AARC Congress 2014 Gazette - AARC President Frank Salvatore MBA RRT FAARC addressed the Annual Business Meeting, outlining his vision for his 2-year term in office.
...Here are Salvatore’s 2015–2016 presidential goals:
1. Continue to develop and execute strategies that will increase membership beyond 50,000 active members and participation in the AARC both nationally and internationally.
2. Promote activities to increase public awareness of respiratory therapists and their role in the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory disorders.
3. Advance the concepts and initiatives brought about by the “Respiratory Therapist for 2015 and Beyond” conferences. Develop a toolkit to ensure the existing educational programs are able to move in a direction that will allow them to continue to develop our future students at a level that is consistent with them obtaining a bachelor’s degree, which will eventually become the entry into our profession.
4. Promote and advocate for appropriate patient and caregiver access to respiratory therapists in all care settings through local, state, and national legislation, regulation, and/or policies, including, but not limited to, recognizing respiratory therapists outside the traditional health care venues as well as recognizing the credential of Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) as the minimum requirement for licensure.
5. Continue to advance our international respiratory community presence through activities designed to address issues affecting educational, medical, and professional trends in the global respiratory care community and to advance advocacy for the patient.
6. Promote the access of high-quality continuing education for development and enhancement of the skill base of today’s practitioners to meet the current and future needs of our profession.
7. Encourage the development of programs, accreditation, and credentialing of the Advanced Practice Respiratory Therapist (APRT) as a level of practice that will further improve the care given to our patients and advance the career track of our profession.
8. Maintain and expand relevant communication and alliances with key allies and organizations within our communities of interest.
9. Expand efforts to obtain research funding and develop the next generation of respiratory therapy researchers. The American Respiratory Care Foundation is an integral part of the funding/fundraising related to research; we will increase participation by our membership in ARCF fundraising activities through an educational effort that will increase awareness of the importance of the ARCF.