Happy Birthday! The Central Pennsylvania Chapter of HIMSS is now 10 years old! This milestone is a tangible demonstration that our founding members were right about their assumption that we could sustain a chapter here. The older, larger chapters at each end of our state did not believe we had the members or the energy to be a separate entity that would address the needs of the capital area and its surroundings.

Well, here we are at the 10-year mark and going strong with over 800 members representing industry, healthcare, and education. We continue to be effective in our political advocacy efforts for healthcare related topics such as telemedicine and medical licensure, and we have become even stronger by coordinating our legislative efforts with the other PA chapters. COVID-19 has challenged our former conference focus for annual educational offerings, but we pivoted to the virtual space with a beefed-up webinar series and plans for a spring virtual conference. We are also exploring virtual networking events focusing on the various regions of our area. Of course, we are always interested in exploring sponsorships with new industry partners to sustain and expand these outreach and educational efforts.

We owe a great debt to the early founders of our chapter and will be featuring their history in multiple events during the coming year. Watch for our announcements and celebrate their foresight and dedication with us as we look forward to our next decade. Listen to our thoughtful and informative webinars, plan to virtually attend our spring educational conference, and drop in to our networking sessions. The Board members of HIMSS Central PA want to meet you and keep you informed. And if you need a break from work-related online meetings, volunteer to do a webinar or join one of our committees. We are looking forward to continuing to improve your HIMSS experience.

Glenn Mitchell, MD, MPH
President, HIMSS Central Pennsylvania Chapter
Professor of Healthcare Informatics
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

September 2020