AHA Stat Blog

Congress returns to Washington, D.C., next week, and its top focus will be passing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief legislation.

Place-based investment, otherwise known as community investment, helps create the social and physical environments that support community health over the long term. As communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, community investment will be an innovative yet useful strategy for reimagining and rebuilding a more equitable society at a scale that grants alone cannot achieve.

As we forge ahead in 2021 facing a lot of uncertainty, there’s one thing we recognize: The COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting effect on the health and well-being of our nation.

The nation’s COVID-19 vaccination effort continues to have challenges, and we are committed to working with all stakeholders to make it as effective as possible to protect our patients and communities.

America’s hospitals and health systems, and our heroic caregivers, have been on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 for the past year, working tirelessly to provide needed care to patients and communities.

Although “compassion tech” does not yet define a particular category of innovations, it follows the natural evolution of health care technology. While e-health was popularized by the digitization of health care through electronic medical records, we now use “digital health” to refer to a wide range of consumer-facing and backend technologies like wearables, analytic platforms and clinical decision support.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has brought us excruciatingly difficult times, I keep saying this is the finest hour for hospitals. Our field has risen to incredible challenges with expertise, commitment and compassion, and it’s inspiring to see.

Community partnerships could address mental health care lack-of-access issues, writes Sean Blair, chief growth officer of ncgCARE, a behavioral health care organization with provider agencies in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and West Virginia. Learn how to form valuable partnerships and leverage their many benefits using a plan developed by WakeMed Behavioral Health Network as the foundation.

President Biden and congressional Democrats are moving forward with the president’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal.

Mentorship has been incredibly important in the career development of most health care leaders, including me. Learning from mentors and colleagues has helped me grow personally and professionally.

Our country is ready, eager and hopeful this year for at least a partial return to the pre-COVID-19 world. Everyone has a role to play in getting there.

In the midst of the tragedy that is the COVID-19 pandemic, one silver lining is how it has brought us together as an organization to help us innovate and realize our vision to make Indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation.

Ingrid Johnson, R.N., works with Atlantic Health System in Morristown, New Jersey, to raise awareness of human trafficking and how health care leaders can better identify victims and properly respond. This month, the health system proudly displayed a giant banner in Atlantic’s Overlook Medical Center ED to help educate individuals and shine a light on this pervasive problem.

This year, I look forward to continuing AHA’s Leadership Rounds, short conversations on trending topics with health care leaders from around the country.

“We have much to do, much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build … and much to gain.”

When hundreds of leaders gather virtually February 17–18 for the AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, there will be opportunities for you to make, build and renew connections that help innovate and transform health care, through a pioneering approach toward conferencing.

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Since it became a federal holiday in 1983, MLK Day has become widely celebrated as a day of public service for individuals, communities and organizations.

Even as we continue to address COVD-19 challenges, let’s consider the experiences of the past year, looking for lessons learned and opportunities for the future. Here are four major areas that changed during the pandemic and are likely to keep transforming health care in the year ahead.

The AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Virtual Conference and Engagement Experience – one of AHA's flagship events – will be held February 17-18. AHA Executive Vice President Michelle Hood previews the conference designed to help rural health care leaders and trustees propel the transformation to a more integrated and sustainable rural health system.

I have no doubt that Americans and people all over the world are looking forward to turning the page to a new year. The challenges the health care field encountered in 2020 due to the global pandemic have been intense both personally and professionally. But hope is growing for 2021 with the initial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and much more to come. At a time when the country needs us most, hospitals and health care professionals continue to respond with excellence and compassion as we care for patients, families and communities.