SDPA Fall 2017 | Hurricane Maria Update

Sep 23, 2017

As you know, Puerto Rico suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Maria on Wednesday of this week. Over the past couple of days the SDPA Headquarters, Conference Committee Leaders and Board of Directors have been inundated with messages from SDPA members, industry representatives, and speakers seeking information on the status of our 15th Annual Fall Dermatology Conference in San Juan this November. Our liaisons at the Hilton properties in San Juan are currently assessing the situation, but don’t yet have a final assessment of the properties and utilities since it has only been a couple of days since the hurricane passed.

The SDPA Board of Directors takes the safety and comfort of our members and attendees seriously, and we will be giving full attention to ensuring we hold a meeting in a venue that is both accessible, safe and enjoyable for our constituents. We ask for your patience as we sort this out and hope to have more information to you by Friday, September 29, 2017, if not sooner. We ask for your patience as we work with both host hotels and the Tourism Officials with Meet Puerto Rico to ensure that your interests come first.

Tourism is an important part of the economy in Puerto Rico, and we are hopeful that the hotels will have sufficient time for repairs in the 7 weeks prior to our conference. It is possible that the conference will go on as planned, provided that the hotels’ utilities are in working order and it is safe for our members to attend. Should we receive notification that the hotels will be unable to host the conference, the conference CME team will be working hard to determine if another location is possible, or to determine how to proceed otherwise. Please know that keeping our conference registrants informed and taking care of our members is our top priority and we will let you know as soon as we have direct information from the hotels to guide our next steps.

We thank you in advance for your patience as we give the hotel management time to assess damage to the properties, as well as their own homes, and work toward ensuring the safety and well-being of their staff and loved ones. Our thoughts are with those affected by Hurricane Maria, as well as those still recovering from Harvey and Irma. If you are able, we encourage you to consider helping with disaster relief efforts in the US and Caribbean during this time of need.

 

Sincerely,

Jane Mast

SDPA President

 

 

If you have any questions, please contact us at conferences@dermpa.org, or call 844-DERM-PAS (844-337-6727), Ext. 1.