50 Years -- 1947 to 1997
Fifty years ago Susie Tyson, RRA initiated the effort to form the South Dakota Chapter of the American Association of Medical Record Librarians. The first meeting was held October 18, 1947 in Watertown to elect four officers. Later on that year, a meeting was held in Mitchell to adopt the constitution and bylaws. It is hard to imagine the tremendous effort these four women put into coordinating the medical record professionals of South Dakota! As the years went by membership and meeting attendance increased. Along with increased membership came organization name changes. The first came about 25 years after the intial meeting making the organization the South Dakota Medical Record Association (SDMRA). Times kept changing; thus, another name change to the South Dakota Health Information Management Association (SDHIMA) in 1992. Looking forward to the next 50 years, one can only imagine the changes and challenges our profession will encounter!