The Georgia Tumor Registrars' Association was established in 1976. Today we have a membership of over 100 registrars throughout Georgia and even some in the surrounding states.

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GATRA Timeline.....

1976, March......Attendees at the first GATRA meeting were: Patty Winters, Jo Lister, Donna Serrett, Ann Brown,m Irene Perrow, Barbara Daniel, Billie Brown, Joan Kibbe, Shirley Rogers, Norma Norman, Barbara Crawford, Donna Rumph, Sharon Elstein, Ruth Hendrix, Katherine Hearn, Betty Hester, Faye Sophy, Mary Christie, and Hazel Ferguson...

The first GATRA Officers included: Patty Winters, President; Jo Lister, Vice-President; and Hazel Ferguson, Secretary and Treasurer.

1976, November.....Workshop on the Hospital Cancer Registry, Dekalb General Hospital, Decatur, GA

1978, March....Educational Seminar, Female Cancers, Augusta, GA

1978, October....Educational Seminar, Leukemia / Skin / Lymphoma

1979 May.....Newsletter: Dues $15.00; "TUMOR REGISTRIES are still EMBRYOS with a long way to go" (written by then GATRA President, Jean Dilts)

1980 March......Educational Seminar, Americus-Sumter County Hospital, Americus, GA

1980 October.....Bridging the Gap, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

1981 March......Spring Educational Seminar, Memorial Medical Center and Candler Hospital, Savannah, GA

1981 September.....Annual Fall Meeting, Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, GA

1982 October......Fall Workshop, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, GA

1983 March......Spring Workshop, Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, GA

1983 October......Fall Workshop, Kennestone Regional Health Care System, Marietta, GA

1983 Winter.....Newsletter:

• 39 members
• "Dolores McCord, ART, formerly the Tumor Registrar at Georgia Baptist Medical Center has assumed the position of Assistant Director of Medical Records as of November 1982" (as written in the newsletter).

1984 March......Spring Educational Serminar, Memorial Medical Center, Savannah, GA

1984 October......Fall Workshop, Piedmont Hospital, Inc., Atlanta, GA

1984 Winter.......Newsletter:

• The first GATRA logo pin was designed by Jean Dilts and Del San Juan working closely with a design firm
• October 5 was proclaimed Georgia Tumor Registrars Day by Governor Joe Frank Harris
• "Pat Chaney, Crawford Long Hospital Registrar, has recently won an all-expense paid trip to Jamaica, at the Atlanta Oncology Association Christmas Party".
• "Dolores Coe is a brand new proud first time grandmother."
• "Jean Dilts, the "old" pro at grandmothering has a second granddaughter".

1985 March.......Spring Educational Seminar, Glynn-Brunswick Memorial Hospital Theater, Brunswick, GA

1985 Spring.....Newsletter:

• "Henrietta Kite, CTR, has moved to Clayton General Hospital in Riverdale. She is organizing that hospital's first registry and Cancer Program.
• New Members: Frances Johnson, CTR; Patricia Hammond
• New GATRA pins are ready for distribution.

1986 October......Fall Meeting, Dekalb General Hospital, Decatur, GA

1986 October.......Georgia Tumor Registrars Day Proclaimed for Oct. 1.

1987 Fall........Newsletter: New CTR's, Ann Baggett, Shirley Deasy, Patricia Moore, Letitia Wallace

1988 March......Spring Meeting, Stouffer Waverly Hotel, Atlanta, GA

1988 Spring.......Newsletter: New CTRs, Alicia Burke, Maud Smith; "27 CTRs in Georgia"

1988 October 20......Georgia Tumor Registrars Day

1989 April 20........Georgia Tumor Reigstrars Day

1989 Summer.....Newsletter: New CTR's Ivie Bozeman, Carol Crosby, Barbara Shaw, Vanessa Williams

1989 Oct.......Advancing into the Nineties, Northlake Hilton, Atlanta, GA

1989 March.....Overview of Registry Functions & Cancer Care in Community Hospitals, Ritz Carlton, Buckhead, GA

1990 Spring......Newsletter:

• GATRA brochures developed and printed
• 67 members

1990 Summer......Newsletter:

• New CTR: Debbie Dolan
• "The Oncology Data Center at St. Joseph's Hospital, Atlanta, recently upgraded its computer operation and is the first registry in this area to install a local area network."

1990 October......Quality Data in the 90's, Macon Conference Center

1991 October......Making Sense of Tumor Markers, Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, GA

1992 Winter.......Newsletter:

• Jean Dilts retires
• New CTR: Thelma Clark, Dorothy Maggard
• Contest for name of newsletter: James Keaveny of Emory University won with the name "THE GATRA CONNECTION"

1992 Spring......Newsletter:

• Dolores Coe to retire before end of year
• "Shirley Deasy, CTR, recently completed her undergraduate studies and joined the rank of college graduate."
• 4th Edition AJCC Staging Manuals are ready for order

1992 Summer......Newsletter:

• "Frances Michaud leaves Humana Hospital Gwinett for job as abstractor for Georgia Center for Cancer Statistics."

1992 October.....Cancer Control in the 90's, Jointly sponored by GATRA and SCRA, Aiken, SC

1992 Fall.......Newsletter:

• NTRA changing name, GATRA voices concern over change.
• New CTRs: Joy Gable (Thompson), Earthlyn Heard, Anne Lawing

1993 Winter......Newsletter: Salary survey results, average CTR salary $26,000, non CTR $23,000

1993 February......CTR Workshop, Dekalb Medical Center

1993 Summer.....Newsletter: Alice Butler retiring from HCA Parkway Medical Center

1993 April......Gynecologic Malignancy, Georgia Baptist Medical Center, Atlanta, GA

1993 June.....Leukemia & Lymphoma, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Albany, GA

1993 August......Head & Neck Malignancies, John B. Amos Community Cancer Center, Columbus, GA

1993 October.......Today's Tumor Registry: Quality In, Quality Out, DeSoto Hilton, Savannah, GA

1994 Spring.......Esophageal Cancer and the ACOS PCE

1994 April.......GATRA Week

1994 November.....New Innovations in Breast Cancer Management, Terrace Gardens, Buckhead, GA

1995 March......Spring Meeting & CTR Workshop, Colorectal Cancer: Prevention and Treatment, Rockdale County Hospital, Conyers, GA

1995 Summer......Newsletter: Ken Gerlach left GCCS to go to China to teach English.

1995 Fall.......Newsletter: Celebrating 20 Years as GATRA

1995 November.......We've Only Just Begun, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA

1996 Winter......Newsletter:

• "Nancy Pickering at Rome Regional Medical Center passed her Accredited Records Technician exam."
• New CTRs: Patricia Malone, Anna Greiner, Deborah Frazier, Judy Kelly

1997 Spring......Newsletter: 104 Active members, 10 honorary members

1997 Februay......Fundamentals of the Tumor Registry Profession & Review Workshop for Tumor Registry Certification Exam, Promina Gwinett Health System, Marietta, GA

1997 April........GATRA Week

1997 May......Growing New Ideas for the Tumor Registry Profession, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

1997 August.....Cancer Registry Fundamentals Workshop, Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, GA

1997 November.....Fall Conference, Mulberry Inn, Savannah, GA

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