2012 was a productive and successful year for the association. FHEA received the Platinum award for 2011 from ASHE, our fourth year for this top honor. The Spring meeting was the largest ever, with the CHFM Prep Course offered concurrently a great success; and just recently we had a great AHCA/FHEA Annual Seminar and Trade Show.

I hope that everyone had a great time at the 50th Anniversary Gala, and I want to personally extend my thanks to our past presidents who made the effort to be part of the celebration. Seventeen presidents, past and present, attended the Gala. I would also like to thank Alethea Vitray, Lily Salkoff, Linda Hollingsworth, and Debbie Starr for their assistance and hard work on coordinating the Gala.

FHEA will continue its support of The Science Screen Report. Through this support, the DVD series which examines recent developments and discoveries in science, technology, and engineering will be available to every middle and high school in Florida. This program may help influence students (our future members) to become interested in the engineering fields.

As this year draws to a close, I would like to recognize Rick Zurich and Skip Marsh for their many years of support and service to the organization. Rick and Skip are stepping down at the end of 2012 from their roles as state secretary and treasurer, respectively.

And moving forward, I would like to formally introduce David Kovacs as your new President.  Please take a moment to learn more about him inside this newsletter, and please support him as he takes over this upcoming year.

My thanks to all our Supporting Members and I look forward to our continued relationship in 2013.  As most of you, I recently received the 2012-13 Supporting Member Directory, and am gratified to see the number and range of these members who offer products and services to Florida’s healthcare facilities. 

Next year’s Spring Meeting will be held at the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort in May. I am looking forward to seeing everyone there for the golf and meeting.

In closing I want to thank all the members of the FHEA for allowing me the honor and the privilege to represent you as your 2012 President of the Florida Healthcare Engineering Association – my sincere gratitude. Best wishes to all in the New Year.

Gregory Hodgson, CHE, CHFM
FHEA State President