Message from your ACHE Regent

Message from your ACHE Regent

Winter 2024   It’s an exciting time as our local ACHE chapter, California Association of Healthcare Leaders (CAHL), is kicking off the new year with a number of events and programs before the ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership comes at the end of March. ...
Member Spotlight | Robin Ply

Member Spotlight | Robin Ply

Robyn Ply, MHA is a volunteer with the Career Transition and Development Committee and the Mentorship program.  Please tell us a little bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer, and why you chose to take that particular role. I am currently the Mentee...
Committee Updates February 2024

Committee Updates February 2024

Interested in being more involved in CAHL? We’re looking for volunteers to support our Finance, Mentorship, and Membership and Volunteer Group Committees, as well as our East Bay and Coastal Local Programming Councils. Reach out to get involved. Chapter...

2023 Financial Statement

CAHL has $123,417.48 of total assets in reserve. The chapter’s financial performance increased favorably by $11,736.67 compared to the last fiscal year. A combination of activities involving procurement of corporate sponsorship, increased programming events, and...
2024 President’s Outlook

2024 President’s Outlook

By Nikhil Singal Happy New Year! On behalf of the CAHL Board of Directors, we would like to wish you a prosperous, joyful, and wonderful 2024.  We are very excited to continue and expand our networking and education offerings and are embarking on several new...
Health Care Trends in 2024

Health Care Trends in 2024

By Fayola Edwards-Ojeba, MD 2024 brings with it opportunities to challenge the status quo in medicine. Skyrocketing health care costs are a concern, with physicians potentially affected by decreased reimbursements and patient access and increasing mergers for employed...

2023 Annual CAHL Self-Assessment

California Association of Healthcare Leaders – 2023 Annual Self-Assessment Note: Numbers cited in the CAHL Self-Assessment are from an annual report shared with ACHE and are accurate as of November 2023. See CAHL By the Numbers for full-year 2023 metrics.  As an...
CAHL Mission & Vision

CAHL Mission & Vision

The California Association of Healthcare Leaders (CAHL) is an independent chapter for the Northern and Central California Region, chartered by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). The chapter represents a merger of three previous chapters; Bay Area...
Being an Authentic Leader and a Call to Action

Being an Authentic Leader and a Call to Action

by Michael O’Connell Authentic – that’s Merriam Webster’s 2023 Word of the Year. It’s a relevant word for CAHL as leaders coming out of a pandemic and dealing with many healthcare issues, including employee strikes, artificial intelligence, ransomware hacks,...
Embracing Human-Centered Design in Healthcare

Embracing Human-Centered Design in Healthcare

 by Rabiha Ahmed   When crafting a patient-centric experience, many of us employ various problem-solving frameworks to effectively identify and address gaps or issues that patients may encounter. Two prominent approaches stand out among these frameworks: Lean Six...
Volunteer Spotlight | Pravin Venketsamy

Volunteer Spotlight | Pravin Venketsamy

Pravin Venketsamy, MHA, volunteers on the Member & Volunteer Growth committee. He is a VP of Operations at One Medical, a healthcare subsidiary of Amazon.  Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer, and why you chose to take that...
AI’s Fast-Moving Healthcare Advancements

AI’s Fast-Moving Healthcare Advancements

By Bridget K. Burke Healthcare is no stranger to innovation; however, the speed at which artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing healthcare is unparalleled. Consider that OpenAI’s ChatGPT reached a staggering 1 million users within just 5 days of its launch in...
Mentorship Spotlight | Fawn Hutton

Mentorship Spotlight | Fawn Hutton

Fawn has over 15 years of healthcare administration experience and currently works at UC Davis Medical Center as the Director of Emergency Services Business Operation. She shares her insights as a mentee in the Fall 2023 Formal Mentor Program. Describe your CAHL...
The Age of AI Has Arrived

The Age of AI Has Arrived

Bridget K. Burke shares a dispatch from the 2023 TechCrunch Disrupt conference, where several of over 50 global HealthTech startups demonstrated the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on healthcare accessibility, efficiency, and personalization. Her...
Volunteer Spotlight | Armika J. Berkley

Volunteer Spotlight | Armika J. Berkley

Armika J. Berkley, DSc., MPH, is a member of the JEDI Committee. She is a Senior Health Executive with extensive experience as an Administrator and Operations Strategist.  Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer and why you chose to take...
2024 President’s Outlook

Finding “Your” Community Within CAHL

By Nikhil Singal The forced isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged us all to think about the role of community in our lives.  It’s a topic that may primarily be considered personally rather than professionally.  We have our neighborhoods, families, friends...
Mentorship Spotlight | Alex Aleman

Mentorship Spotlight | Alex Aleman

Alex Aleman is a Senior Quality Specialist with Kaiser Permanente. He shares his insights as a mentee in the Spring 2023 Formal Mentor Program. Describe your CAHL Formal Mentor program cohort experience. “It was an amazing experience to be a mentee in the CAHL...
Volunteer Spotlight | Sanjit K. Sodhi

Volunteer Spotlight | Sanjit K. Sodhi

Sanjit K. Sodhi, FACHE, is involved with the Membership Advancement and Career Development & Transition committees with CAHL. Sanjit was one in a cohort of twelve 2022 ACHE’s Thomas C Dolan Executive Diversity Scholars. She is Chief Operating Officer for Kaiser...
Mentorship Spotlight | Kristine Cannon

Mentorship Spotlight | Kristine Cannon

Kristine Cannon, MPH, FACHE,  is Director, Quality Improvement at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. For more information on pairing as a mentee with one of CAHL’s 100+ mentors, or becoming a mentor yourself, check out CAHL’s formal mentorship program...
Volunteer Spotlight | McKenna Zoucha

Volunteer Spotlight | McKenna Zoucha

McKenna Zoucha, MBA, is Co-Chair of the CA Valley Local Programming Council. In her role, she oversees programming for educational and networking events in her local area.  Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer and why you chose to...
Remembering Someone Special on Father’s Day

Remembering Someone Special on Father’s Day

By Michael O’Connell Father’s Day is a special time to celebrate the contributions made by fathers throughout the United States. Fathers are as different and varied as each one of us. Everyone has a father however it takes a special person to be a Dad. My Dad lived...
Volunteer Spotlight | Mateika Martin, MHA, EMT

Volunteer Spotlight | Mateika Martin, MHA, EMT

Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer, and why you chose to take that particular role. I currently volunteer as the Vice Chair for the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee for the CAHL Chapter of ACHE. I started my ACHE...
Acute Care for the Elderly Units: A Primer

Acute Care for the Elderly Units: A Primer

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans over 65 will number more than 77 million by 2034. Seventeen percent of these older adults are twice as likely as middle-aged adults to require hospitalization at least once a year (Covinsky & Palmer, 2021). They’re...
Policy Watch: Assembly Bill 425 – Medi-Cal Pharmacogenomics

Policy Watch: Assembly Bill 425 – Medi-Cal Pharmacogenomics

By Chantelle Schenning and Megan Boyd Pharmacogenomics is the science of how an individual’s genetic makeup impacts the way they process medications, having huge impacts on whether the medication is effective, helps, harms, or potentially kills the patient taking it....
Mentorship Spotlight | Matthew Eagens

Mentorship Spotlight | Matthew Eagens

Matthew Eagens, MPH, is a Support Services Administrator with Kaiser Permanente in the East Bay Service Area. He shares his insights as a mentor in the Fall 2022 Formal Mentor Program. Describe your CAHL Formal Mentor program cohort experience.  “It was a...
Member Spotlight | Yevgeny Ostrovskiy

Member Spotlight | Yevgeny Ostrovskiy

Yevgeny Ostrovskiy is involved with two CAHL committees related to career growth. He shares how networking with CAHL has led to meaningful connections have driven his own career and industry relationships forward. Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been...
Cultivating a Mindset of Optimism

Cultivating a Mindset of Optimism

By Pauline Orr The mindset of optimism is a curious one that can be applied to both personal and professional situations and settings. It can come naturally to some, and for others, it’s a learned skill that must be honed over time. Optimism is not ignoring the...

2022 HEN Scholarship Winners

Undergraduate Scholarship Winner Tehroop Notra CAHL: What school are you currently attending and what is your major? Tehroop: Currently I attend CSU, Sacramento where I am completing my undergrad in Public Health with an emphasis is Healthcare Administration. CAHL:...
Volunteer Spotlight | Kimberly Duangchai Lamountry

Volunteer Spotlight | Kimberly Duangchai Lamountry

Please tell us a bit about what you’ve been doing as a volunteer, and why you chose to take that particular role. I currently serve as a member of the CAHL HEN committee and I am the Vice Chair of the CAHL Student council. In these roles, I bridge the connection...
Gratitude and Giving Lead to Quadruple “Wins”

Gratitude and Giving Lead to Quadruple “Wins”

Laura Palmer, DHA, CMT, CLT, knows that a culture of health starts with service. As a member of the CAHL Volunteer Outreach and Member Recognition Committee, she shares her passion for volunteering this month and encourages all members to seek out opportunities to...
Regent’s Message | June 2023 – Call for Regent’s Awards Nominations

Regent’s Message – Fall 2022

Year End Reflection As you approach the end of the year, it is an important time for leaders to self-reflect on how the year has gone, celebrate successes and develop plans for the new year, and think about priorities for your own personal development as well as the...
Regent’s Message | June 2023 – Call for Regent’s Awards Nominations

Regent’s Message – September 2022

As we reach the end of summer, I trust that you and your teams have taken time away from work to rest and recharge with friends and family.  As we transition to a new “steady state” phase of the pandemic with new CDC guidance , we continue to be faced with challenges...
Member Spotlight | Carla Stanley

Member Spotlight | Carla Stanley

Carla Stanley, HC,BSN,RN,FACHE,HCM-BC,NEA-BC Chief Nurse Executive with Cal Corrections Health Care Services. Carla Stanley was honored with a 2022 Service Award at this year’s CAHL Annual Meeting, held in August 2022.  Carla learned servant leadership at an early...
Celebration Meals as the Key Ingredient to Fostering Belonging and Equity

Celebration Meals as the Key Ingredient to Fostering Belonging and Equity

In 2019, I began a program to offer celebration meals for holidays and cultural events to celebrate diversity through food and to highlight different cuisines. Not only did this effort serve as a way to encourage inclusivity through observances, but it also provided a jovial means of educating staff members, patients, and partners on culturally or religiously significant days throughout the year.

Are You (Really) Listening? A Note from the Chapter President – October 2022

Honk! Beep! Beep! A Note from the Chapter President – September 2022

In our CAHL service area, work commutes can range from 30 to 150 minutes. Since COVID-19, many of you have a commute from your kitchen to your office – 10 steps within your home. Regardless of the commute, we all have time to think and can decide to be stressed, calm, frazzled, or relaxed. When we encounter traffic delays, we can make a conscious choice to be mindful or not. We can be emotionally reactive, angry, frustrated, and stressed during our commute, or we can make a choice and be mindful, relaxed, patient, and calm. I encourage you to work on creating a mindful perspective with these ideas to consider during your commuting time: 

Regent’s Letter – March 2018

Regent’s Letter – March 2018

“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.” -R. Buckminster Fuller I am honored to offer this message written to complement this issue of the newsletter of our local ACHE chapter, the California Association of Healthcare Leaders (CAHL). But first, welcome to...
ACHE National News

ACHE National News

Updates on the 2018 premier Corporate Partners; an enhanced Executive Coaching Directory; ACHE Senior Executive Program; ACHE Executive Program; ACHE’s Leader-to-Leader Program; Board of Governors Exam Fee Waiver Campaign, ACHE member communities enhance membership experience; and more.

March 25, 2018 Congress Joint Networking Event

You are invited to join your ACHE colleagues across California for a joint networking reception with the California Association of Healthcare Leaders, Healthcare Executives of Southern California, and the San Diego Organization of Healthcare Leaders.

A Note from Your Chapter President

A Note from Your Chapter President

The December holidays are upon us, and for many this is a time of purposeful reflection – reflection on the past year, memorable experiences, losses, celebrations, renewed resilience, cherished traditions, or opportunities we look forward to in the new year ahead....

Leadership – A Military Medicine Necessity

By Maj Marc Rittberg, USAF, MSC Leadership is defined by Dictionary.com as “the position or function of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group.” There is a lot to be said about that statement. How does one measure leadership or account for leadership being...