Chairperson's File
Blog posts from 2025 AHA Board Chair Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, and past chairs.
Never underestimate the power of data. Hannibal (Mo.) Regional Hospital focused on collecting and analyzing data to prevent pressure ulcers. The 91-bed hospital serves 18,000 town residents but about 90,000 in its entire service area. The hospital created a multidisciplinary pressure ulcer鈥
Preventing hospital-acquired infections, reducing surgical complications and reducing readmissions: At hospitals, health care systems and state, regional and metropolitan hospital associations across the country, executives, clinicians and staff are leading successful patient safety and quality鈥
The path to eliminating disparities in health care has a few roadblocks: limited resources and access to capital, competing regulatory issues and challenges, and resistance to change. But eliminating disparities improves quality of care, efficiency and patient satisfaction, and reduces costs.
A 鈥渟imple鈥 complex plan is reducing readmissions at Wythe County Community Hospital, a 100-bed facility in Wytheville, Va. Care teams reviewed data to determine which patients kept returning to WCCH within 30 days of discharge鈥攁nd frequently visiting the ED鈥攁nd developed the鈥
If you build a community of care, people will come. It happened when Middlesex Hospital, in Middletown, Conn., began meeting with community partners. The objective: to work collaboratively to improve the hand-off process for heart failure patients being discharged to skilled nursing facilities and鈥
After more than a decade of war, many U.S. military service members have experienced an unprecedented number of combat deployments. Representing about 25 percent of the U.S. population, service members, veterans and their families face the consequences of war's invisible wounds. This group has鈥
Eliminating hospital-acquired infections, preventing patient falls, reducing preventable readmissions, reducing community asthma rates鈥攖hese are just a few of the many improvement efforts that hospital and health care system leaders are tackling. A Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence guide鈥
Every October pink appears on everything from ribbons to football helmets and even illuminates the White House to raise awareness about breast cancer. Every day hospitals and health care systems conduct screenings and provide quality care for women (and men) diagnosed with the disease. St. Vincent鈥
Teamwork between infection control and environmental services professionals at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, NJ, has helped reduce infections at the 178-bed hospital. 'Constant education' is one key, so health care workers understand the importance of thorough cleaning and disinfecting as鈥
Focusing on strategies to improve quality and achieve health care equity is a growing national priority. Two upcoming Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence webinars will provide guidance and information to help organizations that are beginning the journey to providing equitable care as well as those鈥