Important Message from NC ACS President, Dr. Perry Shen

To Members of the NC Chapter of the American College of Surgeons:

Below is a message from Stephen Fann, MD, FACS current President – SC Chapter of the ACS, who was the host of this year’s annual meeting:

“After careful consideration and monitoring COVID-19, the South Carolina and North Carolina Chapters of the American College of Surgeons’ leadership has determined we cannot risk the safety of our physicians, sales representatives and staff; therefore, we have decided to cancel the 2020 Annual Meeting that was scheduled for July 10-12 at the Marriott Resort (Grande Dunes) in Myrtle Beach, SC. In addition to prevailing public health concerns, there are other factors that were discussed when this decision was made, such as whether we could generate the attendance to successfully have the meeting, recruit enough exhibit support to make the meeting financially viable, and extended travel restrictions that would impact attendees, speakers and sales representatives.

The Marriott Hotel will be cancelling hotel reservations of those who have already made their reservations. The registration fee of physicians who have already paid will be refunded.

We are still looking into the details of the residents’ abstract sessions and will let you know at a later date what we plan to do.

Please be safe and the South Carolina and North Carolina ACS leadership looks forward to seeing you at the joint 2021 Annual Meeting.”

I am greatly disappointed by this decision, as we had a tremendous program planned, and I was really looking forward to the speakers, panel discussions, resident activities, and networking with surgeons from both NC and SC. However, I believe this is the best course of action given the circumstances.

I know many of you are in the process of restarting your elective surgery practices to take care of your patients and recoup major economic losses. The ACS continues to support and advocate for all surgeons during these trying times. I wish you all safety and good fortune as you navigate the path towards a better future.

Sincerely,
Perry Shen, MD, FACS
President, NC Chapter of the ACS