January 21, 2002

    Happy New Year All!

    Society members and colleagues, this letter comes to you later in the year than I would have liked.

    As you know, our Society was without a president-elect last year so, after the events of last September, we are getting a late start. But your Board has been working on your behalf, having met three times since November.

    First, I am pleased to introduce our new board members:
     

    • Treasurer Gretchen Harris, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt, Manhattan

      • first year of second two-year term
    • Secretary Marlene Gallo, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse

      • first year of two-year term
    • Past President Linda McLean, Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester


    Members-at-large:
     

    • Alla Borsen, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan

      • second year of two-year term
    • Lucila Jiménez, Long Island Jewish, Long Island

      • first year of two-year term
    • Maureen Wilson, Mercy Hospital, Buffalo

      • first year of two-year term
    We are lucky that these former board members have agreed to stay on ex officio:
     
    • JoAnne Grimes, NYC Health & Hospitals Corp., Bronx 
    • Marsha Hurst, Director, Health Advocacy Program, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville
    • Kathy Wigfield, NYU Medical Center, Manhattan


    Thanks to all who placed nominations, agreed to run and who cast votes for these capable colleagues.
     

  • Donation to SHCA. Sadly, our national meeting in September was canceled.  While several of the board members and Missouri patient representatives were able to meet in a small session, National had already paid for several of the services, many of which could not be refunded. Billy Jones, President of the Carolinas Society, suggested that the state chapters make a donation to offset expenses.  I am proud to report that NYSHCA recently sent National $500 to help with the burden.
  • Friday, March 1, 2002 workshop: Introduction to Mediation. We are excited to offer this daylong, interactive workshop, presented by two attorneys of the Medical Mediation Group, Chris Hyman and Marc Fleisher. While many of us have been patient rep’s for years, this remains an area of strong interest. Please plan to join us at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, 15 miles north of NYC, from 9:00 – 4:30.  Registration and coffee begin at 8:15. $35 members, $50 non-members. Click here for more information and registration form.

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    Over the lunch break, Steve Levy from RadicaLogic will provide a short presentation and materials about their complaint management software, which some of our colleagues are using. Look for Steve at the annual meeting in Washington in April (details on our Events page). 

    Mark your calendars now! 


  • Upstate Regional Council: Unfortunately, the regional branch of our Society in Upstate has faltered this past year. We will be in the process of regrouping once we develop greater momentum on the State level. Thanks to Doug Burleigh, Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, for his efforts at Upstate this past year.
  • In the works: The board is working on a packet for your use during Patient Advocacy Week in April, as well as legislative issues for discussion at National’s conference in April (see enclosure). We are also tackling member retention/recruitment. We also need to move forward with the comprehensive core competencies document, produced by Marsha Hurst and Ruby Greene.
  • You don’t have to be a Board member to actively participate! Please contact me or any of the other board members with suggestions, ideas, ruminations, concerns, or constructive criticism. And please stay in touch with the Society by visiting our website often. It provides the latest news, job openings, a link to SHCA’s website, as well as many, many links by subject category, thanks to our webmaster, Deb Hornstra. We can’t function as a Society if the Board just throws a few things at its members each year. We will be soliciting nominations soon for next year’s slate so please, help us maintain our viability – we want to continue to help each other grow professionally, with the aim of better serving our patients, families and colleagues.