Member Resource: Building and Maintaining Public Trust and Confidence
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Hospitals Leading the Way to a Healthier America
Hospitals have always been at the heart of community health empowering healthier, happier lives for all.
AHA Launches New Multimedia Advertising Campaign to Promote Hospitals
The campaign includes a commercial that will run on national, cable, and digital TV and digital advertising.
New Resources Spotlight Crucial Role of Rural Hospitals and Health Systems
The AHA released new resources to help rural hospitals and health systems share their stories and highlight the vital role they play in their communities.
Creative repurposing saves heart during double-lung transplant
Old technology — applied in new and novel ways — can still be a lifesaver.
All Stories
Building Healthy Communities
Intermountain Health St. James Hospital
Montana
Frankee Angel, a lifelong performer, found her world upended when she suffered a sudden medical emergency just before playing piano at St. Patrick’s Church.
Building Healthy Communities
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, Ark.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is demonstrating the powerful impact of its Food Is Medicine program.
Building Healthy Communities
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman
Kaufman, Texas
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman is strengthening community wellness through its Healthy Education Lifestyles Program (HELP), an initiative designed to give patients both clinical support and practical health education.
Ensuring Access to Care
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Little Rock, Ark.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital is utilizing telemedicine to expand access to care and support rural hospitals that lack pediatric cardiac MRI and CT expertise.
Ensuring Access to Care
Northern Cochise Community Hospital
Cochise County, Ariz.
In rural Cochise County, Ariz., many older adults struggle with limited incomes, chronic health conditions, and scarce access to essential resources. Geographic isolation and high poverty rates among seniors make basic needs — such as adult incontinence supplies — difficult to afford.
Ensuring Access to Care
Clifton-Fine Hospital
St. Lawrence County, N.Y.
Clifton-Fine Hospital in St. Lawrence County, N.Y., adjacent to the Canadian border, was long challenged by low patient numbers and an outdated, cramped emergency room so small and crowded that staff struggled to treat multiple patients with space or privacy.
Benefiting Communities
MultiCare Valley Hospital
Spokane, Wash.
Every December, health care workers at MultiCare Valley Hospital, based in Spokane, Wash., take on extra seasonal roles: holiday “elves." For nine years, the staff has organized a gift drive to support local children, donating presents and essential items to families who need them most.
Benefiting Communities
Manning Family Children’s Hospital
New Orleans, La.
Manning Family Children’s Hospital has become the first facility in Louisiana and the broader Gulf South region to earn verification as a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center.
Benefiting Communities
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, Ark.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is demonstrating the powerful impact of its Food Is Medicine program.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Lake Charles Memorial Health System
Lake Charles, La.
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital has launched Mission Move Well, a systemwide initiative built on the Arjo MOVE framework to support patient mobility, strengthen staff response and improve patient safety.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, Mass.
Kieran, a 57-year-old father of three, joined the American Heart Association’s 2024 Boston Heart Walk just over a year after receiving a heart transplant. His participation in the one-mile walk reflected his progress toward recovery and his desire to support heart disease advocacy and research.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center
Las Vegas, Nev.
Las Vegas-based Southern Hills Hospital and Medical Center recently completed Nevada’s first FDA‑approved minimally invasive repair for complex aortic aneurysms, a life-threatening condition involving the body’s main artery.
Prevention and Wellness
HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital
Port St. Lucie, Fla.
It was Angela and Christopher’s wedding anniversary, but it looked like they wouldn’t be able to celebrate it. Angela, a nurse at HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital, wasn’t working — instead, she was a patient recovering from surgery to address severe abdominal pain. But her co-workers and friends weren’t going to let the day pass by.
Prevention and Wellness
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman
Kaufman, Texas
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman is strengthening community wellness through its Healthy Education Lifestyles Program (HELP), an initiative designed to give patients both clinical support and practical health education.
Prevention and Wellness
Cottage Hospital
Woodsville, N.H.
Designed as a “caring and sensitive environment,” the Ray of Hope unit at Cottage Hospital addresses behavioral health needs associated with aging.
Workforce
East Alabama Health
Opelika, Ala.
Maintaining a trained workforce is one of the greatest challenges facing rural hospitals today. In Alabama, the shortage is particularly and increasingly severe, especially when it comes to nurses. East Alabama Health is addressing the problem in multiple ways.
Workforce
In this conversation, Thomas Ahr, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Hospital Sisters Health System, details how the health system is prioritizing prevention, supporting staff after incidents, and turning safety into a leadership responsibility.
Workforce
Decatur Memorial Hospital
Decatur, Ill.
Decatur Memorial Hospital (DMH) is celebrating a major milestone as its Nurse Anesthesia Program reaches 60 years of educating skilled professionals for Central Illinois and beyond.
Building Healthy Communities
Access to high-quality health care is crucial to a community’s well-being, but it’s not the only component of health.
Building Healthy Communities
University of Maryland Medical System
Eastern Shore, Md.
More than 1 million people in Maryland live in medically underserved areas — mostly on the state’s rural Eastern Shore. The University of Maryland School of Medicine aims to change that.
Building Healthy Communities
Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, part of MaineHealth, is working to ensure children have access to quality oral health care, even before a child gets their first tooth.
Building Healthy Communities
Los Alamos Medical Center
Los Alamos, N.M.
For area residents of Los Alamos, New Mexico, a terrific new option is available to treat sleep disorders with the opening of a new Sleep Lab during the summer of 2024 that greatly expands treatment capabilities in the region for sleep disorders.
Building Healthy Communities
Banner Desert Medical Center
Mesa, Ariz.
Patients nationwide express a strong preference for health care services that are delivered under one roof whenever possible, and Banner Desert Medical Center has responded with brand new clinic designed to cater specifically to the needs of expectant mothers and their unborn babies.
Building Healthy Communities
Banner - University Medical Center Phoenix
Phoenix, Ariz.
The incredible gift of organ donation has saved countless lives over the years. Now, a new center in Arizona has opened to ensure proper care and treatment for the generous donors themselves.
Building Healthy Communities
Rady Children’s Hospital
San Diego, Calif.
Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego called the surge of children coming into its emergency department with behavioral health needs “unprecedented,” and responded by placing mental health professionals in primary care practices.
Building Healthy Communities
Denver Health
Denver, Colo.
Denver Health is integrating basic dental services into patient care routines, pulling aside the traditional wall between the two disciplines.
Building Healthy Communities
Rochester Regional Health
Rochester, N.Y.
Rochester General Hospital
Rochester, N.Y.
Saint Vincent Hospital
Erie, Pa.
The rare solar eclipse that arced across a wide swath of the U.S. on April 8 briefly turned millions of pairs of eyes to the sun — and kept many hospitals and health systems on their toes preparing for contingencies.
Ensuring Access to Care
Three Rivers Hospital is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help improve cancer survival outcomes in central Washington’s rural Hispanic population.
Ensuring Access to Care
Kaiser Permanente. A young black sitting in an apartment at a table working on a laptop, viewed through a fire escape window
At Kaiser Permanente hospitals, which can be found in eight states and the District of Columbia, care teams understand that whether or not you have a roof over your head makes a paramount impact on your health. Not only does being unhoused exacerbate existing health issues, but poor health can lead to a loss of housing in some cases.
Ensuring Access to Care
The health system is focusing on four strategic pillars to guide its work: Experience (of patients, employees and others); Education and Research Mission (through learning and innovation); Stewardship (to build healthy communities and public trust); and Operational Excellence (to attain financial stability)
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Julie Dye, clinical nurse specialist in geriatrics at Sharp Grossmont Hospital, discusses the benefits of participating in the Geriatric Emergency Department Accreditation program and the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative.
Ensuring Access to Care
The birthing centers at Maine’s Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Inland Hospital and Mercy Hospital in 2023 received recognition at the state’s Perinatal Quality Collaborative conference for their work addressing maternal hypertension.
Ensuring Access to Care
Jefferson Health
Philadelphia, Pa.
Jefferson Health has launched "Pride at the Jefferson Center for Healthy Aging," a program dedicated to caring for Philadelphia's aging LGBTQIA+ community, combining clinical care and research efforts to create a primary care home for LGBTQIA+ older adults.
Ensuring Access to Care
The Kent Hospital at Home care team, based in Warwick, R.I., visits the homes of qualifying patients, whether they live in a house, apartment, skilled nursing facility — or even a boat.
Ensuring Access to Care
WVU Medicine United Hospital Health Center
Morgantown, W.Va.
WVU Medicine United Hospital Health Center is addressing this issue by partnering with the United Way of Harrison and Doddridge Counties to establish the first medical respite care center in the state of West Virginia.
Ensuring Access to Care
Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) will now house within their emergency department a comprehensive behavioral health program, as well as an HIV prevention and care program.
Benefiting Communities
In this Leadership Dialogue conversation, Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health and 2025 AHA board chair, talks with Lori Wightman, R.N., CEO of Bothwell Regional Health Center, about the challenges that rural hospitals and health systems face.
Benefiting Communities
A grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has prevented the impending closure of Bucktail Medical Center and preserved its ability to deliver essential care to thousands of rural residents of central Pennsylvania.
Benefiting Communities
Valleywise Health
Phoenix, Ariz.
Rachel and Marco Vargas recently welcomed four identical baby girls at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, a rare occurrence with odds estimated at one in 40 million.
Benefiting Communities
People in need of immediate help with mental health issues have a new option for treatment with the opening of the Behavioral Health Center at Lancaster General Hospital.
Benefiting Communities
In this Leadership Dialogue conversation, Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health and 2025 AHA board chair, talks with two health care leaders, Lynn Hanessian, former chief health strategist at Edelman, and Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D., chair of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at Carilion Clinic.
Benefiting Communities
Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena, Mont., has launched the Hope Campaign to reduce stigma and encourage conversations about youth mental health.
Benefiting Communities
In this "Caring for Our Kids" episode, Traci Carter, program manager of Raising St. Louis, and Nicole Kozma, director of school and community outreach programs at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and BJC Community Health Improvement, discuss the scope of the Raising St. Louis program.
Benefiting Communities
Monadnock Community Hospital’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) program is closing care gaps in the rural community of Peterborough, N.H., and the eastern Monadnock region.
Benefiting Communities
CommonSpirit Health and University of Utah Health have announced a strategic clinical alliance to enhance patient access to high-quality medical care across several CommonSpirit hospitals in Utah.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Cedars-Sinai
Los Angeles
Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles is reaching for the stars with the May launch of its Center for Space Medicine Research. The center studies space biomedicine, a branch of medicine that examines the physiological and biological effects of spaceflight on the human body.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
The Arkansas Children’s Research Institute is building on earlier research findings to investigate how exposure to “forever chemicals” affects child development.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
. In this conversation, Ochsner Health's Stephen Saenz, sepsis program manager, and Teresa Arrington, director of robust process improvement for quality & patient safety, reveal how a mix of smart technology, clinician-led design and flexible implementation reduced sepsis-related mortality by 20% across its health system
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
When Crystal arrived at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance to deliver her third child, she was met with a new approach to childbirth that immediately put her at ease.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
UVA Health
Charlottesville, Va.
At UVA Health, the iconic orange plastic pill bottle is getting a makeover. Some prescriptions are now being filled in a new, recyclable paper bottle.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tenn.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is growing its integrated, multidisciplinary care for infants and children who have been exposed to opioids while in utero.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, Ark.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is working to enhance their cancer treatment research with a nearly $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Maui, like other Hawaiian Islands, is often referred to as “paradise.” But being an isolated travel destination can be a double-edged sword when it comes to health care delivery.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Traditional chemotherapy is delivered via the bloodstream, making it less effective for metastatic cancers that occur within the peritoneal cavity — such as colorectal, appendiceal, gastric, ovarian and others. Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy offers new hope for patients with cancers such as these.
Prevention and Wellness
Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital
Lebanon, N.H.
Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital’s accredited Sleep Center offers treatment for sleep disorders in adults and children who are over age 3. The hospital, part of Dartmouth Health, serves communities in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Prevention and Wellness
The Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center (ACNC) is celebrating three decades of groundbreaking research that has significantly improved the health and development of children worldwide.
Prevention and Wellness
Dartmouth Health
Lebanon, N.H.
The Aging Resource Center, part of the health system’s Geriatric Center of Excellence, offers free educational classes, support and services to improve the minds, bodies and spirits of older adults and their families.
Prevention and Wellness
St. Joseph Hospital
Bangor, Maine
More than half of women and nearly one in three men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prevention and Wellness
Kent Hospital
Warwick, R.I.
Kent Hospital’s Spaulding Rehabilitation teams offer inpatient and outpatient services, caring for patients recovering from sports injuries, stroke, traumatic brain injury, amputations, concussions, Lyme disease, Parkinson’s disease and more.
Prevention and Wellness
Elizabethtown Community Hospital
Elizabethtown N.Y.
To reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults and help improve their health and well-being, Elizabethtown (N.Y.) Community Hospital launched the Community Friendship Volunteer Program in fall 2024.
Prevention and Wellness
Kate Leissler's journey to a healthier life has been filled with determination and resilience.
Prevention and Wellness
Novant Health
Winston Salem, N.C.
In this conversation, Sara Robinson, senior associate healthcare architect at McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, and Jamie Feinour, vice president of operations at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center and president of Novant Health Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital, discuss how patient-centered design and innovative architecture come together to create spaces of healing for patients and providers, and how Sara's personal cancer journey impacted the design for Novant Health's Breast Center.
Prevention and Wellness
UCF Lake Nona Medical Center
Orlando, Fla.
Now, thanks to the Libraries with Heart program, libraries in Central Florida are places where community members can keep an eye on one aspect of their health.
Workforce
In this conversation, Michelle Schweitzer, NP, executive director of advanced practice providers at WakeMed, discusses the growing role her APP colleagues play in health care delivery, and how the rise of these unique caregivers benefits both patients and providers.
Workforce
In this conversation, Stacey Ouellette, director of Behavioral Health Integration with Maine Behavioral Healthcare, discusses the positive impact integrated care has had on workplace productivity and satisfaction, and how it's made their teams more connected across the organization.
Workforce
Petersburg Medical Center
Petersburg, Ala.
Petersburg Medical Center in Petersburg, Alaska, has ushered in a new era of breast cancer detection with the arrival of its advanced 3D mammography machine.
Workforce
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, N.Y.
In this new "Safety Speaks" conversation, Michael Privitera, M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center, discusses ways to ease the cognitive load that many physicians and caregivers face, and how simple steps can be implemented to make it easier to focus on what's most important.
Workforce
Danbury Hospital
Danbury, Conn.
A virtual reality program for new inpatient nurses — whether they’re returning to bedside care or changing specialties — is enhancing patient safety and quality of care at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut, part of Nuvance Health.
Workforce
Jefferson Healthcare
Port Townsend, Wash.
In this conversation, Brandie Manuel, R.N., chief patient safety and quality officer at Jefferson Healthcare, discusses how the use of TeamSTEPPS and other tools are making a big difference in creating a thriving employee pipeline.
Workforce
Trinity Health
Livonia, Mich.
In this conversation, Tom Peterson, M.D., vice president and chief safety officer at Trinity Health, shares how Trinity's focus on both patient and workforce safety is paying off.
Workforce
Saint Peter’s Healthcare
New Jersey
Saint Peter’s Healthcare’s dual investments in infrastructure and education are improving the lives of both patients and employees.
Workforce
WellSpan Health
York, Pa.
As we observe AHA’s 8th annual #HAVHope Day, it's an important reminder that many hospital and health system leaders are looking for solutions to address the root causes of violence in their organizations and communities.