Christian de Virgilio, MD
2012-2013 President
Dear Members and Colleagues:
I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as President of the Southern California Vascular Surgical Society this year.
We had a very successful 30th Annual Meeting at the beautiful Ojai Valley Inn this past year. I want to thank our immediate Past President, Dr. Paul Cisek for his leadership and dedication to our Society. I also want to thank Dr. Juan Carlos Jimenez for organizing an outstanding program last year. I look forward to working with him on another excellent meeting this coming year.
Preparations are under way for the
31st Annual Meeting to be held Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th 2013. The meeting will be held at the beautiful Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, CA. Emerging from a spectacular $35 million transformation, this luxury hotel is in the heart of Rancho Mirage, at the base of the San Jacinto Mountain Range in the sun-drenched Coachella Valley. Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa provides a wide array of recreational activities and offers a variety of family-friendly features including a water park. Plan to bring your families for a wonderful meeting.
Our Program Chairman, Dr. Juan Carlos Jimenez has put together an excellent program for this year’s meeting. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Alan Lumsden from Methodist Hospital System in Houston, TX; and Dr. Jason T. Lee from Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, CA will be the Presidential Guests Speakers at the 2013 Annual Meeting. Please visit the 2013
Annual Meeting page for further information.
With a combination of outstanding scientific presentations, wonderful guest speakers, and an exceptional venue in a great setting, I anticipate a fantastic meeting.
Please make your hotel reservations early to take advantage of the excellent room rate of $219.00. Reservations must be made before April 11, 2013 by either calling the Resort (866) 423-1195, and identifying yourself as attending the SCVSS Annual Meeting or using the reservation link found on the 2013
Annual Meeting page.
Members are reminded that there is no charge for SCVSS Active and Senior Members to attend the Annual Meeting if their membership dues are current. Annual Dues invoices have been mailed in along with the 2013 Annual Meeting Announcement.
I also want to make everyone aware of the “Southern California Vascular Outcomes Improvement Collaborative” (SoCal VOICE), was founded in 2011 under the auspices of the SCVSS. Doctors Fred Weaver and Karen Woo have been very active in promoting this exciting initiative, which is strengthening our ability to monitor the effectiveness of interventions and improving patient outcomes in our region. This group builds upon the Society of Vascular Surgery (SVS) Regional Vascular Quality Initiative which includes an outcomes registry for all major vascular procedures. The group strives to continuously improve the quality, safety, effectiveness and cost of caring for patients with vascular disease. Dr. Weaver will once again be updating us at our next meeting.
The vitality of our Society is strongly dependent upon new members. Please consider those vascular surgeons who would make excellent members to our Society and encourage them to join. Membership applications can be downloaded from the
Membership page of our website. Dr. Karen Woo, Membership Chair is busy working on recruiting efforts.
I look forward to a successful year for our Society and to seeing you at the 2013 Annual Meeting in May!
Sincerely,
Christian de Virgilio, MD