Telling the Hospital Story 2026 Flip Book
Download and share examples reflecting hospitals' deep commitment to meeting community needs today while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.
Member Resource: Building and Maintaining Public Trust and Confidence
Share these new resources with your communications and leadership teams.
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.
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
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Neb.
In this conversation, Angela Hewlett, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and medical director of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, explains how her team helped monitor and care for Americans exposed to the Andes hantavirus strain, the only known hantavirus capable of person-to-person transmission.
Building Healthy Communities
Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center
Boise, Idaho
Saint Alphonsus, in partnership with Canyon County Paramedics and the American Red Cross, has launched Idaho’s first ground‑based EMS whole‑blood transfusion program.
Building Healthy Communities
University of Illinois Chicago
University of Illinois Chicago's Pauline Maki, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, psychology, and obstetrics and gynecology, and Makeba Williams, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, unpack why menopause care is finally having a breakthrough moment.
Ensuring Access to Care
Cottage Hospital, New Hampshire
Sharon Hospital, Connecticut
In this conversation, leaders from Cottage Hospital and Sharon Hospital (part of Northwell Health) share how specialized geriatric behavioral health programs are helping older adults receive compassionate, comprehensive mental health care close to home.
Ensuring Access to Care
Springfield Hospital
Springfield, Vt.
A new service at a critical access hospital in rural Vermont is strengthening neurological care in the community.
Ensuring Access to Care
Hackensack Meridian Health
Hackensack, N.J.
The Metropark Health & Wellness Center is the first comprehensive health and wellness facility in the nation to be located within a major transit hub, offering convenient access to care for commuters and nearby residents.
Benefiting Communities
Corewell Health
Michigan
Corewell Health and the Champions of the Heart Foundation are joining forces to expand emergency preparedness and lifesaving training across Michigan, aiming to equip more residents with the skills needed to respond to cardiac emergencies.
Benefiting Communities
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
Wyoming
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC) has partnered with GamFin, a national nonprofit focused on financial recovery from problem gambling, to offer free, confidential financial counseling to Laramie County residents harmed by problem gambling.
Benefiting Communities
Southwest Health
Platteville, Wis.
Southwest Health's Kevin Carr, M.D., family medicine physician, and Melissa Carr, M.D., OB/GYN, reflect on the joy of practicing medicine together, delivering babies side by side, and caring for generations of families in rural Wisconsin as a father-daughter duo.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Community Memorial Hospital
Hamilton, N.Y.
Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, New York, is transforming spine surgery by introducing robotic technology, led by neurosurgeon Dr. Nicholas Qandah.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Mercy Hospital St. Louis
St. Louis, Mo.
Mercy Hospital St. Louis is now using a cancer treatment that sounds more like science fiction than modern medicine: “Bubble clouds” and sound waves are being deployed to destroy liver tumors — painlessly.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare
Clinton, Mo.
A surgeon at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Clinton, Mo., has completed the world’s first knee replacement surgery using a new miniature robotic system.
Prevention and Wellness
Dartmouth Health Children’s
Lebanon, N.H.
Dartmouth Health Children’s has launched a new season of its “Heads Up” mental health awareness series focused on children, titled “Heads Up: Foundations for Youth Mental Health.”
Prevention and Wellness
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Philadelphia
In this conversation, Elinore Kaufman, M.D., medical director of the Penn Trauma Violence Recovery Program, and Michele Volpe, chief operating officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, share how hospital-based violence intervention programs are helping patients heal physically, emotionally and socially after traumatic injury.
Prevention and Wellness
CommonSpirit Health
Chicago, Ill.
For millions facing substance use disorders, stigma isn’t just harmful — it’s a barrier to survival. In this conversation, three leaders from CommonSpirit Health explore how the organization is confronting stigma head-on through education, storytelling and culture change. They also reveal how shifting language, training and grassroots efforts are helping patients feel seen and heard on their road to recovery.
Workforce
Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns
San Diego, Calif.
At Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns in San Diego, Nick Saade, M.D., saw the patient experience from a different perspective — as a husband and expectant father.
Workforce
In recognition of #HAVHope Day on June 5th, Sarah Hunter, president of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, explores the innovative approaches her team is using to reduce workplace violence. From a simple but effective buddy system to stronger partnerships with public safety agencies and community leaders, hear real-world solutions that help healthcare workers focus on what they do best — caring for patients.
Workforce
Hartford HealthCare
Hartford, Conn.
In this Leadership Dialogue conversation, Marc Boom, M.D., president and CEO of Houston Methodist and the 2026 AHA board chair, speaks with John Santopietro, M.D., senior vice president at Hartford HealthCare and physician-in-chief of its Behavioral Health Network.
Building Healthy Communities
CommonSpirit St. Elizabeth Hospital
Fort Morgan, Colo.
CommonSpirit St. Elizabeth Hospital's Care Closet is a compassionate initiative aimed at improving the health and well-being of vulnerable individuals and families in the community.
Building Healthy Communities
UConn Health
Farmington, Conn.
Saving lives is the impetus behind a community outreach and engagement breast cancer screening program led by UConn Health, based in Farmington, Conn.
Building Healthy Communities
Southeast Colorado Hospital District
Springfield, Colo.
Many daily commutes are on the ground — car, train, bikes — but what if you took to the air? Dr. Charles Frankum has spent over two decades flying himself to some of the most remote hospitals in Colorado and Kansas, including the Southeast Colorado Hospital District in Springfield, Colo.
Building Healthy Communities
St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center
Boise, Idaho
The St. Luke’s Hospital at Home program, launched in late 2024, provides hospital-level care to patients in the comfort of their homes.
Building Healthy Communities
MaineHealth Maine Medical Center
Portland, Maine
The MaineHealth–Preble Street Learning Collaborative (PSLC) was founded by MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Preble Street — a nonprofit social service agency — and other community partners to provide outreach, engagement and safe, person-centered care to those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Building Healthy 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.
Building Healthy Communities
Adventist Health
Bakersfield, Calif.
Adventist Health’s unique mobile clinic — think of it as a doctor's office on wheels — helps families and their children in and around Bakersfield, Calif., by offering immunizations for young people from birth to 19 years old at various locations around Kern County.
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.
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Jennifer Richards, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Center for Indigenous Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Jennifer Crawford, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, discuss the perspectives needed to provide maternal care for Indigenous peoples.
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Kimberly Wozneak, national lead for Age-Friendly Health Systems, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, discusses how the VHA is weaving four foundational age-friendly principles into its care to support the growing number of aging veterans.
Ensuring Access to Care
In observation of Veterans Day, Steve Schwab, CEO of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and Kara Walker, M.D., executive vice president and chief population health officer at Nemours Children’s Health, discuss how hospitals and health systems can meet the special health care needs for families who sacrifice the most.
Ensuring Access to Care
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.
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Johnna Nynas, M.D., OB/GYN at Sanford Health Bemidji, discusses the dramatic expansion of maternal telehealth capabilities in Minnesota.
Ensuring Access to Care
Ensuring Access to Care
Providence Swedish Rehabilitation Hospital
Lynwood, Wash.
Residents of Snohomish Country, Wash., now have a new space for comprehensive rehabilitative care — which, as a result, opens crucial bedspace for non-rehab patients.
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Jennifer Cohen, M.D., medical director of the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, King of Prussia, and Katie Costantini, director of maternal care services at Chester County Hospital, discuss the barriers that can affect maternal care in Hispanic populations, and how deploying bilingual volunteers provided the opportunity to learn what worked and what could be improved.
Ensuring Access to Care
In this conversation, Veronica Gillispie-Bell, M.D., OB-GYN at Ochsner Health, discusses successful strategies to reduce maternal morbidity after childbirth, and how these solutions should always start with equity at the forefront.
Benefiting Communities
SSM Health Hospitals in Missouri are taking a proactive role in combating the state’s high infant mortality rates through their Infant Safe Sleep Program.
Benefiting Communities
Thanks to a partnership between Monument Health and the Porter Project, thousands of second-grade students in the Black Hills of South Dakota received a free book — and homework for their parents.
Benefiting Communities
Healthier Northshore is a collaborative initiative led by St. Tammany Health System to improve health outcomes across Louisiana’s Northshore region.
Benefiting Communities
AtlantiCare
Galloway Township, N.J.
AtlantiCare opened 50 new state-of-the-art private rooms spread over two floors at its Mainland Campus in Galloway Township.
Benefiting Communities
Big Sandy Medical Center has remained independently owned for 60 years, defying the trend of small rural hospitals being absorbed by larger health care systems.
Benefiting Communities
RWJBarnabas Health
West Orange N.J.
The opening in May 2025 of New Jersey's first freestanding cancer hospital, the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, brings renewed hope for cancer patients and their families.
Benefiting Communities
Saint Francis Hospital
Hartford, Conn.
A recent community health needs assessment conducted by Saint Francis Hospital and local organizations in Hartford, Conn., indicated that 26% of Hartford residents have difficulty paying for food and 17% have difficulty paying for housing.
Benefiting Communities
Essentia Health-Fargo has introduced a brightly colored, ocean-themed sensory path in its pre-op space to make the environment more engaging for kids.
Benefiting Communities
In this conversation, Duke University's Anna Tharakan, lead project manager on Closing the Gap on Hypertension Disparities, and Bradi Granger, Ph.D., research professor at Duke University School of Nursing and director of the Duke Heart Center Nursing Research Program, discuss how Duke’s team is reducing disparities in hypertension.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka
Eureka, Calif.
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka in California is reporting some of its fastest emergency department wait times ever — often under 10 minutes — after launching a virtual nursing model that pairs telehealth technology with traditional bedside care.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
Austin, Texas
Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin has unveiled a new intraoperative MRI surgical suite, designed specifically for pediatric neurosurgery.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Jefferson Health
Philadelphia, Pa.
Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health has unveiled an artificial intelligence (AI) strategy aimed at reclaiming over 10 million hours of clinician time by 2028, allowing clinicians to focus more on patients and less on administrative tasks.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Southern Illinois Healthcare
Carbondale, Ill.
Southern Illinois Healthcare has introduced Ion® robotic-assisted bronchoscopy at SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Advocate Health
Charlotte, N.C.
In this conversation, we explore how Advocate Health and Laerdal Medical are transforming patient safety through the power of simulation.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Intermountain Health Primary Children's Hospital
Salt Lake City, Utah
In a moment filled with gratitude, two families met for the first time after a groundbreaking medical event at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.
In a moment filled with gratitude, two families met for the first time after a groundbreaking medical event at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
St. Luke’s Hospital
Chesterfield, Mo.
St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., has become the first in the region to implement the da Vinci 5 robotic surgical system, marking a significant advancement in its surgical capabilities.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Texas Children’s Hospital
Houston, Texas
An extremely rare neurological disorder called aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) — a condition that prevents the brain from producing dopamine and serotonin, the essential chemicals for controlling movement, mood and basic nervous system functions — was once thought to be untreatable.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Via Christi St. Francis Hospital
Wichita, Kan.
Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita has become the first site in Kansas to perform a new procedure as part of the JOURNEY IDE clinical trial, aimed at treating severe aortic regurgitation.
Prevention and Wellness
If you could predict your biological risk of death, would you want to know? Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle have developed a resource that does just that and more.
Prevention and Wellness
Boston Medical Center
Boston, Mass.
In this conversation, Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) Jeff Schneider, M.D., the associate chief medical officer, designated institutional official, and chair of the Graduate Medical Education Committee at Boston Medical Center, and Simone Martell, director of the employee resilience program, discuss how BMC is flipping the script on resident wellness.
Prevention and Wellness
Evanston Regional Hospital
Evanston, Wyo.
Intermountain Health
Utah
The closure of labor and delivery services at Evanston Regional Hospital last December left a significant gap in prenatal care in southwestern Wyoming. Utah-based Intermountain Health has stepped in to fill the gap, ensuring that patients wouldn't be left without care.
Prevention and Wellness
Cary Medical Center
Caribou, Maine
Cary Medical Center, a 63-bed hospital in rural Caribou, Maine, created the Siruno Stroke Prevention Program to help community members develop and maintain healthy lifestyle habits.
Prevention and Wellness
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Ill.
n this conversation, Wrenetha Julion, Ph.D., R.N. of Rush University Medical Center, and Paul Florsheim, Ph.D. of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, discuss the collaborative Preparing for Parenthood program, success stories on how to engage fathers early in the pregnancy journey, and what supporting dads means for stronger and healthier families.
Prevention and Wellness
Five hospitals within the LCMC Health system have earned the Louisiana Birth Ready or Birth Ready+ Designation, a recognition awarded by the Louisiana Department of Health and the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC).
Prevention and Wellness
Hartford HealthCare
Hartford, Conn.
Hartford HealthCare’s Diabetes and Endocrinology program offers classes, individual counseling sessions, monthly support groups, resources and special events designed to help people with diabetes take care of themselves and prevent long-term complications.
Prevention and Wellness
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.
Prevention and Wellness
Juno, a 66-pound blonde with four paws, a sassy smile and a fondness for carrying stuffed animals in her mouth, spent six years providing comfort and companionship to patients and staff members at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Ky.
Workforce
Keck School of Medicine at USC
Los Angeles, Calif.
The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California uses an immersive model called the Primary Care Initiative to inspire medical students to pursue careers in primary care.
Workforce
Copley Hospital
Morrisville, Vt.
To address workforce shortages in rural Vermont, Copley Hospital in Morrisville is among several hospitals participating in the Career Pathway Entry Program (CPEP) offered by the Community College of Vermont.
Workforce
Corewell Health
Grand Rapids, Mich.
In this conversation, Kristin Jacob, M.D., medical director of the Office of Physician and APP Fulfillment at Corewell Health West, discusses the organization’s foundation for well-being strategies, the successes they’ve had in reducing burnout, and the vital importance of "change agents" to propel the work forward.
Workforce
Providence
Renton, Wash.
Providence Health System has partnered with home-based care provider Compassus to offer home health, hospice, community-based palliative care, and private-duty caregiving services to patients across the country.
Workforce
Bartlett Regional Hospital
Juneau, Ala.
In 2018, collaborating with community partners to better serve its patients in the greater Juneau, Alaska region, Bartlett Regional Hospital implemented an emergency department information exchange system that made possible real-time information sharing that is imperative for coordinated care efforts.
Workforce
Adventist Health
Bakersfield, Calif.
Adventist Health’s unique mobile clinic — think of it as a doctor's office on wheels — helps families and their children in and around Bakersfield, Calif., by offering immunizations for young people from birth to 19 years old at various locations around Kern County.
Workforce
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Chicago, IL
The Basic Nursing Assistant Training Program at Northwestern Medicine is designed to help Northwestern Medicine employees in nonclinical roles transition into PCT positions by earning a certified nursing assistant certification.
Workforce
Corewell Health
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Dartmouth Health
Lebanon, N.H.
In this Leadership Dialogue conversation, Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., CEO and president of Dartmouth Health and 2024 AHA board chair, and Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Corewell Health and AHA board chair-elect, share insights on health care's current and future challenges, the impact the AHA can have on the field, and Tina's excitement as incoming AHA board chair.
Workforce
The UC Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento, Calif., has teamed up with Doctors Medical Center in Modesto to allow residents to practice medicine in the Central Valley as they train to become board-certified specialists.