CHES YEAR IN REVIEW
THE CANADIAN Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) like most associations has had to navigate changes necessitated by COVID-19. Over the past 16 months, both the national committee and individual chapters have regularly rethought and adjusted their approaches to the way they do business and interact amid the exceptional circumstances. The fluidity of the public health crisis has required flexibility, with decisions made and strategies taken often dependent on geographic location and their respective pandemic situation. In an effort to provide transparency, learning opportunities and create connectedness, here’s what CHES National and each chapter had to say about adapting during the pandemic. Answers were provided via questionnaire by Roger Holliss (CHES National), Colin Marsh (Newfoundland and Labrador), Helen Comeau (Martimes), Jim McArthur (Ontario), Mohamed Merheb (Quebec), Reynold Peters (Manitoba), Jim Allen (Saskatchewan), Mike Linn (Alberta) and Norbert Fischer (British Columbia).
CHES NATIONAL Connectivity The increase of virtual meetings through Zoom
now has become the default means when dealing even with just a couple of people. 16 CANADIAN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
Financial Health Many years ago, the CHES executive team had the foresight to make sure we had enough assets that could be drawn upon in case of a ‘rainy day’ and boy is it pouring right now. We have tweaked our fiscal approach throughout our operating budgets to be a little more conservative, but not at the detriment of meeting our mission of bettering our membership’s ability to provide effective and efficient healthcare environments. We also continue to conduct three-year future budget and asset planning, erring on the side of conservatism. As a result, we know we can manage through the next three years easily, if we continue to responsibly manage our spending and assets. Membership CHES saw membership decline by just over 12 per cent between March 2020 and March 2021, from 1,022 to 897 members. The association lost more associate members (73) than regular members (62), representing roughly 17 per cent and 11 per cent of total member losses, respectively. The overall decrease may be attributed to members who either forgot to renew or have not had the opportunity to do so; however, the data is incomplete. As well, a number of people often join CHES as part of registering for various in-person events. Consequently, the cancellation of the 2020 CHES National Conference, as well as provincial conferences both this year and last, has resulted in lost membership opportunities. CHES
