As the president of SHM’s Oregon/Southwest Washington Chapter, Yohalakshmi Chelladurai, MD, MPH, FACP, FHM, believes that chapter membership offers support to hospitalists in both their professional and their personal lives.
“Hospitalists play critical roles across healthcare—as clinicians, leaders, educators, and champions of quality and patient safety,” she said. “The chapter has a valuable network of colleagues who can share experiences, ideas, and solutions to common challenges.”
Dr. Chelladurai
For her, the chapter has been an important resource for everything from clinical questions to operational and leadership matters. “Members have access to trusted educational resources, best practices, and a network of experts in hospital medicine,” said Dr. Chelladurai, who is the associate chief medical officer for inpatient medical specialties at Salem Health, a community hospital with 644 beds in Salem, Ore.
When Dr. Chelladurai first became involved with the chapter, she was early in her leadership career. It was a valuable forum for connecting with other hospital medicine leaders.
“Through these relationships, I gained insight into how different programs and health systems operate and learned ideas that helped shape initiatives in my program,” she said.
As president, Dr. Chelladurai wanted to continue that tradition by strengthening connections among members and creating opportunities for newer leaders and hospitalists to learn from one another and build supportive professional networks.
Founded in 2005, the chapter represents Washington’s Adams, Asotin, Benton, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Garfield, Klickitat, Pacific, Skamania, Wahkiakum, and Walla Walla counties and all the counties of Oregon.
A big advantage of being a well-established chapter is the strong leadership foundation that’s been built over time. “Former chapter leaders remain invaluable resources, providing mentorship and institutional knowledge for newer leaders,” Dr. Chelladurai said. “As chapter president, I benefited greatly from their guidance on everything from engaging members to organizing meetings.”
An established chapter also benefits from longstanding relationships and networks that make it easier to collaborate and secure support for educational initiatives. These connections include hospital systems, academic partners, individual members, and industry sponsors.
For example, the chapter was able to organize a highly successful point-of-care ultrasound educational event through collaboration between Salem Health and an academic hospitalist from Portland. “Having established relationships made the planning process much smoother,” she said.
Given the growing interest in point-of-care ultrasound among members, the chapter is looking to offer these educational sessions on an annual basis.
Another strength is the chapter’s diversity of leadership representation. Leaders hail from across the state and from a variety of practice settings, including academic and community hospitals. “This broad perspective helps ensure that programming and priorities reflect hospitalists’ interests and needs throughout our region,” she said.
In recent years, one of the chapter’s primary goals has been increasing member engagement and strengthening connections across its large geographic region. Virtual and hybrid programming make participation more accessible for members regardless of location.
However, face-to-face interactions remain important for building relationships and fostering community. “We’re exploring more networking events, including informal summer gatherings at a winery or on the coast,” Dr. Chelladurai said.
Annually, the chapter organizes a dinner, reception, and networking event in collaboration with its regional academic center, Oregon Health and Science University, at the Annual Northwest Regional Hospital Medicine Conference. This event has become an important opportunity for members across Oregon and southwest Washington to come together, connect informally, and engage with leaders in the field, she said.
In 2024, the chapter hosted Dr. Rachel Thompson, a past SHM President, who spoke on the state of hospital medicine. The chapter has also hosted other national hospital medicine leaders to discuss important topics, such as reducing malpractice risk and strengthening patient safety practices relevant to hospitalists.
The chapter provides a forum for hospitalists to share quality improvement projects, discuss operational and clinical initiatives, and learn from others’ experiences. It hosts leaders from other SHM chapters and SHM national leadership, giving members insight into broader initiatives and opportunities within hospital medicine.
The chapter is currently seeking opportunities to increase collaboration with other chapters. “Tremendous value stems from learning from one another’s experiences, sharing successful initiatives, and building connections across regions,” Dr. Chelladurai said.
To engage members, the chapter works closely with contacts across hospital medicine programs throughout Oregon and southwest Washington to promote chapter meetings, educational events, and networking opportunities. Non-members are welcome to attend many of its events so they can experience the chapter’s value firsthand. These opportunities often lead to greater involvement and increased membership.
Peer connections and mentorship largely drive networking. Early in Dr. Chelladurai’s career, chapter leaders played an important role in encouraging her to pursue clinical leadership opportunities and serving as a sounding board for ideas. These relationships were instrumental in shaping her development as a hospitalist and leader. “I look forward to making this type of mentorship more intentional, structured, and widely accessible,” she said.
Karen Appold is an award-winning journalist based in Lehigh Valley, Pa.