*** NEW VIRTUAL MEETING IN JUNE ***
SPRING NEWSLETTER
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Dear Seattle Surgical Members,
After our first zoom meeting last month, I distributed a poll to the membership. There was consensus that they would like to have another zoom talk in June and to limit it to a single talk, and to not have a second, after dinner talk at the same time. With that in mind, we have decided to offer a second Zoom talk at 6 pm on June 29th. Dr. Val Simianu from Virginia Mason will be giving a 45 min talk entitled “Rectal Cancer in 2020”. Sue Lentz will be sending out a zoom invite to all members and with specific instructions about how to mute and unmute. We will plan on having at least 15 min for discussion and hopefully allow those asking questions to be viewed and heard by all. Once again, it will be a BYOB event. I hope to see everyone log on as it will be a fabulous talk. Sincerely, W. Scott Helton, MD Scott Helton, President
The board of directors recently met via zoom and held a meeting. The following issues were discussed. President elect. The nominating committee nominated Pat Healy, Professor of Transplantation and Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital to be President Elect. The board unanimously endorsed this choice. Please congratulate Pat when you see him. Finances. The organization has assets totaling $93,000 and we suffered a net loss of $26,000 last year. Expenses have been stable and the association has been frugal. The net loss in assets is due to a deterioration in our total number of paying members over the past several years and this presents a risk to the vitality of this 110 year old esteemed organization. A total of 112 members paid their dues last year for a total of $39,200. This is in contrast to previous years where there were on average 160 dues paying members representing a revenue stream of $56,000. Much of this loss in membership revenue is related to the retirement of senior surgeons. Hence, there is a need to also grow the membership and the board asks all members to reach out to their colleagues and encourage them to join our ranks. In 2020 to date, only 77 members have paid their dues for a total of $26,950. The board of governors understand the adverse consequences that the COVID19 pandemic is having on medical practice and the necessity for everyone to be more frugal and to make sound financial decisions in this difficult time. We understand the financial challenges before you today and in the near future. As you make your choices of membership to various organizations we hope that you will continue to value your membership in the Seattle Surgical Society and will continue to pay your dues as well as recruit new worthy members so that we can continue to be an important asset to the Surgical Community in and around Seattle. One thing is for sure and that is we will not let COVID19 bankrupt our society. Hence, we are taking steps to ensure our survival through these difficult financial times. Website. In the interest of transparency, the board has agreed to grant full access to all members of the association to view the finances and board meeting minutes of the society. These can be found at our website at https://www.seattlesurgical.org/ Your opinion matters. I would like to invite comments/suggestions from all members regarding topics and content to be discussed at the quarterly and annual meetings. A poll will be distributed soon to solicit people’s thoughts. Revision of our Bylaws. The association’s bylaws require substantial revision. The board will be distributing it’s proposed changes to all members 30 days in advance of a vote to amend the current bylaws 2021 Annual Meeting. The board has agreed to host the annual meeting again at the Arctic Club on February 5, 2021. A contract is being signed this week. Please plan to attend. Mark your calendars. Social Media. The SSS is going to create a face book page as well as Twitter account. We need to be present on social media for several reasons. First, its one of the most common ways of communication in the world to date. Secondly, it provides a platform for advocacy as well as sharing of ideas and marketing events. Thirdly, it is perhaps the best way to facilitate outreach in today’s world. We will be inviting all members to post comments as well as to share photos of meetings and other things of importance and interest as it relates to Surgery in Seattle. Upcoming quarterly meetings: the format of these meetings, whether in person or via zoom will be decided as we approach the dates and will depend upon COVID19 pandemic and speaker availability September 28: Scientific talk: Val Simianu, MD and Jenny Kaplan, MD, “Rectal Cancer in 2020”. After dinner speaker: Mike Sinnett, executive vice president Boeing October 26: Scientific talk: Marty Schreiber, “Whole Blood Transfusion” After Dinner speaker: Pau Lambros. “Solutions to the homeless crisis in Seattle” Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the Seattle Surgical Society for 2020! Congratulations is in order to Hugh Foy, our past President, and Kate Mandell (program director) for putting on a fabulous Annual meeting at the Arctic Club on February 7th. I am sorry for the members who missed the meeting as the venue was spectacular, the resident/fellow talks were superb and the panel discussions on Health Care Reform and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the surgical work force were outstanding and informative. A big thank you to all presenters who gave fabulous concise talks. The winners were: First place: Shanley Deal of Virginia Mason; 2nd place: Alex Lois of UW and 3rd place: Ryan Clark of Virginia Mason and Jay Zhu of UW. The jeopardy competition was once again hosted by the charismatic Dr. Sam Mandell. The grand prize of Pacific Northwest Micro Beers was claimed by Virginia Mason’s residents. The after dinner talk, “Seattle Past to Present” was an entertaining presentation by Seattle Historian, Knute Berger, whose father was a surgical pioneer in Seattle and member of the Arctic Club! In the spirit of having another great meeting in 2021, the Board of Directors has decided to host the meeting again at the Arctic Club. As all of you can imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic is going to radically change each and every one of our personal and professional lives this Spring and Summer. The necessity to physically distance ourselves will prevent us from having a meeting in the near future. Hence, the cancellation of the April meeting and unlikelihood of even a May meeting. A number of outstanding speakers for both the scientific and after dinner talks have been identified but we are not able to confirm their participation at this time given the crisis at hand. We will certainly keep the membership up to date with our plans for the quarterly meetings via email announcements. The Board will be meeting emergently via teleconference to discuss options for hosting the quarterly meetings at different times. For now, please keep the fall meeting dates of Sept 28 and October 26 on your calendars. It would be great if a meeting could be held during the summer months IF we are in the clear from COVID-19. In the interim, the board will be meeting regularly to address a number of issues that concerns The Seattle Surgical Society’s future. I have listed a few of our objectives below:
While an early Spring is upon us with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, so is COVID-19. This will be a unique and challenging year to say the least for everyone on the planet and particularly for us on the front lines of healthcare in Seattle over the next month. God speed to everyone. Be safe, be smart, and protect the vulnerable and your families. W. Scott Helton, President |
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