SCCM President Vinay M. Nadkarni, MD, MS, FCCM, provides an overview on how the Society is prioritizing and rethinking ease, comfort, and cost of access to the Critical Care Congress when selecting future sites.
As we continue to emerge from the most serious days of the COVID-19 pandemic to the “new normal,” many aspects of life are returning to pre-pandemic function. Unfortunately, this is
not the case for the critical care workforce, which has been greatly stressed, reduced, and exhausted. Those of us who continue to directly care for critically ill and injured patients are in even shorter supply than before, which provides many unique challenges.
One of the many ways the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) is working to help address this challenge is to prioritize and rethink ease, comfort, and cost of access to the Critical Care Congress. We strongly believe that providing an opportunity to gather together to share and learn directly from one another is vital, but we recognize that the stresses and strains in our local workplaces make it tougher than ever to find coverage and travel long distances to gather in person. We will continue to include the online version of Congress program content with in-person registration to increase the value of the content of accredited continuing education (ACE) content well beyond the few days of the in-person Congress. As of this writing, more than 700 of our colleagues have already used LearnICU to access the 2023 Congress sessions and to claim ACE credit.
Another way we will strategically address accessibility is by striving to bring Congress closer to where our members live, work, and play. We will use our informatics data to reduce the need to travel significant distances to attend Congress in person by moving it closer to transportation hubs. The Society has recently completed a review of all future Congress sites and is working to reschedule future Congresses to facilitate this goal. Congress is a large, complex activity with commitments that must be planned several years in advance and, of course, facilities must be available for our use.
The 2024 Congress will remain in Phoenix, Arizona, from January 21, through January 23, 2024, and the 2025 Congress will be held in Orlando, Florida, from February 23 through February 26, 2025. We are working to relocate future Congresses starting in 2026 to make them more convenient for the critical care community.
Because most SCCM members are in high-population centers clustered around the U.S. Great Lakes, California, and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, Congress will be in those areas some years, necessitating a change in dates from January or February to March or April. We will announce future Congress locations and dates as contracts are finalized.
In addition to finding convenient locations for Congress, we must also consider a multitude of other important factors, including finding conference facilities and hotel accommodations to support nearly 6000 participants in a financially responsible manner. Also, because sites must be contracted several years in advance, we must ensure that those facilities can accommodate a reasonable growth in attendance.
Although SCCM is politically neutral and does not politically advocate or lobby, the SCCM Council and leadership also carefully consider social and policy issues. SCCM’s diverse members and attendees must feel safe and accommodated in the cities they visit. Read more about how Congress locations are determined in
our FAQ.
No matter where Congress is held, SCCM remains committed to engaging with host city officials, local healthcare professionals, and community members. SCCM works to share best practices and foster collaboration to improve health outcomes for all individuals. For example, in 2024 in Phoenix, SCCM will partner with the Indian Health Service to provide free educational programs and other resources to those who serve the Native American community. In 2023, we partnered with Project Homeless Connect and the San Francisco Ambassadors, two groups that work with the unhoused population. SCCM supported Projects Homeless Connect’s Community Day of Service, which provided essential healthcare services delivered with care and dignity to people who are unhoused. Additionally, SCCM provided Stop the Bleed training for the staff from these two organizations.
SCCM’s elected leadership and senior staff consider all these issues as we work to deliver the highest-quality educational programs in service of the SCCM mission to secure the highest-quality care for all critically ill and injured patients.
