For Immediate Release

 

Paul Kelley Named to New Technology Council

Group to Meet for First Time at June Conference in Boston

 

            Paul Kelley, CBET, Assistant Director of Engineering at Washington Hospital in Fremont, CA, has been selected to serve on a new Technology Management Council, which has been formed to advance the interests of technology managers at hospitals and other health care facilities around the country.

            “The Council is very important and should serve as a resource for the ‘rank and file’ biomed. We should give them tools to become certified and to advance their careers,” said Kelley, who has worked in the field for more than 25 years.

            Kelley is one of 20 technology managers named to the Council, which was created by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) to help increase the visibility and recognition of technology managers, promote educational efforts, and expand networking opportunities. The Council will meet for the first time at AAMI’s Annual Conference & Expo in Boston on Saturday, June 5.

            Technology managers—who include biomedical equipment technicians, clinical engineers, and other health care professionals—play a vital role in health care in helping to purchase, assess, properly operate, and maintain medical devices and technology.

            Kelley, who has an Associate’s degree in Electronics Technology and Biomedical Electronics, worked for 15 years at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where he worked his way up from a technician to manager. Six years ago, he started the department at Washington Hospital. Kelley is an active member of the California Medical Instrumentation Association (CMIA), and has held several leadership positions in the group.

            Kelley said he hopes the new Technology Management Council will help provide more resources to technicians. “We should also provide training and networking resources for BMETs and not just the managers,” he said. “We need to help develop these folks into the managers of tomorrow.”

The Council is an outgrowth of efforts started in 2003 by a special AAMI Task Force, which examined issues facing the technology management field.  The Council is expected to help advance the field, much like the Task Force, whose members helped publish AAMI’s special information technology publication, IT Horizons; and helped develop AAMI’s Employment Survey published in the Nov/Dec 2003 issue of AAMI’s journal, Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology.

            In addition to the Council meeting at the AAMI Annual Conference, a public forum will be held on Monday, June 7, at 5 p.m. to allow conference attendees to discuss the needs of the technology management community. For more information, visit www.aami.org/resources/BMET/news.html; and for a complete list of Council members, see the attached list.

            Formed in 1967, AAMI is a unique alliance of more than 6,000 members united by the common goal of increasing the understanding and beneficial use of medical instrumentation. AAMI represents a diverse cross section in the medical device community, including researchers, manufacturers, and users of medical technology.

(A Complete List of Council members follows)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Technology Management Council

Executive Committee

·        Ray Laxton, Director of Clinical Engineering Clarian Health Partners/ARAMARK Clinical Technology Services, Indiana (Chair)

·        Carol Davis-Smith, CCE, Capital Lifecycle Solutions, Premier, Inc., Arizona (Vice-Chair)

·        David E. Francoeur, CBET, Executive Director of Service Operations, TriMedx, Indiana

·        Rich Ogg, CBET, Lecturer, Trainer and Biomedical Consulting, Chairman of the Tulsa Area Biomedical Association, Oklahoma

·        Donald Trombatore, Director of New Business Development, Sound Imaging, Indiana

 

      Council Members

 

·        Richard Eliason, CBET, Manager of Operations Support at ARAMARK/Clinical Technology Services Division, North Carolina

·        Bob Stiefel, CCE, Director of Clinical Engineering Services, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland

·        Vickie Snyder, BMET, Manager, Biomedical Engineering-Fairview Southdale Hospital, Minnesota