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AHA Recognizes Member-Led Organizations During Leadership Summit 
Five organizations led by members of the American College of Healthcare Executives were among those recognized during the American Hospital Association’s July 2023 Leadership Summit in Seattle. Recipients were recognized with the following prizes and awards: 

Circle of Life Award 
Two programs at ACHE member-led organizations received AHA’s 2023 Circle of Life Award for their efforts in palliative and end-of-life care: 

• Palliative Care Program, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, led by President Jennifer Nickoles. 
• Center for Hospice Care, Mishawaka, Ind., led by Interim President/CEO, Philip A. Newbold, FACHE.

The Circle of Life Award honors hospital and palliative care programs that are ensuring equitable access to care; implementing nontraditional models of care delivery and payment; fully integrating palliative care into a system of care or a community; making palliative care financially sustainable; developing meaningful measures and metrics to track progress; or partnering with payers, other providers, community groups and faith communities. 

Equity of Care Award 
The AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity awarded the 2023 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award to the following ACHE member-led organizations: 

• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, N.J., an RWJBarnabas Health facility led by CEO Bill S. Arnold, was selected as the 2023 Equity of Care Award, Emerging Winner. This award recognizes a hospital that is leveraging the Health Equity Roadmap resources to dismantle structural barriers in its care delivery system and the communities it serves.
• Monument Health Rapid City (S.D.) Hospital, led by President/CEO Paulette Davidson, FACHE, was selected as the 2023 Equity of Care, Small/Rural Hospital Excellence Award Winner. This award recognizes a hospital or health system that has demonstrated excellence in advancing health equity in rural or small communities.

The Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award annually recognizes outstanding efforts among hospitals and health systems to advance equity of care to all patients and to spread lessons learned and progress toward diversity, inclusion and health equity. 

Quest for Quality Prize 
Main Line Health, Bryn Mawr, Pa., led by President/CEO John J. Lynch III, FACHE, was named the 2023 recipient of the AHA’s Quest for Quality Prize. First awarded in 2002, the Quest for Quality Prize recognizes healthcare leadership and innovation in improving quality and advancing heath in U.S. communities. 

Main Line Health was selected for the prize based on its systemwide integration of quality, safety and equity, and for the governing and operating structures supporting these goals. 

Freese Decker Named AHA Board Chair-Elect Designate  
The American Hospital Association Board of Trustees elected Christina (Tina) M. Freese Decker, FACHE, president/CEO, Corewell Health, Grand Rapids, Mich., as its chair-elect designate. Freese Decker will be chair-elect in 2024 and become the 2025 chair of the AHA. Currently a member of the AHA Board of Trustees, Freese Decker served as an ACHE Regent for Michigan & Northwest Ohio from 2014 to 2017, and she was the 2013 recipient of ACHE’s Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year. 

ACHE Members Chosen as AHA 2024 Next Gen Fellows 
Ten ACHE members are among the 43 emerging hospital and health system leaders who will participate in the 2023–2024 class of the AHA’s Next Generation Leaders Fellowship. During the 12-month fellowship program, participants will expand their knowledge on leading change, navigating the new healthcare environment, driving transformation, improving care delivery and developing operational strategies for success. The 10 ACHE members are: 

Amanda M. Borer, FACHE, administrative director, neurosciences, Duke University Health System, Durham, N.C. 

Michael R. Cureton, FACHE, chief administrative officer, Sutter Amador Hospital, Jackson, Calif. 

Antionette Danvers, MD, director, family planning/director, residency program, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. 

Anisa Jivani, system director, Strategic Equity Initiatives, Rush University System for Health, Chicago. 

Lindsey M. Lehman, FACHE, vice chair, hospital operations, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 

Bailey K. Myers, director, operations, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Norfolk, Va. 

Alexandra (Lexie) Schwartz, RD, FACHE, vice president, operations, OSF HealthCare, Bloomington, Ill. 

Karan P. Singh, MD, FACHE, FACEP, CMO, San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning, Calif. 

Tri B. Tang, FACHE, vice president, administration, Atrium Health, Charlotte, N.C.  

Ashton Wyrick, assistant director, government and community relations, Bryan Health, Lincoln, Neb. 

Leaders in Action

To promote the many benefits of membership, the following ACHE leaders spoke recently at these 
in-person and virtual events: 

Delvecchio S. Finley, FACHE
Chair
American Hospital Association/Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, Accelerating Health Equity Conference
Minneapolis
(May 2023)

Karen F. Clements, RN, FACHE
Governor
Maine Hospital Association
ACHE Breakfast Meeting, Summer Forum Conference
Rockport, Maine
(June 2023)

Michael O. Ugwueke, DHA, FACHE
Governor
ACHE of Minnesota
ACHE MN Townhall: National and Local Updates 
(June 2023)

ACHE Staff News

Following are promotion and new hire announcements. 

Crystal Garrison promoted to coordinator, Development, Executive Office, from office services assistant, Department of Business Excellence. 

Jacqueline (Jackie) P. Hunter, DC, ND, welcomed as vice president, Diversity & Inclusion, Executive Office.