an example of a lottery-based policy that is consistent with the ethical principles underlying this document, please refer to Appendix A from the state of Pennsylvania, about halfway down the page. Note that while the Pennsylvania example involves a weighted lottery, SDMAC’s Ethical Framework to Guide the Allocation of COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccines provides that an unweighted lottery, as well as non-lottery allocation, can be ethically permissible in some circumstances.

• SDMAC Ethics Subcommittee: Ethical Framework to Guide the Allocation of COVID-19 Therapeutics and Vaccines

Other documents

SDMAC Long Term Memos: COVID-19 Health Care Providers webpage (under the Memos tab, BCD 2020–19 to BCD 2020–21, June 9)

None at this time.