Educational Seminar
The 2008 Educational Seminar was held at the Courtyard by Marriott in Tysons Corner, VA, on Saturday, November 1st. We had an outstanding group of speakers. Representatives from product manufacturers and from homecare companies were also present to share information about their products and services.
Chad Brown, a person living with severe hemophilia and a National Wake Surfing Champion, shared his story with our young people ages 6 and up. Not only did he share his experiences as a Wake Surfer, he also talked with the young people about the importance of stretching, exercise, and self awareness.
Our speakers for the day included: Mark Skinner, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia, who shared information about others in the world living with bleeding disorders and what is being done to help them; Carolyn Francis, RN, and the nurse coordinator from Georgetown University Hospital, talked about the big step of transitioning from adolescence and pediatric care to adulthood; Amanda Bartelme from Avalere Health shared information about insurance companies from the “insider’s” perspective since Avalere Health has clients from the insurance world; and Christopher Healey, formerly the Director of the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association and now Grifol’s Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, shared information about how plasma is collected and processed to insure that it is as safe as possible for public use.
We also held HACA’s annual meeting during which members of the board of directors were elected. During that meeting, we will also showed the video that was recently created to showcase the work of the chapter. How fun to see your friends as movie stars!