Over 90 Total Lots Up For Auction at One Location - WA 04/08

Q&A with Horace Hunter, GBIS' executive director

by Diana Bradley, Staff Writer | August 17, 2012
Horace Hunter
Horace Hunter, one of the pioneering founders of the Georgia Biomedical Instrumentation Society (GBIS), has been in the field for over 37 years. Along with being director of clinical engineering at Thomasville, Ga.-based Archbold Medical Center, Hunter is the executive director of GBIS. Here, he tells DOTmed News how the Society has evolved since its inception in 1989, current goals and what's happening at August's Annual Technical Conference.

DMBN: How did you become involved with GBIS?
Hunter: In the early 1980s, I was the president of the South Georgia Biomedical Instrumentation Society. In order to be involved with educational or exhibit display opportunities, we had to go to Atlanta. In the late 1980s, four local biomed associations -the Atlanta Area Biomedical Society, the Central Georgia Biomedical Association, the South Georgia Medical Instrumentation Association and the Savannah Biomedical Association merged into a statewide association and GBIS was born.

DMBN: How would you define GBIS' role?
Hunter: We are dedicated to advancing the knowledge of personnel involved in the development, selection, operation, repair and support of biomedical instrumentation in health care institutions throughout the state of Georgia. Of course we have grown from that to also giving to charity organizations, such as the Atlanta-based nonprofit MedShare, the Walter E. Boehm Birth Defects Center in Tennessee and a number of others. This year we are supporting the AAMI scholarship and GBIS will also develop its own scholarship foundation. It's all about giving.

DMBN: Please share some highlights to look out for at this year's conference.
Hunter: We have 11 different classes to get involved with and we've got about 20 vendors. There will be a special presentation by Michael Chisholm, an engineer in The Joint Commission's (TJC) department of engineering. He will offer insight as to what is going on in the field of biomeds and accreditation.

CONFERENCE FAST FACTS:
Years in existence: 20
Average attendance: 200
Exhibitors: 15-30
Date: August 17-19, 2012
Location: The Wellstar Development Center in Atlanta, Georgia

ASSOCIATION FAST FACTS:
Year founded: 1989
Membership: 487
Association's range: Nationwide

You Must Be Logged In To Post A Comment