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For the past 125 years, the AHA has been a tireless advocate for the health care field, patients and communities. We need this diligent work and bold leadership more than ever during such a challenging yet exciting period for U.S. hospitals and health systems.

This year, the AHA will continue to build on its three-year strategic plan launched in 2022. Key priorities are:

• Providing better care and greater value.
• Advocating for the financial stability of hospitals and health systems.
• Addressing workforce challenges, including creating innovative and effective approaches and strategies to support our team members.
• Enhancing innovation, especially in supporting the health care workforce and meeting consumer demands.

This work includes renewing efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice and helping empower communities to invest in their neighborhoods and continue working to eliminate health disparities. Other key priorities include expanding behavioral health services to reach a broader population and using data in unique ways to provide the right care at the right time and in the right setting.

As Chair of the AHA Board of Trustees this year, I look forward to continuing to collaborate with hospital and health system leaders throughout the country on these and many other priorities. We must address the challenges our field is currently facing while also ensuring our stability for the long term.

I’m excited about the year ahead. I’m also extremely grateful for the leadership of my Board Chair predecessor, Wright Lassiter III, who has served the AHA and our field so admirably. I look forward to connecting with and learning from health care leaders at AHA conferences and meetings throughout the year.

Hospitals and health systems come in all shapes and sizes: large, national systems and small, critical access hospitals; for-profit and not-for-profit; rural and urban; teaching and non-teaching, to name just a few. But at the end of the day, we all have one thing in common: We’re all providing care and working to advance the health of our patients and communities.

No matter our background or whom we’re serving, one shared value brings us together within the ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ Association. That’s AHA’s vision of a just society of healthy communities where all individuals reach their highest potential for health.