Dear ASHHRA,

Did you know that ASHHRA is 48 years old? That’s right! In two years we are going to be 50. This is a pretty big legacy and big shoes to fill for those of us serving on committees and on the board. Thus, over the year keeping up with changes in the health care environment is very important to our members and to our society.

We’ve all heard about a shift from hospital care to community health initiatives, mobile vans and screening and education fairs. All of our organizations are talking about meeting the needs of our acute care patients, while expanding our services to care for people in their home and community, while promoting lifetime wellness. What does that mean for ASHHRA? Who is going to help Lead People Through Change, our theme for this year’s conference? The answer for ASHHRA is your board and more specifically, the Committee for Non-Hospital Health Care Organizations. John Ostrom and Marit Brock are the two exceptional leaders that chair this committee. They serve two roles within ASHHRA. First, they work year round to offer services to our members who are not in acute care/hospital settings. Second, they have a vision of the future that is clearer for them than it is for some of us today.

In last month’s article I spoke about ASHHRA being the first choice for health care HR knowledge, a trusted and dependable source. I also wrote about linking a diverse and expansive health care community and being the leader in health care HR best practices. Marit and John serve all these roles. They are already working with clinics, outpatient centers, outpatient laboratories, and other settings that provide health care in the home and in the community whose focus is lifetime health and wellness. How do you handle scheduling, benefits, pay, and human resource policies for employees that are not physically on your campus 24/7? Or, who are on your campus but serve both the organization and your employed physicians? Are the relationships different? What about benefits or pay structures? What are best practices in this new health care environment? Our Committee for Non-Hospital Health Care Organizations cares about these questions and Leads People Through Change by serving the needs of our current non-hospital members and by providing resources to our hospital members that are trying to learn about these new environments.

Come and learn from John and Marit, meet them at the ASHHRA 48th Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, September 22-25. If you are in non-hospital health care, we have some great educational programs planned for you. If you are in hospital health care, come and join your non-hospital counterparts. Together we can all Lead People Through Change.

Irma L. Pye, SPHR
ASHHRA 2012 President
Senior Vice President & CHRO
Valley Baptist Health System
Harlingen, Texas