Dear Chapter Members,
The Ohio Chapter AAOP has faced many changes this year. One of those changes is that Rich Butchko, our executive director, has retired. Please join us in thanking Rich for his many years of service to the Chapter. He has been a huge part of our success, and we wish him well as he moves on to this next stage of life.
Financial constraints have caused us to make some organizational changes to the Ohio Chapter AAOP Board. We have elected to eliminate the executive director position and to distribute the responsibilities of that position to board members. We have also voted to hire a third party to help organize and assist with our spring meetings. We have enlisted Clinical Education Concepts (CEC) to help coordinate our meetings and to oversee and update our new website. Over the years Elizabeth Mansfield and Tom McGovern at CEC have helped other chapters and O&P state associations organize and run their annual meetings. They have been involved with our industry for many years and have much experience in marketing and event planning.
Obviously, COVID has affected all of us and caused the cancellation of the 2020 spring meeting. Because of the uncertainty surrounding this pandemic, the board has decided to have a virtual spring 2021 meeting instead of the normal in-person meeting. This will allow us to begin planning for that meeting in the midst of unpredictable times.
Going forward, we will continue to develop a virtual education platform in conjunction with regular in-person meetings. We will provide excellent educational and CEU opportunities through top-notch speakers. We will promote collaboration of like-minded professionals in the O&P community and provide networking opportunities with our peers, interdisciplinary healthcare partners, and manufacturers as they share new products, ideas and techniques. Our goal is to keep the Ohio Chapter AAOP strong for years to come by being an organization that provides value to our members and encourages others to join.
Challenge and change are part of our profession. The Ohio AAOP stands ready to navigate those changes and rise to the challenge in ways that continue to support our membership as we all continue to serve our patients.
Sincerely,
