The Virginia Point-of-Care Coordinators provides a forum in which POC professionals can gather to discuss current trends in POCT and what the future holds for this rapidly growing field.

Fall 2007 Meeting Summary

The fall 2008 VA POCC meeting was held 11/28/07 at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, VA. 

 

President Janet Burckell called the meeting to order at 1010 with a warm welcome for all attendees.  She introduced the current officers:  Lisa Durish, president-elect; Gwen Harris, treasurer; John LaRosa, secretary.  Lou Ann Wyer was introduced as past-president, and thanked for her continued involvement and support in the organization.

 

The vendors that helped sponsor this meeting were also welcomed and thanked: Abbott, MAS, RNA, and Roche.  Members were reminded that 2008 dues could be paid today, to fill out ballots for the next slate of officers, and to complete the evaluations at the end of the meeting.

 

The morning speaker was introduced next by Janet.  Navy Chief Joselito Jamero, after a brief biography of himself, spoke on the topic titled Blood Program and Medical Laboratory Services in Health Services Support [HSS] in the Theater of Operations. This was a very informative lecture on the levels of care taken on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, and covered areas from basic self-administered first aid to rehab back in the states.

 

Ann Snyder of Baltimore was introduced next to talk about the 2008 AACC meeting, to be held in DC 07/27/08 thru 07/31/08.  Important dates to jot down and remember are the POCC After Affairs event on 07/29/08 and the 6th Annual POCC Forum on 07/31/08. ASCLS will also meet 07/29/08 thru 08/07/08.  Ann mentioned numerous options for lodging and transportation to make sure no one missed these opportunities.

 

Lou Ann Wyer next talked about the process for the nomination and selection for the AACC POCC of the Year award.  Everyone, including vendors, was encouraged to become involved and nominate a worthy individual that desires such recognition.

 

Lou Ann next talked about the new AACC Point of Care Specialist Certificate Program.  Surveys and focus groups have documented the desire of POCCs to be recognized,  and this program can provide a certificate that the individual has passed the tests of eight study courses related to point of care and laboratory testing.  Numerous questions were asked of Lou Ann regarding timeframes, renewals, costs, and the testing.

 

Lunch commenced and was a prime time to network with colleagues.  Completed ballots were counted.

 

The Business portion of the meeting began at 1310 with a request by Janet for the next meeting site in the spring.   No site was offered, but the group was reminded that hospital sites were usually free of charge, while commercial sites were available for a fee.  No sponsors stepped up at this time to support the first 2008 meeting.  Topics suggested for the meeting included platelet resistance testing, aspirin,  Plavix, etc.  Cooximetry was also added.  A new feature for future meetings would be for POC programs to spotlight

themselves in about a 15 minute session.  The attendees were also asked if they had any needs, but there were no responses.

 

The election results were announced: 

  • Lisa Durish  -  President

  • Jackie Canaday  -  President-elect

  • Cathy Owens - Secretary

  • Vickie Donnelly - Treasurer.

All candidates were unopposed, there were no votes of no-confidence, and Vickie Donnelly had one write-in ballot for the office of President.  Nineteen ballots were counted.

 

Each elected official then gave a brief biography and introduction of themselves. The Business portion of the meeting concluded at 1325.

 

The last two sessions for the meeting were POCT highlights at two institutions.  Jackie Canaday gave a great detailed report on the Sentara-Williamsburg facility and program. Cathy Owens followed with a very informative and historical look at the Carilion Health Care System and POCT program in Roanoke.

 

The meeting wrapped up at 1430 with another THANK YOU for everyone by Janet, safe travel was wished for everyone, and the evaluations collected. 

Return to PointofCare.net Home Page  Last updated: 03/21/2008 Questions or corrections: Webmaster