NC Association of Nurse Anesthetists Board Members to Attend National Organization’s 75th Anniversary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jim Tobin
August 6, 2006 919-719-8982

NC Association of Nurse Anesthetists Board Members to Attend National Organization’s 75th Anniversary
Nurse Anesthetists Return to Founding City to Celebrate Professional Associations Anniversary

(Raleigh, NC) – The North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists today announced that Sherry Owens, president of NCANA, and Julie Lowery, president-elect, will attend the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists’ 75th anniversary in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of the association’s inaugural annual meeting held in 1931. The five-day event will begin on Saturday, August 5 and will offer a variety of educational, networking and information-sharing opportunities to the more than 2,500 expected attendees.
Celebration highlights will include an appearance by former President Bill Clinton as the event’s keynote speaker, a party benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland, and a general session address by Bernadine Healy, M.D., medical columnist and health editor for US News and World Report, as well as an on-site trade show featuring more than 160 pharmaceutical companies, equipment manufacturers and other healthcare companies.
The event will also serve as a stage for officially announcing Terry Wicks, the current AANA president-elect, as the new AANA president. Wicks, a North Carolina resident and past president of NCANA, will begin his term as AANA president at the Cleveland celebration. Wicks has served as president- elect for the past year.
Other NCANA members planning to attend the anniversary celebration include Tim Murry, federal political director, and Cindy Black, the AANA Region II Director. Representatives from the five, soon to be six, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) schools throughout North Carolina are also expected to attend.
“The 75th anniversary of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists will give all industry professionals the opportunity to reflect on how the profession of nurse anesthesia has grown into an essential part of our country’s constantly evolving health care system,” said Owens. “Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists have played significant roles in developing the practice of anesthesia. Today, more than 27,000 CRNAs provide cost-effective, quality patient care that is essential to America's health care system.”
The North Carolina Association of Nurse Anesthetists is a statewide organization representing the more than 2,800 licensed Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists in the state. More information is available at http://www.ncana.com.
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