Chairperson's File
Blog posts from 2025 AHA Board Chair Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health, and past chairs.
As summer moves along, the U.S. is marking a pivotal point in the pandemic. A majority of Americans 鈥 nearly 55% 鈥 now have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 48% are fully vaccinated.
On this episode, you鈥檒l hear from Kenneth Davis, M.D., president and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System in New York, a system that was on the front lines of the first wave of COVID-19. He is a neurobiologist and a pioneering researcher in the field of brain disease, notably Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
In Bellingham, Wash., the PeaceHealth clinic is using community health workers, or promotoras, to help educate farmworkers in rural communities about the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
What qualities make an outstanding leader, whether in health care or another field? Your list may include being collaborative, courageous, empathetic, innovative, inspiring, and intelligent. Based on my experiences and observations during the COVID-19 pandemic, I鈥檇 add a couple more: being humble鈥
Back in 2011, the first wave of Baby Boomers 鈥 people born from 1946 to 1964 鈥 celebrated their 65th birthday. That marked a new demographic trend: the aging of the U.S. population.
Hospitals are cornerstones of our communities. They provide a broad spectrum of acute and ambulatory care services and serve as economic anchors in many cities and towns. Hospitals and health systems also work closely with many community-based organizations, partnering to address people鈥檚 health鈥
Tomorrow, May 25, marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. His death shined a spotlight on the systemic racism and inequities in many aspects of our society. These include inequities in health and health care.
Millions of people across our country are living with a mental health issue. It鈥檚 estimated that one in five U.S. adults and one in six young people ages 6-17 experience a mental health disorder every year.
Today is 鈥淥ur Cup Runneth Over with Gratitude鈥 Day at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital in El Dorado, Kan. Employees are wearing blue and yellow SBA colors and getting a stainless steel cup as a small gift of thanks from their hospital leaders.
The factors that influence health are present in all aspects of our lives 鈥 in our own homes, in our communities and in society as a whole. In theory, this gives each of us the opportunity to improve and maintain our health, with support from hospitals and other providers, community-based鈥