Old Pioneer Hall on J Street in Old Town Sacramento was the site of CMA's first meeting in 1856. Photo courtesy of the City of Sacramento, Convention, Culture, and Leisure Department.

CMA was founded in 1856 by a modest group of 100 physicians who gathered in Sacramento’s Pioneer Hall on J Street. Delegates then were concerned with “mutual improvement, a study of the state’s growing health problems and what to do about ‘that everlasting parasite of medicine, quackery.”

Today, 150 years later, we are 35,000 physicians strong and growing. Although we’ve seen a lot of changes in patient care, that basic goal is still thriving today. “Physicians dedicated to the health of Californians.” It’s the slogan on our letterhead and it sums up CMA’s role in the history, the present, and the future of California.

CMA next week will kick off a year long 150th anniversary celebration, with a press conference and historical presentation at the site of the association’s first meeting in what is now Old Town Sacramento. Following the press conference, CMA will host a luncheon at its downtown Sacramento headquarters.

Past and present CMA officers will attend, as will a number of legislators, public health officials, health care VIPs, and CMA and county medical society staff.

Contact: CMA Communications, 916/551-2864 or mgrant@cmanet.org.