January 26, 2021
Hello ACCES, I am personally looking forward to 2021 and glad to have 2020 in the books with all the life changing events that it has brought to each of us.
We have just lived through one of the toughest years in our life. We all have been affected by the pandemic in one way or another, either through family or in our field of work. Many extra hours were put in and many first time asks of Clinical Engineering services, challenges which we met face on and in many cases went above and beyond.
With the burden of the pandemic and its uncertainties, I have some bad news to share, ACCES25 must be once more postponed.
It was decided early in the fall that with no definitive timelines for an approved vaccine, that we could not plan for and hold a Spring 2021 ACCES Education and Trade Show. This event takes a very large investment of time and effort which can not be lost to a cancellation at the very last minute.
The exciting news is that you can mark ACCES25 in your 2022 calendars for April 27 to 29 in Moncton, New Brunswick. We already have vendors knocking on our doors, keynote speakers booked, and venues confirmed to greet you. Most importantly, the ACCES planning committee chaired by Natalie Boudreau, is geared up and ready to start once again.
This year, in lack of a 2020 ACCES Education and Trade Show we still had the opportunity to award a Clinical Engineering Professional Award. I won't give it out the recipient here, you’ll have to read on in the ACCES newsletter to find that out.
It is also that time of year when the ACCES Executive team will be offer bursary opportunities to our members and their immediate family. This will be the fourth year of offering two $500 bursaries, last year we were happy to award both.
Finally, your memberships appreciation gifts from the 2020 drive have not been forgotten and will be sent to you shortly. My apologies to all our members for not having these distributed faster then this.
2021 will be so much better.
Brett Fraser
President, Atlantic Canada Clinical Engineering Society