Please take a walk with us down memory lane...
1966 A. W. “Doc” Zimmerly of Texarkana, Texas and several Arkansas hospital engineers began work to form the Arkansas chapter. On April 23, 1966, the chapter was established and officially named the Arkansas Association for Hospital Engineering (AAHE). Doc Zimmerly was elected first president, Curt Belin was vice president, A. V. Dobbins was treasurer, and J. O. Boldon was secretary (J. O. Boldon is the father of our former president Buddy Boldon). Charter members were accepted through October 1966. The first AAHE annual banquet was held at St. Vincent Infirmary, where AAHE president Doc Zimmerly was a VIP. Allen Weintraub was master of ceremonies.
1967 Bob Chase, of St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, designed the AAHE logo. Members toured AP&L’s Robert E. Richie Generating Station. Built in 1960, it was the largest single-shaft generator in the world, at that time.
1970 AAHE doubled its membership from 40 members to 80, and the Arkansas Hospital Association became the Association’s treasurer and maintained the records. Annual membership dues were a mere $5.00 that year.
1971 Total AAHE expenses in 1971 were only $250. The Association’s bank balance in July was $720.
1970s AAHE became affiliated with the Arkansas Council of Engineers and Related Societies (ACERS).
1979 AAHE established the Arkansas Hospital Engineers Scholarship Trust to provide scholarships to worthy students.
1981 Arch Gilchrist died at the age of 59. The scholarship trust was incorporated and named in honor of Arch Gilchrist.
1982 AAHE became incorporated on July 2, 1982.
1983 In June at Hot Springs National Park, AAHE hosted the national meeting of the American Society of Hospital Engineering (ASHE).
1984 The Arkansas Telecommunication Association for Health Care (ATCHC) merged with AAHE. At the summer meeting, AAHE divided the chapter into three sections, which became the Facilities, Clinical, and Telecommunication sections. AAHE determined that all future meetings would have separate educational programs for each section. On October 19, 1984, the first three-program meeting was held and was very successful.
1985 Early in 1985, members of ATAHC became regular members of AAHE.
1986 The first AAHE yearbook was published and distributed to members in May, with Lincoln Knight as editor. The AAHE seal was revised by Lincoln to show the three educational sections, Facilities, Telecommunications, and Clinical, which made up AAHE at that time.
1987 In September, AAHE, member James Wear, Ph.D., and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock developed the Health Care Facilities Engineering Technology Certification program.
1992 Safety became an additional section of AAHE.
1995 Radiology became an additional section of AAHE.
1996 The Curtis G. “Curt” Belin Scholarship Trust was established to award scholarships to worthy students.
1997 The Curtis G. “Curt” Belin Young Engineer of the Year award was established to recognize outstanding AAHE members under the age of 40.
1999 An annual scholarship golf tournament was begun in October of 1999, to raise money in support of the scholarship trusts.
2001 AAHE has grown from 33 charter members in 1966, representing only hospitals, to over 240 members representing hospitals, clinics, universities, institutes, a hotel, architects, consulting engineers, technical services, companies, and corporations. The operating budget is now more than $30,000 per year. To date, approximately 40 scholarships worth more than $26,000 had been granted to worthy students.
2002 The future beckons.
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