Commissioned Officers Association
Of the U.S. Public Health Service
Ft Detrick Branch
Minutes of the Jan 9, 2002 Meeting
Date: Jan. 9, 2002
Location: NCI, Bldg 426, Ft. Detrick, Fredrick, MD
Call to Order: LCDR Lucienne Nelson, President called the meeting to order at 1915.
Members Present: CAPT S. Wickizer, LCDR K. Berkhousen, LCDR R. Gussio, LCDR L. Nelson, LCDR M. Rossi-Coajou and LT L. Marunycz.
Reading of the Minutes: Minutes were approved and accepted.
Treasurer’s Report: CAPT Wickizer is exploring options on where to best place our account with little to no bank fees. LCDR Coajou stated that the Alfirst Bank on Thomas Jefferson Dr. offers a one-year, no fee, checking account. LCDR Coajou also reported that she had received a phone call from the National HQ validating that branch fees should be sent to the Ft Detrick Branch. Members are encouraged to check that their branch fees are coming to our branch http://www.coausphs.org/membership.html
Other Reports:
Webmaster: LCDR Nelson volunteered to make some format changes to our web pages to facilitate ease of use. Discussion with LCDR Gussio, Branch webmaste, followed on whether these changes would be possible.
National COA Issues: LCDR Nelson discussed the current issue of retirement taxation,that Jerry Farrell of National COA brought to our Branches attention. National COA has been asked to join a group of retirees in Maryland seeking to pave the way for a legislative initiative to exempt uniformed services retired pay from MD State income taxes. Due to the large number of Commissioned Corps retirees residing in Maryland, this seems a worthwhile effort in which to engage. A meeting of the MD military coalition met recently in Crownville, MD to discuss the bill. LCDR Nelson will forward any info as she receives it.
Members encouraged to attend the annual COA conference, Apr 21-24, 02 held in Atlanta, GA. Info on website: http://conference.coausphs.org/
Military Standards Cadre (MSC)/ Physical Fitness: Reminder that LCDR Nelson is the liaison for CCRF. Anyone wishing to take the PT test may contact her. Physical Fitness testing and qualifying for the MSC will be made available in the April/ May time period. Dates to follow.
Reports of Standing Committees:
Membership: CAPT Wickizer discussed our membership drive initiative. He requested volunteers to help contact additional officers in our geographic area and will request a list of officers by name, agency and zip code from DCP. LCDR Berkhousen and LCDR Gussio volunteer to assist with membership drive. LCDR Nelson agreed to request additional COA members residing in neighboring areas in PA and WV from National COA.
Unfinished Business:
Use of Letterhead: LCDR Edwards not present today. LCDR Nelson stated that she has received the official COA logo, which we may use as appropriate.
Agenda Topics/ guest speakers: LCDR Nelson discussed various agenda topics that might be of interest to the group. CAPT Wickizer volunteered to arrange a speaker to present Space A Travel information at our next meeting (March 6, 02)
Pool Time: Hood College has made their pool available to officers to train for their physical fitness test. LCDR Nelson has negotiated an alumni rate for pool use of $3.00 (usual cost is $6.50)/per session. Officers’ names need to be on a list in order to receive the alumni rate. Contact LCDR Nelson nelsonlu@mail.nih.gov to have your name added to the list. Reminder: Swimming is an option on the Navy/CCRF fitness test instead of the 1.5 mile run. http://oep.osophs.dhhs.gov/ccrf/physical.htm
New Business:
Branch Goals: Members decided that our goals this year would include increasing membership, having topic speakers periodically, and initiating at least one large social event.
Social Event(s): Members discussed renting canoes and a park outing at Cunningham State Park and "renting" the pool at Ft Detrick. It was decided that we would "rent" the pool and plan for a family cookout/pool party in July. Date to follow. CAPT Wickizer will book the pool party date, once the pool opens.
Member Announcements:
LCDR Nelson congratulated LCDR Berkhousen and LCDR Nelson, Ft Detrick COA Branch, two of three nurse corps officers that were highlighted in the NIH Clinical Center News http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/ccnews/current/ regarding their recent deployments to the WTC and Anthrax.
LCDR Coajou reported that she had been asked to speak November 9th at the Orcharrd Grove Elementary School in Frederick MD on "Heroes Day" about her role as a USPHS nurse.
She also spoke about the USPHS Nursing Recognition Day held May 2, 2002. This event recognizes USPHS commissioned corps as well as civilian nurses who have made noteworthy contributions to the mission of the USPHS in 5 different categories: clinical, administrative, research, health promotion/education and teamwork. The event will be broadcast live this year from CMS (former HCFA) in Baltimore, MD. Theme: The Role of Nursing and Public Health During Times of War and Terrorism. Speakers will be from the American Red Cross and the Int’l Nursing Coalition for Mass Casualty.
LCDR Coajou also reported that she has been volunteering 1 day/month of clinical time to the Barquist Health Clinic. This satisfies her 112 hours of clinical time for CCRF and facilitates a strong partnership with USPHS and Dept of the Army. She will provide more information at our next meeting for other individuals who may be interested in doing the same, and agreed to be a point of contat for this activity.
CAPT Wickizer is co-author of Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in the Community -Dwelling Elderly, published in JAMA, Dec 12, 2001. http://navigation.helper.realnames.com/framer/1000/default.asp?realname=JAMA&cc=US&lc=en%2DUS&frameid=1565&providerid=0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjama%2Eama%2Dassn%2Eorg%2F.
LT Marunycz stated that she had attended the CJ Ready Conference. This is a multi-Miliary service Nursing Leadership & Development conference. This was the first year USPHS Nurses were invited. She was one of 5 nurses chosen from the USPHS Nurses to attend. She was also featured in the May 01 issue of the NIH Clinical Center News for the 2001 Nursing Recognition Day http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/ccnews/may01/index.html .
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2040. Next branch meeting planned for Mar 6, 2002.
Submitted 1/9/02
LCDR Katherine Berkhousen
Secretary, Ft Detrick Branch COA
LCDR Lucienne Nelson
President, Ft Detrick Branch COA