Press Release

John Hanshaw to Chair Association's Metropolitan Hospitals Governing Council

Contact:
Elizabeth Lietz, AHA - (202) 626-2284
Matt Fenwick, AHA - (312) 422-2820

Washington D.C.

John Hanshaw, president of HCA Mountain Division in Salt Lake City, Utah, will lead the American Hospital Association's (AHA) Section for Metropolitan Hospitals as chair of its 25-member governing council for 2008.  The Section is a forum for suburban and urban hospitals to discuss common interests and concerns and to participate in the AHA policy process.

As head of HCA's Mountain Division, Hanshaw is responsible for overseeing HCA's health care facilities in Utah and Idaho and Alaska.  These include nine acute care hospitals, outpatient surgery and imaging centers, physician practices and clinics.  Prior to leading the HCA Mountain Division, Hanshaw was CEO of St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City and CEO of Metropolitan Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.  Hanshaw received a master's of health care administration at Trinity University in San Antonio and a bachelor's of business administration at the University of Arizona in Tucson.  Hanshaw also serves as immediate past-chair of the Utah Hospital Association Board of Trustees.

Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System in Bethesda, Md., is this year's chair-elect.  Joyce Murphy, vice-chancellor and COO of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Commonwealth Medicine, in Worcester, Mass., is immediate past chair.

The Metropolitan governing council advises the AHA on federal policy issues.  Elected members serve three-year terms.  Newly elected members include:  Thomas Breitenbach, president and CEO, Premier Health Partners, Dayton, Ohio; Frank Lopez, CEO and managing director, Northwest Texas Healthcare System, Amarillo, Tex.; Thomas D. O'Connor, president, Mercy Hospital, Coon Rapids, Minn.; and Laurence Tanner, president and CEO, New Britain General Hospital, New Britain, Conn.  Members appointed for terms were:  David G. Covert, president and CEO, Catholic Healthcare West, Chandler, Ariz. and Nancy Steiger, CEO, St. Joseph Hospital, Bellingham, Wash.   

The new governing council members join the following current members:  Richard Afable, M.D., president and CEO, Hoag Memorial Hospital, Newport Beach, Calif.; Rita Battles, president, Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Susan Brody, president and CEO, Bayfront Medical Center, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Robert A. Colvin, president and CEO, Memorial Health, Savannah, Ga.; Pamela Meyer Davis, president and CEO, Edward Health Services, Naperville, Ill.; Michael Eesley, president and CEO, Centegra Health System, Crystal Lake,  Ill.; Mark Gavens, senior vice president, clinical care services/COO, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, Calif.; Gary S. Horan, president and CEO, Trinitas Health & Hospital, Elizabeth, N.J.; Christopher Mosley, president and CEO, Chesapeake Health, Chesapeake, Va.; Lynne Parker, administrator, Baptist Medical Center South, Montgomery, Ala.; Julie Quirin, president and CEO, Saint Luke's South Hospital, Overland Park, Kan.; Telford Thomas, president and CEO, The Washington Hospital, Washington, Pa.; Alex Valdez, president and CEO, St. Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe, N.M.; and David Whitaker, president and CEO, Norman Regional Hospital, Norman, Okla.  Gregory W. Lintjer, president, Elkhart General Healthcare System, Elkhart, Ind. serves as the AHA board liaison to the section's governing council. 

About AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.