TAMPA, Fla. — The Hematology Oncology Pharmacist Association has been in Tampa this week hosting a convention the group had to cancel in March of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to sweep across the nation.

“We canceled the meeting halfway through,” said HOPA President LeAnne Kennedy. “Sent everyone home, and here we are celebrating again.”

The Tampa Convention Center will host a record-breaking number of large city-wide events this year due to a combination of new business and groups like HOPA that had to cancel during the pandemic, according to Sales and Marketing Manager Juan Lopez. The center will host a total of 98 events of various sizes, which has been estimated to have a nearly $136 million economic impact for the city of Tampa.

Kennedy said HOPA was only two days into its convention in 2020 when they decided to cancel the rest of the event after learning someone at an event at the Tampa Convention Center a week prior had tested positive for COVID-19. 

“It really just made us panic, and what we really wanted to be sure was that we did not take any potential to hurt or damage to our cancer patients,” she said. “We decided at that point, we had to stop the meeting, middle of the meeting, and send everyone home as soon as possible.”

A nationwide lockdown happened the next day, according to Kennedy. Lopez said it takes a few years to book a convention, which is why the groups that canceled in 2020 have come back this year.

HOPA’s mission is that all patients with cancer will have a pharmacist as a part of their health care team and the organization has 4,000 members nationwide. Kennedy said 1,600 of those members traveled to Tampa for the 2024 convention.

“I’d say maybe about 25 to 50% of us were here back in 2020 and got shipped back,” she said. “There were a lot of others that didn’t get to come.”

HOPA is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the convention in Tampa will wrap up on Saturday.