Vice President of Marketing and Sales
C.O.R.E. Respiratory Services
Burnsville, MN
AARC Member since 1978
AARC Activities
AARC National Captain, Drive4COPD Adopt-a-Company, 2012
LAC-MD-32 Project Assistant, 2012
HOD Activities
Delegate, Minnesota Society for Respiratory Care, 2008—2011
HOD Publications Committee Member, 2008—2009
HOD Orientation Committee Member, 2009—2011
Affiliate Activities
President, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2004
Vice President, MN Society for Respiratory Care
Secretary, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2006—2008
Delegate, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2008—2011
Board of Directors, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 1999—2001 and in the 1980s
Co-Chair, Legislative Affairs, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2012
Member, Legislative Affairs, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2008—2011
Chair, Annual Education Committee, MN Society for Respiratory Care
State Captain, Drive4COPD, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2011
Vendor Liaison, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 1995—2002
Chair, Legislative Affairs, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 1979—1983
RCP of the Year, MN Society for Respiratory Care, 2008
Related Activities
President, MN Association of Home Medical Equipment, 1999—2000
Secretary, MN Association of Home Medical Equipment, 2006—2008
Board of Directors, Midwest Association for Medical Equipment, 2001—2003
MN State Chair, Midwest Association for Medical Equipment, 2001—2003
Education
AAS Respiratory Therapy, St. Mary’s Jr College, 1979
BA Business Administration, Metropolitan State University, 1994
RRT, National Board for Respiratory Care, 1979
CPFT, National Board for Respiratory Care, 2009
What AARC or Chartered Affiliate offices/positions have you held where you feel you made a significant contribution to our profession? What is the contribution and how will you apply it to your new position if elected?
I believe the combination of all offices and positions throughout my career have had an impact; however, my presidency of the Minnesota Society for Respiratory Care is the stand-out position. During my term, we surveyed all RTs, members and non-members to find out how the state affiliate could be more effective in communication, education, leadership mentoring and meeting the needs of our states respiratory community overall. We achieved a 28% response, 40% non-members and 60% members.
The survey identified information our society used over the next few years to increase education access via ITV video conferences and to increase new involvement in leadership roles of respiratory therapists from around the state running for elected positions and committee chairs. I can apply my passion for our profession, the desire to listen, willingness to make changes, and ability to effectively communicate to the role of AARC Director at Large.
As a leader, what do you see as the top 3 priorities for the AARC, and what steps would you take to advance those priorities?
1) Membership: This continues to be a priority for our profession so we can say we represent the vast majority (ideally all) of respiratory therapists in the nation. A strong AARC membership bolsters a strong national organization and our efforts to effect change in legislation, respiratory disease management and any challenges that may arise that could potentially threaten our patients and profession.
Leadership starts at the top and works its way down, I support the idea of identifying the RT leaders across the nation and ensuring they remain and/or become members so they can demonstrate to their staff the importance and benefits of being an AARC member. We all hear respiratory therapists say, “they want to be treated as professionals;” my response is: what are you doing to show your professionalism? Are you a member of a professional organization? Providing professionalism training and education to our new graduates can help support AARC retention as they enter the workforce.
2) Legislative Medicare Part B Initiative: The record number of legislative visits this year is truly telling of the great efforts promoting the AARC’s Medicare Part B Initiative. We will be successful in accomplishing our legislative goal because we are the experts in respiratory health. The timing is coming together with the nationwide focus on saving healthcare dollars, shortages of physicians, disease management and reducing hospital readmissions, for our profession to achieve this legislative recognition. The steps needed to accomplish this goal are; more members; more members writing their legislators; more members working with patient supporters; and more members supporting the AARC and the legislative staff.
3) Respiratory Disease Management: The respiratory therapist is uniquely qualified as the expert in respiratory disease management and is being shown as such in recent studies with the COPD population. We need to continue spreading this information with our colleges in nursing, pharmacy and the case management professional organizations nationally and statewide. I also believe more efforts to identify the 12+million individuals that have symptoms of COPD but are not diagnosed are essential. Again, our profession is in a unique position to work within our own organization/affiliates as well as other outside organizations promoting early detection, education and disease management.
Leadership development is an issue facing many organizations, including the AARC. What can the AARC do to mentor the next generation of leaders?
Leadership, mentoring, membership and professionalism are all intertwined. Providing professionalism training/education to students prior to graduation can help launch their career with a strong base before they enter the workforce and find the wrong mentors of the profession. Currently there is a Professional Mentoring and Volunteer Community available on the AARConnect. Maybe this is enhanced or a more structured mentoring community can be developed where all student members are automatically signed up for the mentoring community. They could link with a specific AARC/Affiliate mentor for ongoing communication that could carry over into their professional career once graduated. This could also be done for first-year members as well, to capture those who may have been in the profession for a time and are new to the AARC. Another idea could be to let first-year members have the option to sign up for 2 or 3 membership sections without charge on a trial basis; this may connect with them in a way that when their membership comes up for renewal they have seen some of the real benefits of the AARC.