The 8^th annual VSHE conference has come and gone. Once again, this year was filled with positive energy, good presentations, and many conversations. Hopefully you took the time to see old friends, start new relationships, and learn something new.

The Board of Directors has reviewed your survey comments and are looking to make next year’s conference bigger and better. VSHE has only been around for a just over a decade but has proven itself as an “up and coming” group within ASHE. We organize our conferences and quarterly meetings around quality and timely speakers. In 2018, we plan to expand our circle of influence with more educational opportunities, more community outreach and greater workforce development.

As I take the position of VSHE President for 2017-18, I would like to outline my goals for the year:  

​1. That we work to increase our healthcare membership by reaching out to hospitals across the state who have no VSHE members.
2. That we expand our relationship with SkillsUSA and county schools, colleges, and universities to help the future workforce and leaders of our industry.
3. That we continue our commitment to education by providing quality topics at our meetings, promoting ASHE, the Owensboro HFL course and the Kentucky CHT training programs.
4. That we finalize discussions on having a one-day safety conference in the fall.

Becoming a better organization does not happen because just one person contributes a lot. It happens because a lot of people do a little; do their part. I know time is tight, but if we can find time to visit a tech center once a month, convince a fellow co-worker to join VSHE, or assist the VSHE Board with a new initiative, VSHE will be better tomorrow than it is today.

We hope that you will take advantage of the many benefits that come with your membership, and that you use the Virginia Society of Healthcare Engineers as a forum for the exchange of innovative ideas, practical solutions to problems, and as a resource for current developments in the healthcare industry. Please contact me with your thoughts! joseph.auricchio@vcuhealth.org

~Joe Auricchio BS, CHFM
VSHE President 2017-2018

As I transition from the 2016-17 VSHE President to Advocacy Liaison, I would like to thank everyone who has been a member of VSHE over the past year.  I would especially like to thank the VSHE Board for their support and willingness to serve.  What a great group of professionals and proven leaders.  I would also like to thank all of the VSHE supporters, sponsors, vendors and contractors.  We in healthcare cannot be successful without the quality companies that provide services and products to us.  Thank you to all for your support.  VSHE is a great organization!

I’d like to thank all who participated in the annual conference in Williamsburg.  All facets of this conference were outstanding.  I am eager to see what lies ahead for VSHE.  There are so many opportunities for growth in membership, support for healthcare engineers, and new ways to provide valuable information to all members.  It’s exciting to see the Board’s focus on making VSHE a quality organization.

As your Advocacy Liaison for 2017-18, I will endeavor to keep you updated with the valuable information from ASHE. This week I attended an ASHE Advocacy conference, and will sending the presentation to the membership for your review. Also, last week, we sent an announcement to our VSHE Members from ASHE asking for your assistance by attending the NFPA Conference in Boston, and providing input to NFPA 99 and 101.  I am happy to report: You responded! Well over 100 ASHE members from across the nation attended.  Thank you! ASHE made an impact.

I wish for all to have a great and safe summer.  Enjoy time with your family and friends.  

~ Rick Sanders
 VSHE Immediate Past President

First, please welcome our new Co-Chair, Lindsay Davis. Our Annual VSHE Conference was a great success. The registrant mix of specialty component vendors, contractors, professional engineers and architects and over 15 Health Systems provided each attendee with a deeper perspective of what we are all working to continuously understand and improve, the Patient’s Environment of Care and provision of efficient, effective, reliable infrastructure for today and into tomorrow.

We presented our VSHE Annual Awards at the conference; and the winners are named below. Congratulations to all.​

2017 Awards
VSHE recognized key partners that have made a significant contribution to the healthcare engineering field in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They are:

2017 President’s Award:
The Virginia Society of Healthcare Engineers (VSHE) 2017 President’s Award is presented to Robert (Bob) Reardon.

Bob Reardon has been an inspirational leader and an active member of VSHE from 2008 to the present, and has contributed to the growing success of the organization, leaders of VSHE, healthcare engineers, and to the contractors and vendors that support VSHE.

Bob was a member of the startup group in 2008 that established the Central District and joined with the Hampton Roads District and the Blue Ridge District; solidifying Virginia Society of Healthcare Engineers.  Bob provided great resources as the key point of contact for advocacy, and then moved into other leadership roles for VSHE.  Bob was then elected as the President of VSHE in 2013-2014, and then continued as the President for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 terms.

Bob has also been a strong supporter of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE), participating in the Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) annual meeting and the ASHE Annual Convention.

Through Bob’s tenure, VSHE grew to a membership of over 200, and the annual education and vendor exhibition conference grew to over 300 participants.

The members of VSHE appreciate the strong leadership that Bob has provided over the years. The VSHE Board, VSHE members and VSHE supporters thank you for a job well done.

We look forward to keeping you up to date on our Healthcare Industry!

The VSHE Membership continues to grow in numbers across all of our districts. What is it that attracts our members and brings added value to their career and professional development? Whenever I ask someone why they joined our organization they usually respond with an answer that pivots on one of the following points:

 1. Education- Our members like the fact we provide them with educational programs to gain industry knowledge and gain CEU’s throughout the year.

2. Professional Networking- The peer to peer relationships provide our members with the opportunity to share knowledge and experience.

3.  Advocacy- Our members want, and need, to know the latest trends and changes associated with regulatory standards and best practices.

Take a few moments to introduce a friend or colleague to VSHE and encourage them to get involved so they don’t miss out on the value and benefit of being a VSHE Member.

Regards!
~ Jerry Baker
VSHE Membership Chair
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Greetings! These are exciting times for the Blue Ridge District as we welcome our new team serving our local members. The team includes Marty Misicko as the Statewide VSHE President-Elect for 2018-19, Scott Blankenship as the Program Chair, Ashley Solbach as Membership Chair, Justin Biller as District Co-Chair, and Marty Misicko as District Chair.  Our team is enthusiastically looking forward to a productive year of service for our members. Visit the VSHE website for their contact info. We hope to hear from you!

Recently, one of our own VSHE Blue Ridge members was able to attend the annual technical meeting of NFPA in Boston.  NFPA Healthcare-focused members, along with ASHE members, were able to successfully support the expansion of smoke compartment maximum space limits in health care occupancies for both new and existing facilities to 40,000 square feet from the current 22,500 square feet. This move provides hospitals with greater flexibility in creating single patient rooms, which as ASHE representatives testified, "improves patient satisfaction and reduces healthcare-associated infections." Although these changes will not be enforced until adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it is still of great benefit to our industry. This aligns with future editions of the International Building Code that are slated for adoption in Virginia in the near future. And while the 2018 edition of NFPA 101 will not be readily adopted by CMS, it is within reason to assume a future edition of NFPA 101, which will be adopted, will also include these same changes. Second, there is potential to seek waiver from CMS in the future based on these enacted changes - only time will tell if this becomes a possibility.

Currently, we are discussing the Blue Ridge District statewide broadcast meeting in which topic presentations may include the upcoming Joint Commission Survey, Internship opportunities for local students in skilled trades, and partnerships with the Western Virginia Community College and SW Virginia Secondary Schools. Other topics are being considered as well, and we would encourage you to submit any areas of interest. Please email me at mwmisicko@carilionclinic.org with your thoughts, feedback and suggestions. They are greatly appreciated!

Please let me know if we can be of any assistance to you and your organization.

Thanks,
~Marty Misicko
VSHE Blue Ridge District 2017-2018 Chair

First, I would like to say HELLO!  I am pleased to be the new Central District Chair for VSHE and I look forward to this opportunity to serve my District! 

I am currently the Director of Engineering at Chippenham Hospital, a 466-bed Level II Trauma Center in Richmond, VA.  I have been working in Healthcare Plant Operations for over 30 years and have spent time in various hospitals and health systems across the country, including oversight for 25 hospitals while working with Community Health Services.  I am a certified expert in facility Environment of Care and Life Safety codes and have an extensive background in facility construction, fire suppression system maintenance, HVAC, and building automation.  I also have decades of experience in contracting, medical office space management, grounds management and fiduciary oversight of multi-million dollar projects. I am a native of Pennsylvania, and married with 3 children. I enjoy hockey and working on my BMW.

Water Safety Management: As many of you may have heard, on June 2, 2017 CMS mandated that all healthcare facilities have a Water Safety Management Program.  This came about from reports by local agencies of LD outbreaks in Healthcare facilities and Long Term care facilities.  The expectations are that all healthcare facilities assemble a multi-disciplinary team, describe the water systems, identify risk areas within our facilities, decide where and when control measures are applied, establish ways to intervene when measure are not meet,  make sure that the programs running and effective, and as always in our industry, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT all findings.  I have attached a link to the CDC website for more information.

Please don’t forget about the upcoming ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition in Indianapolis.  This will take place from August 6-9, 2017. Also, the VSHE website has been updated to reflect more accurate information. The VSHE Board is working to make this site a resource of reliable information for our group. If you would like to help plan, organize or be involved with any of the VSHE events, feel free to contact me for information. I am also open to suggestions on topics for quarterly meetings for the Central District. Call me: (804) 483-0192; or email me: robert.appleby@hcahealthcare.com.

Respectfully submitted,
~Bob Appleby CHFM, CHC, CHSP
Central District Chair
(804) 483-0192
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As your new Hampton Roads District Chair, I look forward to meeting all of my members here, and to having regular meetings and socials. I am currently meeting with Debra, Dave and Ross to organize a baseball game. Watch your inbox for announcements.

Have a great summer.
​
~ Ron Blackburn
VSHE Hampton Roads District Chair
​

Greetings, everyone! Hoping you are having a safe and happy summer so far!

This year was the first time that VSHE was able to integrate our social media platforms into our annual conference! All of the conference attendees were able to follow any conference updates in real time via Twitter or Facebook. Were you able to participate? Was this a benefit to you? Please send me your feedback: brandon.galbreath@rivhs.com.

1.  Please don’t forget to visit our website and view all of the wonderful pictures from our May 2017 annual conference. You may be in there!

2.  If have not joined VSHE on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn please go to our website and follow the links at the top right hand corner of the page. Join in the conversation!

3.  Also, we are always looking for feedback on how we can better promote VSHE through our website. If you have any feedback that you would like to share please email me at brandon.galbreath@rivhs.com.

~Brandon Galbreath
VSHE IT Chair

National Health Care Facilities & Engineering Week

Take the time to recognize your staff for all they do to optimize the health care physical environment during National Health Care Facilities & Engineering Week, October 22-28, 2017.

You and your staff are important members of your health care team – your department keeps your facility operational, safe, and efficient. Because of all you do, there is power; running water; and a clean, comfortable, and safe healing environment for all who walk through your doors. What you may think is ordinary is truly extraordinary. Without you and your staff’s efforts, the doors of your facility would not be open.

~ Lynne Manning VSHE Communications Chair
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS UPDATE		Reggie Warren Young Professionals Chair
Thank you all for your attendance in this year’s annual VSHE conference, if you were able to make it!  You are the reason why it happens, and you are the reason why it is successful.  For those of you that didn’t or couldn’t attend, please plan to attend next year’s conference.  You will be glad that you did! As I step away from the Annual Conference Chairperson role within VSHE, I’m happy to share with you that bigger and better plans are in the works to provide the best possible industry training.  While our conference will stay grounded in the fundamentals and essentials of Facilities Management, opportunities are being explored to present other new topics like infection control and energy management.  I am transitioning into the Young Professionals Group Chairperson role, and I look forward to meeting the future leaders of this industry.  We are eager to see this part of the organization grow, and I could use your help!  Please contact Jerry Baker (Membership Chairperson) or myself for more information: reginald.warren@rivhs.com. ~Reggie Warren VSHE Young Professionals Chair
BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 2017-2018:
2017-2018 State Board of Directors Elected
Joe Auricchio President 804-828-6308 joseph.auricchio@vcuhealth.org Dylan C. Henderson President-Elect 540-981-8177 dchenderson@carilionclinic.org Rick Sanders Past President/ASHE Advocacy 804-828-5692 Ricky.sanders@vcuhealth.org Geoff Pierce Secretary 757-707-5301 geoffpierce@excelenergyconsulting.com Joe Morris Treasurer 757-477-9874 jmorris@walbridge.com Lynne Manning Communications Chair 804-684-5820 lmanning@pfa-architect.com Bob Appleby Central District Chair 804-483-0192 robert.appleby@hcahealthcare.com Martin Misicko Blue Ridge District Chair 540-981-8891 mwmisicko@carilionclinic.org Ron Blackburn Hampton Roads District Chair 757-934-4988 rlblackb@sentara.com Jerry Baker Membership Chair 804-291-3899 jerrybaker@webowman.com Belinda Currin Conference Chair 804-724-0810 bcurrin@currindesign.com Lindsay Davis Conference Co-Chair 804-291-3899 lindsaydavis@webowman.com Brandon Galbreath IT Chair 757-534-5272 brandon.galbreath@rivhs.com Reginald Warren Young Professionals Chair 757-594-3120 reginald.warren@rivhs.com

More than 3,200 professionals gather on-site each year to get vital information on health care compliance, codes and standards updates, emerging trends, and best practices for efficiency, sustainability, emergency preparedness, and other pressing topics in the field. Attend the ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition to connect with colleagues in the field and "reach new heights" in your role as a health care facility management professional.taking.
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We strongly recommend that you consider attending the
ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition
taking place in Indianapolis, August 6-9, 2017.

The PDC Summit brings together senior leaders working in all disciplines of health care planning, design, and construction to learn, network, and discover ways to create value for the health care built environment. Attend the PDC Summit to connect with colleagues in the field and learn innovative strategies for better navigating the future of health care.