By K. Richard Douglas
The 42nd state to join the United States of America has been inhabited for 10,000 years, and although European explorers made a brief visit during the 1700s, American explorers did not set foot on the land until 1805. The state of Washington, in America’s Pacific Northwest, was created in 1889 and named in honor of the nation’s inaugural president – George Washington.
While known for vast forests and apples, the state is also home to a decades-old healthcare technology management (HTM) organization that serves its resident biomeds and others.
“The Washington State Biomedical Association (WSBA) was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1983. There is little information available specific to those start-up years, and into the early 2000s, due primarily to the storage methodology. There was no centralized database and most activities, meeting details and statistics were lost with the eventual failure of the ‘organizational laptop,’ ” says current WSBA President Steve Ellithorpe.
He says that the early years of the association were busy and purposeful.
“The field was growing, and professional certification was gaining momentum. The WSBA began connecting hospital-based biomedical technicians and managers, ISOs, vendors and manufacturers through monthly meetings (except December). These events were held at hospitals, vendor/supplier and manufacturer locations and various restaurants,” Ellithorpe says.
He says that the primary focus of the meetings was to bring the biomedical community together, network, and provide education, as well as introduce new technologies, experience other biomedical shops and connect with vendor sales and service representatives.
“It was through these community connections and partnerships that allowed the WSBA to provide biannual symposiums. The WSBA also partnered with AAMI for the 1993 mid-year meeting and TechNation in 2018 for an MD Expo event; both in the Seattle area,” Ellithorpe says.
He says that with meeting locations predominately in Western Washington, the greatest attendance came from the greater-Seattle area. In the mid-1990s, one meeting a year was scheduled in Eastern Washington. In 2000, the WSBA symposium was held in Spokane and an eastside chapter was formed.
“The organization achieved a healthy engagement and turnover within the officer, board, and volunteers for most of the first two decades. Challenges with technology and competing virtual technologies, geography for local meeting travel and traffic, and fresh or new topics impacted meeting attendance and ultimately scheduled meeting frequency,” Ellithorpe says.
He explains that over the past 15-20 years, key individuals provided structure and leadership for the organization.
“Brandon Keith has served eight-plus years as an officer. Chris Walton served multiple years as an officer and as a volunteer. With his involvement, he created an officer handbook, further established a central document repository and used his experience to guide and mentor fellow officers and volunteers. Others, providing extended officer, board, or volunteer support, include Dennis McMahon, Ben Roberts and Jim Kenyon,” Ellithorpe adds.
During the onset and height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the flow of activities and planning for many organized groups was interrupted.
“Membership challenges have been cyclical over the years, and broader involvement for volunteers, board and officers has reflected this cycle. Dues were suspended for 2020-2021 to remove any barriers and accommodate virtual connection during the pandemic. Organizational sustainability relies on membership dues, and they were reimplemented in 2022. Dues are used to maintain our website and digital presence, domain registration, meeting support and grant program,” Ellithorpe says.
He says that the association’s desire is to create a conduit for information and education to the WSBA membership and HTM community through these avenues.
“This is also ‘the why’ to sustain and further develop relationships through the technical programs/community colleges and vendor partners. It allows the WSBA to connect across the HTM community and provide opportunity for that community to engage, grow in their HTM career and strengthen the WSBA,” Ellithorpe adds.
Keeping on Top of the Regulatory Environment
One area that the WSBA has emphasized is providing members with education and up-to-date information on issues facing the HTM community.
“The WSBA maintains a focus on education for its membership. In the past year, year-and-a-half, the education was less on technology and medical devices. Instead, more regulatory and industry topics have been presented. Topics such as medical right to repair, liability in health care, FDA 510K process for device manufacturers, and biomedical soft skills. The WSBA is supportive of efforts for medical right to repair and is working to inform our biomedical community of on-going activities regarding this issue,” Ellithorpe says.
Annual meetings and symposiums have been thrown off-kilter by the pandemic and the disruptions it caused. The group’s last symposium was pre-COVID and the organization does not have a symposium scheduled in 2023.
The group made good use of technology to keep members engaged, even when the pandemic prevented in-person get-togethers.
“Association meetings have been held quarterly over these past few years. Specifically, since COVID-19, these meetings have exclusively been virtual. In 2023, we are planning a mix of virtual and in-person meetings. Access to hospitals as host locations has changed over the years and become more challenging. Off-site locations are increasingly more expensive. Our officers and board are investigating more options,” Ellithorpe says.
The group also does its part to help the biomed community in Washington with funding for equipment.
“The WSBA does not have a scholarship program but does have a technology grant program for the local biomedical programs. This grant program makes up to $700 available annually for these programs to supply technology needs, such as test equipment or medical devices,” Ellithorpe says.
Additionally, the organization brings students from area training programs into the fold to get them involved.
“Beyond the grant program, the WSBA does maintain relationships with local technical schools/community colleges. Scheduled meeting notifications are distributed to program leaders and student membership dues are available at a reduced rate. Many of our symposiums over the years have been hosted at community college locations,” Ellithorpe says.
Again, the pandemic disrupted many scheduled events. The disruption has been difficult for many organizations to rebound from.
“It’s been over four years (pre-COVID) since our last symposium, and we are not planning a symposium in 2023. The WSBA and Oregon Biomedical Association (OBA) leadership have discussed partnering to develop a symposium and offering it across our collective memberships and HTM community. We are also seeking an opportunity to bring more regional events to the Northwest in the next one-two years,” Ellithorpe says.
Organizing and educating the HTM community in the northwest will grow stronger and more vibrant once more as the pandemic is in the rearview mirror. The WSBA will be leading the charge, helping biomeds and other members connect and stay informed.
