Southern Thoracic Surgical Association

“Per a management agreement between both parties, stsa has retained the society of thoracic surgeons (sts) to provide administrative management services and to perform such other duties and services as may be entrusted to sts by stsa in accordance with stsa's bylaws, articles of incorporation, rules and regulations and budget. The sts office serves as the headquarters for stsa. The employees of sts provide these services.”

“The organization increased the number of governing body voting members to 11 during 2020.”

“The association has members. There are six (6) categories of members: active, senior, candidate, pre-candidate, associate, and honorary member. Members shall be individuals who support the purpose of the association and who agree to comply with the association's rules and regulations. Active and senior members shall be entitled to hold office and shall have voting privileges. Active and senior members must be board certified by the american board of thoracic surgery or its foreign equivalent. Associate members include support staff for practicing cardiothoracic surgeons including, but not limited to, nurses, nurse practitioners, perfusionists, physician assistants, and research staff. Honorary membership can be bestowed upon a worthy recipient upon recommendation of the council and ratification by a two-thirds majority of the votes at the annual meeting. Honorary members are welcomed at all scientific and business meetings of the association, but have no obligations or responsibilities in the organization. Candidate members must be matched or enrolled in a thoracic surgery educational program accredited by the residency review committee for thoracic surgery under the authority of the accreditation council for graduate medical education that is within the stsa region provided for in the bylaws to be classified as a candidate member. Pre-candidate members may apply for membership by expressing a desire to enter the field of cardiothoracic surgery. Pre-candidate members may transfer to candidate member status once they have matched or enrolled in a thoracic surgery educational program accredited by the residency review committee for thoracic surgery under the authority of the accreditation council for graduate medical education that is within the stsa region.”

“The members of stsa participate in the election of officers.”

“The members of stsa can vote on bylaw changes, approve new members and the slate of nominations for officers.”

“The organization retained the services of an independent cpa firm to prepare its form 990. Management then reviews the completed form 990 and provided a full copy to all voting members of the organization's executive council (ie, the governing body). The voting members of the governing body were given a reasonable amount of time to review the return and ask any questions directly to management.”

“Officers, councilors, and others are annually required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure statement as a requirement of service. The statement on stsa disclosure policy and guidelines regarding conflicts of interest is read at the beginning of every executive council, committee, council operating board, and workforce meeting. If a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest exists, the person with such a conflict must disclose the relationship and refrain from voting on the matter. If the nature of the relationship suggests that his or her presence may be detrimental to the discussion, he or she must exit the meeting. The meeting chair makes the final determinations to the appropriate action.”

“AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST”

“The process of assuming oversight responsibility for the selection of independent accountants has not changed from the prior year.”