In a Facebook post, the California Dental Hygienists’ Association (CDHA) announced it was terminating its charter relationship with the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA). The announcement was signed by six CDHA officials, including the association’s current president, Lygia Jolley, RDH, BA.
The state association cited the national association’s “intransigence” as leaving California hygienists with “no options.” The announcement said the CDHA had tried to negotiate unsuccessfully with the ADHA “over the past several months.”
In the post, the CDHA stated the ADHA’s legal counsel had replied to the request for negotiation by saying, “The Constituent Charter Agreement is uniform across the organization. ADHA will not modify the charter agreement."
On Facebook, the CDHA declared, “What CDHA needs is ADHA to make changes to key provisions of the proposed charter agreement. ADHA remains unwilling to even consider this concept.”
The CDHA apparently was angered by the ADHA’s stance, declaring the Facebook announcement came earlier than a planned discussion about the charter agreement at the CDHA's house of delegates meeting in June. The state association said the ADHA was “communicating directly” with the state’s dental hygienists in an effort to circumvent the CDHA decision.
Although several factors behind the CDHA decision have been cited in off-the-record conversations with RDH magazine editors, the Facebook announcement focused solely on “whether the benefits provided by ADHA justify the dues ADHA imposes.”
