OSGNA History

According to the SGA history as written by Linda Jacobs in 1974, the Society had called itself the Gastrointestinal Assistants Society. She says, "No matter how different our jobs were or how different our responsibilities, no one wanted to belong to G*A*S! Thus we became the Society of Gastrointestinal Assistants."

On July 23,1977 the first organizational meeting of gastrointestinal assistants in the Ohio region was held in Columbus. There were 14 persons present. Some were not aware that there was a National SGA. It was at this meeting that a motion was passed to form a regional group.

The date was November 5, 1977. The first educational seminar of OSGA was held in Dayton, Ohio. Forty-eight people attended. There was discussion as to the planning that went into the formation of the Regional Society. The Officers elected were:
President- Shirley Leeson, RN
President-elect- Diane McCarthy, RN
Secretary- Martha Heaton, RN
Treasurer- Jane Dean, RN

OSGNA has had eleven presidents. Pictured are two past presidents. Shirley Leeson, our first president, and Rosemary Tigner, our fourth. They were attending the 38th OSGNA Annual Education Conference at King's Island Conference and Resort Center.

Last Updated 5/05/2005