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
Ensuring Access to Care
HaysMed, Gove County Medical Center, Scott County Hospital, Clara Barton Medical Center
Kansas
Seven independent rural hospitals have joined forces to launch the Kansas High Value Network, a new collaborative organization designed to expand access to care, improve clinical outcomes and reduce operating costs while preserving local governance.
Ensuring Access to Care
Jefferson Health
Philadelphia, Pa.
In this conversation, Baligh Yehia, M.D., president of Jefferson Health, shares how the organization is rethinking healthcare access through same-day cancer care, virtual primary care, home-based services, and expanded access to clinical trials.
Ensuring Access to Care
LCMC Health
New Orleans, La.
This conversation shares how integrated care models, addiction consult services and peer navigators are improving care transitions and increasing access to evidence-based treatment.
Benefiting Communities
Alaska Native Medical Center
Anchorage, Alaska
In Anchorage, hospital beds are increasingly occupied by patients who are medically ready to leave but have nowhere to go while they wait for short-term nursing and rehabilitation services. To help address this growing challenge, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is building a new skilled nursing facility on the Alaska Native Medical Center campus.
Benefiting Communities
CHI St. Alexius Health Williston
Williston, N.D.
CHI St. Alexius Health Williston has a new outpatient program to address the growing mental health needs of older adults in northwestern North Dakota.
Benefiting Communities
University of New Mexico Hospital Children’s Psychiatric Center
Albuquerque, N.M.
The University of New Mexico Hospital has completed a major expansion and modernization of its Children’s Psychiatric Center in Albuquerque.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Hackensack Meridian Health
Edison, N.J.
Hospital care for people with Parkinson’s disease costs nearly $8 billion annually and places about one in six hospitalized patients at significant risk for an avoidable complication due to healthcare systems that are not designed to meet their unique, time-sensitive needs.
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Children's Hospital Colorado
Aurora, Colo.
Children’s Hospital Colorado helped the National Alliance of Sickle Cell Centers develop new national standards to improve how developmental and cognitive challenges are identified and managed in people with sickle cell disease (SCD).
Innovation, Research, and Quality Improvement
Children’s Mercy Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
A 16-year-old Kansas patient is looking toward a future with fewer health limitations after receiving a heart transplant at Children’s Mercy Kansas City.
Prevention and Wellness
Cone Health
Greensboro, N.C.
Maternal mortality remains a critical challenge in the United States, and many pregnancy complications are linked to chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease.
Prevention and Wellness
University of Washington Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Seattle, Wash.
The University of Washington Medicine and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Colorectal Cancer Screening Program is helping more people detect colorectal cancer early through at-home tests, clinician outreach and patient navigation support.
Prevention and Wellness
NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
New York
In this conversation, Gabriela Jimenez Thompson, program lead of Our Story Begins at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, and Liliana Escobar, R.N., NICU head nurse at Bellevue Hospital Center, share how the Our Story Begins program uses books, reading, language and nurse education to strengthen NICU parent engagement, bonding and early childhood development.
Workforce
UAMS, Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas
Arkansas
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation has launched the Advancing Doulas and Perinatal Teams Toolkit, a new resource designed to help hospitals better integrate doulas into maternal care teams and improve outcomes for mothers and infants.
Workforce
M Health Farview
Minneapolis, Minn.
Hospitals and health systems can't meet growing patient demand without full leveraging advanced practice providers (APPs).
Workforce
University of Michigan Health-West
Michigan
At University of Michigan Health-West, a unique family story is unfolding through the work of four dedicated nurses from the Bos family.
Ensuring Access to Care
Sharp Grossmont Hospital, in La Mesa, Calif., integrated age-friendly health care into their emergency department and saw significant changes in areas like readmission rates and retention of staff.
Ensuring Access to Care
Talk to a hospital leader and they’ll tell you the story of their impact on the community they serve. Learn how hospitals and health systems go above and beyond for their patients by visiting aha.org/tellingthehospitalstory.
Talk to a hospital leader and they’ll tell you the story of their impact on the community they serve. Learn how hospitals and health systems go above and beyond for their patients.
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.
Benefiting Communities
UCHealth
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Dr. Robert Hoyer, an oncologist with UCHealth in Colorado Springs, dedicates one week each month to providing cancer care in rural southeast Colorado, where access to specialized medical services is limited.
Benefiting Communities
St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center
Lewiston, Maine
St. Mary’s Health System has expanded its behavioral and mental health services to help close gaps and ensure a continuum of care services in the community.
Benefiting Communities
Penn State Health
Reading, Pa.
Angela Shuman, a community health nurse with Penn State Health, plays a vital role in supporting residents of Reading, Pa., through monthly health check-ins at New Heightz Grocery Store. Her warm, personal approach — like hugging regulars and offering gentle reminders about medication — has built deep trust within the community.
Benefiting Communities
Alaska Native Medical Center
Anchorage
In a hands-on workshop at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Tlingit seal hunter Tim Ackerman demonstrates the traditional method of butchering a harbor seal to a group of chefs, nutritionists and cultural practitioners.
Benefiting Communities
Rochester Regional Health
Rochester, N.Y.
Since 1998, Rochester Regional Health’s Healthy Moms program has helped to improve birth outcomes in and around the central New York region.
Benefiting Communities
Bethany Children's Health Center
Bethany, Okla.
In Bethany, Okla., a new initiative is reshaping the future for disabled youth transitioning into adulthood.
Benefiting Communities
Saint Peter's University Hospital
New Brunswick, N.J.
Lightbeam Health Solutions and Saint Peter's University Hospital, a 478-bed acute-care teaching hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., have achieved a 7.1% reduction in emergency department visits among high-risk patients. The decrease was driven by Lightbeam’s AI-enabled program that predicts which patients are at risk of avoidable ED visits within 90 days.
Benefiting Communities
Lakeview Hospital
Bountiful, Utah
Feeling exhausted and emotionally drained from a visit to the emergency room with a loved one at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, Utah, Nancy Lawrence was surprised as she walked to the parking lot to see several people placing roses and handwritten notes on the cars.
Benefiting Communities
Woman’s Hospital
Baton Rouge, La.
Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, La., unveiled its mobile mammography bus, a state-of-the-art unit equipped with 3D imaging technology, with the goal of expanding access to life-saving breast cancer screenings across Louisiana and parts of Mississippi.
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.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Arkansas
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) performed the state’s first minimally invasive procedure to treat severe tricuspid regurgitation, a life-threatening condition caused by a leaky heart valve.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
North Country Hospital
Newport, Vt.
North Country Hospital launched a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) initiative in 2024 to improve care delivery and patient outcomes.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Inova Health System
Fairfax, Va.
In this conversation, Inova Health System's Toni Ardabell, chief of clinical enterprise operations, and Sage Bolte, Ph.D., chief philanthropy officer and president of the Inova Health Foundation, share how aligning philanthropy with mission and clinical priorities allows Inova to accelerate innovation, expand high-acuity services, and invest in the programs that change lives.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
UMass Memorial Medical Center – Children’s Medical Center
Worcester, Mass.
Robin — an interactive, human-assisted robot — is an innovative tool that’s helping make hospital visits less stressful for pediatric patients at the UMass Memorial Medical Center – Children’s Medical Center.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health
New London, Conn.
An expectant mother needing spinal surgery was treated successfully thanks to skillful surgeons and outstanding coordination among clinical teams at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Renown Health
Reno, Nev.
Renown Health in Reno, Nev., one of only 250 transplant centers nationwide, recently reached a historic milestone by successfully performing its first living donor kidney transplant.
Innovation, Research and Quality Improvement
Children’s Memorial Hermann Health Hospital
Houston, Texas
Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital has expanded its facility dog program by welcoming two new canine companions, Stephan and Boris, to its pediatric care team.
Prevention and Wellness
Women & Infants Hospital
Providence, R.I.
In this conversation, Women & Infants Hospital's Shannon Sullivan, president and chief operating officer, and Caron Zlotnick, Ph.D., director of behavioral medicine research, discuss the stigma surrounding maternal mental health.
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.
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.