Dear Colleagues

Welcome to this year’s conference and meeting- Collaborative Correctional Health Care- sponsored by the Western American Correctional Health Services Association (WACHSA), formerly known as the CA-NV Chapter of ACHSA.  Like our other conferences, this is a wonderful opportunity to meet colleagues from near and afar who share the mission of providing compassionate and competent care.  

I am especially pleased to greet you in Sacramento as this region is home to many large and well-known correctional facilities, including historic San Quentin and Folsom Prisons.  And there are many world renown attractions within a few hours’ drive from this conference site including San Francisco, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. 

As we have done before, WACHSA conference lectures and panel discussion report on the latest and best practices in correctional medicine.  Also, WACHSA hosts NCCHC exams for certifications (CCHP) the night before the conference. 

In addition, the 2019 conference has some new features you do not want to miss.  For 2019, the WACHSA conference will present an exceptional keynote speaker, Dr. Karen Gedney, who is the author of the dramatic memoir “30 Years Behind Bars:  Trials of a Prison Doctor.  This year we also have a wonderful photography exhibit by and about inmates in the “Vendor” room.   A silent auction is planned in addition to the usual raffle gifts of fine wines and books. 

As announced previously, National ACHSA will be dissolving in the fall and will ask its membership to join WACHSA or the East Coast division called “SEACHSA”.  WACHSA remains committed to the support and education of health care providers delivering medical services to incarcerated patients.  While continuing to promote quality health care in California jails and prisons, WACHSA looks forward to providing educational forums for clinicians and administrators in correctional medicine in all of the Western States, from Mississippi to California. 

I am planning on continuing as President during this transition and until September next year when our new president Barbara Barney-Knox, whom we all know as BBK, will take over.  Paulette Finander has also agreed to stay on an additional year as Secretary. WACHSA needs a Secretary Elect who will work take over for Dr. Finander next year.

The reorganization of national ACHSA into East and West regions affords WACHSA leadership an opportunity to seek input from membership as to ideas as our organization reaches out to the entire Western United States.   I encourage all to consider joining the WACHSA board for the comradery and experience gained in event planning and conference development.

Before I close, I want to thank the entire WACHSA membership and its board of directors for their hard work and enthusiasm that makes this conference possible.  Hundreds of clinicians count on this conference each year to make new friends and renew old acquaintances.   I know that this year we will all likewise enjoy this conference in California’s great capital city. 

With best wishes to all,

Paul Adler, DO

President, WACHSA