Developing Young Leaders to Meet Health Care’s Challenges Today and in the Future

At this summer’s AHA Leadership Summit, senior health care executives, clinicians and experts shared state-of-the-art thinking on conquering the challenges facing our field and bold ideas for transforming health care in our country.

That’s important because as America’s hospitals and health systems transform to meet the changing needs of patients and communities, we need dynamic leaders more than ever – individuals with fresh perspectives and specialized skills to lead the field into the future.

Tomorrow’s health care leaders must grasp it all; from technology, data analytics, and business-model transformation … to the skills and adaptability to navigate change and create a culture of innovation, accountability and inclusion.

That’s why AHA is pleased to sponsor our Next Generation Leaders Fellowship, a year-long fellowship program focused on empowering young leaders to bring about real and lasting change in health care.

The members of our Class of 2023, 41 young leaders representing 23 states and a wide variety of health care settings, will work with individual mentors to tackle key challenges affecting health care affordability, quality and safety.

Each Fellow will execute a transformation project specific to a challenge within their organization, culminating with presenting their project solution at the 2023 AHA Leadership Summit.

The 12-month fellowship program provides opportunities to explore new solutions for the many challenges and disruptions in today’s health care system. It builds on the success of other initiatives, such as the AHA Transformation Fellowship, which counts numerous health system executive leaders and change-makers among its alumni network.

One of the biggest challenges we face as a society is providing appropriate care and support for our aging population. The AHA is grateful to The John A. Hartford Foundation for providing scholarships for a cohort of Age-Friendly Fellows who will participate in this year’s class as part of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative focused on improving the care of older adults. We are also deeply appreciative of Accenture for its corporate sponsorship.

Strong, mission-oriented leaders will be critical to the transformation and future success of the health care profession. When the 2023 Fellows complete the program, they will be better equipped to make significant contributions to their respective hospitals through a wide range of roles, including quality, risk management, nursing, market intelligence, business development and geriatrics.

Moreover, they will share their skills and talents with others, helping care providers everywhere advance health for their communities.