Chair File: Building Trust in Today’s Environment
Edelman recently released its 2025 Trust Barometer titled “Trust and the Crisis of Grievance,” and it couldn’t be more timely. Trust — in one another, our hospitals and health systems, our communities and our government — feels more important than ever.
The AHA knows how important public trust and confidence are to advancing the health of all individuals and communities. In fact, we included it as one of the principles in our 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, which was built on listening to feedback from our members. The plan is designed to tackle trust and other key issues so hospitals and health systems can continue to be places where our communities can go for healing, no matter what.
The Edelman report explored how fear has turned into polarization and, in turn, into grievance. Many people feel a sense of grievance, not just with health care but with the government, media and other fields. However, rebuilding trust isn’t impossible. It starts by listening and taking action.
The foundation of listening is seeking to understand. Our communities and patients want to feel seen and heard. Our teams want to feel valued and supported in the extraordinary care they provide.
However, listening on its own isn’t enough. We need to take that feedback on what’s working and what isn’t and create better experiences for those providing and receiving care. We can also help proactively build trust by sharing stories of our incredible work and the people we serve with the AHA team and with legislators.
We need our local and national leaders to understand how critical our work is to our communities. Equipping the AHA with stories empowers them to better advocate for our hospitals and health systems so we can serve our neighbors who are our stakeholders.
Every one of our hospitals and health systems is here for their community despite the challenges they face, making sure that everyone has access to the care they need. And we’re not going anywhere.
Now is the time to listen. Now is the time to act. And now is the time to rebuild trust in one another. Our neighbors are counting on us.
Helping You Help Communities: Key AHA Resources