In 1969, a medical social workers group was formed in Vancouver,
BC, to allow for networking, information sharing and continuing
social work education specific to our field of practice. In Victoria,
BC, the Committee on Aging was formed and this became a sub-committee
of BCASW. The medical social workers had a non-voting membership
on the BCASW Board.
In the 70s, the Social Work Director's Society was formed and
many Directors put their energy into making this a success. As
a result, the first group struggled. The Discharge Planners Association
met some of the needs of line social workers while it was in existence.
With the advent of program management and hospital mergers, the
number of directors began to dwindle. In 1996, the Director's
society was formally dissolved and Social Workers in Health Society
was formed to allow for networking, sharing of information and
continuing education specific to our field of practice!