Newsletter

Congress Daily

March 30, 2022


Bluford Receives ACHE’s President’s Award

Bluford

John W. Bluford III, LFACHE, was honored today with the American College of Healthcare Executive’s President’s Award during the Leon I. Gintzig Commemorative Address.

Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, ACHE’s president and CEO, presented Bluford with the award, given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field. This award is presented in exceptional situations to recognize exemplary service outside the bounds of other recognitions indicative of ACHE’s formal awards program. It is awarded by ACHE’s president and CEO and has been presented at venues of importance to the recipient.

Bluford is currently the president/founder of the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute. He carries the title of president emeritus for Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City.

Throughout his accomplished career, Bluford has worked to ensure underserved populations have a voice and to eliminate healthcare disparities. Affectionately known as “Mr. B” by many, he has played a key role in developing leaders through personal support, engagement and career appointments, taking time out of his busy day to meet with, listen to and push early careerists to be the best version of themselves.

Bluford served as the president and CEO of Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, Mo., for 15 years, and prior to that, held various leadership positions at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis. During his 22 years at Hennepin, he spent six years as its CEO, and in 1983, he started the first public sector HMO in the country, the Metropolitan Health Plan. Truman Medical Centers is a two-hospital, 560-licensed bed, nonprofit, multispecialty Level I trauma and academic medical center. It is also a teaching affiliate of the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine for which Bluford recruited a top-notch team that executed a complete turnaround of the corporate culture, financial operations, employee morale, physician relations and compliance issues.

Bluford has been a supporter of ACHE and its mission, vision and values for 40 years, joining in 1982. A consistent attendee of the annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership for the past 37 years, he also served as a speaker for the Masters Series at the 2014 Congress, and he has served as a faculty member for the Thomas C. Dolan Executive Diversity Program. Bluford has worked with the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals (formerly the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems) and the National Association of Health Service Executives on collaborative programming arrangements and the advancement of healthcare management excellence. He has participated in several local ACHE chapter programs, encouraging content focused on leadership principles, high performance and improving the health of urban communities through outreach.

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2022 Higher Education Network Award Winners Named

Army-Baylor University and Brazosport College were honored today as recipients of ACHE’s 2022 Higher Education Network Awards.

Army-Baylor University was recognized as the graduate program that demonstrated the highest level of ACHE engagement.

Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, Texas, was recognized as the undergraduate program that demonstrated the highest level of ACHE engagement.

Both were recognized during today’s Hot Topic session: “American Hospital Association Health Policy & Legislative Update.”

ACHE established the Higher Education Network Awards to recognize participants whose programs have demonstrated a commitment to engagement with ACHE. Please join us in celebrating these programs’ accomplishments.

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Hamilton, Conley Winners Announced

Battling Healthcare Burnout: Learning to Love the Job You Have While Creating the Job You Love

Thom Mayer, MD, FACHE, was named the winner of the 2022 James A. Hamilton Book of the Year Award for Battling Healthcare Burnout: Learning to Love the Job You Have While Creating the Job You Love (Berrett-Koehler, 2021).

When physicians and nurses suffer from burnout, patients suffer as well. This book pinpoints the how and why and shows what healthcare providers and their organizations can do to reduce burnout.

Aimee J. Daily, PhD, FACHE, won ACHE’s 2022 Dean Conley Award for her article “How One Healthcare Organization Is Creating a True System,” published in the summer 2021 issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management.

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Winners of the Stull Student Essay Competition Acknowledged

The American College of Healthcare Executives announced today the winners of its 2022 Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition in Healthcare Management.

Allison J. Weidman of the University of Minnesota won first place in the graduate division for her essay “Establishing a Sustainable Healthcare Delivery Workforce in the Wake of COVID-19.” In the undergraduate division, Warren A. Poquiz of Texas State University—San Marcos won first place for his essay “Blockchain Technology in Healthcare: An Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.”

Weidman and Poquiz each received $3,000 and a plaque, and their schools each received $1,000. The first-place essays will be published in the Journal of Healthcare Management, ACHE's official journal.

Kellie M. Resnick of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee took second place in the graduate division for her essay “A Whole Person Approach to Behavioral Health: Improving Outcomes and Lowering Treatment Costs.” In the undergraduate division, the second-place prize went to Jonna E. Strasser of Grand Canyon University for her essay “COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Labor Shortage: How Health Care Management can Respond.” The second-place winner in each division received $2,000 and a plaque.

David Porter Black of Xavier University won third place in the graduate division for his essay “The Implementation of Retention Checklist to Improve Nurse Retention.” Danielle O. Shapero of James Madison University won third place in the undergraduate division for her essay “Resource Utilization Deficiencies Remain at the Epicenter of the United States’ Healthcare Crisis Fueled by the Spanish Flu and COVID-19.” Both third-place winners received $1,000 and a plaque.

The winners were recognized during the Leon I. Gintzig Commemorative Lecture.

The goal of the Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition in Healthcare Management is to stimulate and demonstrate the ability of future healthcare executives to identify and describe important issues and developments in their chosen profession. It is open to all ACHE Student Associates enrolled in either a graduate or an undergraduate U.S. or Canadian health administration program that is part of ACHE’s Higher Education Network.

The competition was named in honor of ACHE’s fourth CEO, Richard J. Stull, FACHE, who served from 1965 to 1979.

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Outgoing Regents Recognized 

ACHE Monday honored its outgoing Regents for their dedicated service. We thank the following individuals for their efforts on behalf of ACHE and its members:


Air Force
R. Craig Lambert, FACHE

Arkansas
Michael K. Givens, FACHE

California—Northern & Central
Baljeet S. Sangha, FACHE

Colorado
Mario A. Harding, FACHE

Connecticut
Denise J. Fiore, FACHE

Florida—Eastern
Ashley R. Vertuno, FACHE

Illinois—Metropolitan Chicago
Kenneth P. Jones, FACHE

Indiana
Kelly L. Braverman, FACHE

Iowa
Kevin Kincaid, FACHE

Kentucky
Alan Coppock, FACHE

Mississippi
Tom R. McDougal Jr., DSc, FACHE

New York—Metropolitan New York
Maureen A. Doran-Mineo, FACHE

Rhode Island
Jennifer L. Tomasik, FACHE

South Dakota
Tamara L. Miller, FACHE

Texas—Central & South
Lynn T. Downs, PhD, FACHE

Veterans Affairs
Ann R. Brown, FACHE

West Virginia & Western Virginia
Brian L. Lilly, FACHE

Wyoming
Misty Robertson, RN, FACHE

Regent-at-Large, District 3
Terika R. Richardson, FACHE

Regent-at-Large, District 4
Stephan Davis, DNP, FACHE

Regent-at-Large, District 5
Luis Fonseca, FACHE

 

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Last Day to Add Virtual Leadership Symposium to Your Congress Registration

Thursday is the final day to receive a discounted registration to the Virtual Leadership Symposium April 11–12.

The event includes unique content and offers up to 6 ACHE Face-to-Face Education credits. You can bundle this virtual event with your Congress registration or register separately. Congress registrants can receive a discounted registration to the Virtual Leadership Symposium by adding the event to their in-person Congress registration before 11:59 p.m. Central time, March 31. Visit ache.org/VLS to learn more. 

 

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Premier Corporate Partners

We thank our ACHE Premier Corporate Partners.

These organizations play a vital role in supporting ACHE’s vision and mission to advance health, our members and healthcare leadership excellence.

 

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