Local chapter updates: Welcoming new Maryland and Oregon ACDIS leaders

ACDIS likes to be invited to its local chapter’s leadership planning meetings. It offers the national administration an opportunity to serve as a resource to the chapter’s volunteers and offer insight into the ways other chapters perhaps have handled an event or educational session in the past. Many chapters take advantage of this, including Missouri, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Oregon, and Washington.

Have a national representative on the phone with the local chapter’s volunteer leaders can be particularly helpful during leadership transition periods. ACDIS Associate Editorial Director Melissa Varnavas recently joined past and incoming leaders from Maryland for a phone discussion which recapped its recent successes and began planning for the 2018 calendar year. Olga Firstbrook, Kyle Jossi, Jill Kirchoffner, Tiffany Murriel, and Andrea Norris have steered the Maryland ACDIS Chapter well for a number of years now growing attendance at its monthly meetings to roughly 30 and growing its full-day event to more than 100. Now joined by Candace Blankenship and Deborah McClain the team hopes to fine tune its bylaws and hold regular planning calls for the core leadership as it continues to hone its networking offerings.

ACDIS also joined Oregon chapter for the inauguration (of sorts) of its new leadership team on November 13.  Lori Dzera, Linda Dawson, and Bonita Quinn will form the core leadership team and will be supported by Jennifer Oetinger, Kathy Kerfoot, and past president Molly Siebert. Siebert and the 2017 volunteer team spent many hours and much effort developing schedules, bylaws, and other tools for the incoming leaders and we’re sure such attention to details will be much appreciated as the team turns its focus toward education and networking events in 2018.

For many local chapters, leadership transitions take place in the fall, around a typical American election cycle. Once new leaders step forward or are elected the previous leaders serve as mentors during a transition period of anywhere from a few months to a year depending on their particular bylaws and leadership structure. If you have had a change in leadership please let us know, we’d love to join you on the phone and answer any questions you may have.

As a reminder, the Chapter Advisory Board is in the process of reviewing the annual formal local chapter agreement form. All chapter leaders need to read, sign, and return the form by January 30, 2018. Stay tuned for more information in that regard.

The following is a list of upcoming events for ACDIS local chapters. If you have an upcoming event you would like to include, please email Melissa Varnavas (mvarnavas@acdis.org) and Linnea Archibald (larchibald@acdis.org).

November:

• The Georgia ACDIS chapter meets Friday, November 17, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Columbus Regional Healthcare in Columbus. Click here to see the save-the-date! For information, contact Stephanie Arthur (stephanie.arthur@wellstar.org).
• The Central New York ACDIS chapter meets Friday, November 17, 2-4 p.m., at Lourdes Outpatient Center in Vestal. Click here to download the flyer. Please RSVP by Wednesday, November 15. For information and to RSVP, contact Pamela Shapley (pamela.shapley@ascension.org).
• The Minnesota ACDIS chapter meets Wednesday, November 22, 1-2 p.m., via conference call. For information, contact Faye Bakke (Faye.Bakke@essentiahealth.org).
• The Illinois ACDIS chapter meets Thursday, November 30, 1-4 p.m., at Prentice Women's Hospital at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. For information, contact Colleen Stukenberg (cstukenberg@fhn.org).

December:

• The Maine ACDIS chapter meets on Friday, December 1, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. For information, contact Valerie Parent (vparent@emhs.org).
• The Pediatric ACDIS networking group meets Thursday, December 7, 3-4 p.m. EST, via webinar. For information, contact Leah Savage (leah.savage@nortonhealthcare.org).
• The Maryland ACDIS chapter meets on Friday, December 8, 12-3 p.m., for their holiday meeting at the Maryland Hospital Association in Elkridge. There will be a pot luck from 12-1 p.m. For information, contact Candace Blankenship (candace.blankenship@medstar.net).
• The CDI Educator ACDIS networking group meets on Thursday, December 14, 12-1 p.m. PST, via webinar. Click here to download the save-the-date flyer. For information, contact M.E. VanGelder (ME.VanGelder@honorhealth.com).

January:

• The Westchester/Hudson Valley ACDIS chapter meets on Thursday, January 11, 2-4 p.m. More details to follow. For information, contact Kerry Seekircher (kseekircher@northwell.edu).
• The Illinois ACDIS chapter meets Thursday, January 17, 12-1 p.m. CST, via webinar. For information, contact Colleen Stukenberg (cstukenberg@fhn.org).

Save-the-date:

• The Kentucky ACDIS chapter meets on Thursday, February 1, 2018, 1-4 p.m., at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown. For information, contact Leah Savage (leah.savage@nortonhealthcare.org).
• The Washington Evergreen ACDIS chapter is tentatively planning to meet on Friday, April 6, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at PeaceHealth in Vancouver. More details to follow. For information, contact Lillian Dickey (Lillian.Dickey@providence.org).