Happy New Year! I hope you all had time over the holiday season to recharge and connect with friends and family.

With a new year upon us, it’s a natural time to look back and reflect on the past year or two while preparing for 2019. As we have all been a witness to the continuous changes happening in health care, I am certain many of us have also experienced changes as human resources professionals. While the pace of change is greater than we are able to plan for, the impact to the work we do within our organizations challenges us in new ways. There has never been a more important time for our profession to be present and active with organizational leaders.

As you look forward to 2019, I encourage you to embrace the opportunities that are presented to you and your team. Traditional HR work will always be present and needed, however, the work we do continues to provide challenges — the work we do becomes more complex in many instances. As you dive into a new year, surround yourself with your professional network and resources to help you — lean on ASHHRA for support of your success.

It is also not too early to be planning your attendance at the ASHHRA Annual Conference in Chicago in September. The conference theme — Connect | Innovate | Transform — provides a significant platform to keep us fresh and relevant in the profession.

I am proud to serve as your 2019 ASHHRA President. I am proud to be a member of the ASHHRA organization. I look forward to an exciting year!

Sarah Fredrickson, MA, CHHR
ASHHRA President, 2019