I am just about to begin the sixth month of my tenure as President of HFMA-SC Chapter for 2011-2012. Many of the past presidents advised me “to enjoy your time, as it will pass quickly”, and oh, how so right they were! I feel there are many positives going on within our Chapter, and I want to just update you – the Membership – on several.

Diane Story, your President Elect, and I recently returned from the Region V “Fall Presidents’ Meeting”. Gaining information from other National and Region V leadership, as well as Chapter leaders from FL, GA, AL, and TN, we continued our planning for this SC Chapter year – one of growth in education and education hours, maintaining and growing our Membership count, continued excellence in Certification, and achieving other key CBSC Goals. I am pleased to report we are on track in all of these!

We just held, from October 19th-21st, a highly successful Fall Institute in Greenville at the HYATT Hotel. It was successful not just because of a record attendance of 148 participants, but also due to the great balance of programs, speakers and other events planned by our Program Planning Committee led by Alice Childs. I have received many positive comments about this event, and our Chapter has received notification of four new Members since the Institute ended!

As a reminder, upcoming Chapter events include the following:

• A one-day Finance/Reimbursement Workshop in Columbia on November 15th
• Our Annual Awards Program in Columbia on January 13th, 2012
• The “Dixie Institute” hosted by the Georgia Chapter, in Greensboro, GA at the Ritz Carlton - Reynolds Plantation, from February 22nd-24th, 2012

Refer to our Chapter Website for more information on the above events.

The theme for National HFMA and all Chapters is “Believe to Achieve”. With a great list of Officers working hard with me, and an outstanding roster of Board and Committee Chairs and volunteers, I continue to Believe we will Achieve much during this Chapter year. We still have strong challenges ahead of us, with lofty goals set forth in our Chapter Balanced Scorecard, but I know we and our Membership will meet those challenges.

Again, I am very proud to be serving as your President for this Chapter Year, and will always work for you as a Member of our great Chapter! It is still is an honor - and a privilege - to serve as your President, and I pledge that I respect and uphold this role and office, always to the highest degree!

Ronnie Hyatt