A Note From Your Chapter President – March 2018

Mar 15, 2018 | Director Insights - Chapter President

CAHL has been a valued professional organization in my career, and I am delighted to serve as your chapter president for 2018.  Each of us has had a unique journey in our growth and development as healthcare leaders, but like many of you, I have chosen a professional anchor in my local chapter of ACHE, CAHL.  Early in my career as a manager, I realized I needed to connect and expand my network beyond my organizational walls to other healthcare leaders in a variety of roles.  For this reason, I have found the networking events to be one of the greatest benefits of CAHL membership because they allow you to meet new people, share best practices, appreciate the challenges we all are facing, and collaborate to improve the health of our communities.  From my years as a CAHL member, I have attended many well-organized panel discussions comprised of regional healthcare experts and applied their insights to my own professional development.  Through my CAHL membership, I found the support I needed to obtain my board certification in healthcare management as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.  These experiences within CAHL have been pivotal in preparing me for the various roles I’ve had.  So whether you are a new or continuing member of CAHL, it is my hope that you take advantage of CAHL’s offerings to find the support you need to advance your career and obtain the professional distinction of becoming a Fellow.  It is time well spent.

In preparation for 2018, your CAHL board and committee members held two separate retreats this past fall to outline a year of events to bring you together with your peers and colleagues throughout the region and assist you in advancing your career goals.  Being the premier society for healthcare leaders in northern and central California, CAHL hopes to bring timely and affordable educational offerings to you.  I am excited for what the chapter has in store for you this year.

This year, for the first time, we were proud to offer Leading and Managing in Challenging Times, a two-day symposium that provided 12 face-to-face educational credits to our members at the significantly discounted price of $300.  We hope our members appreciate the value of this opportunity to advance to or maintain their Fellow board certification with ACHE.  This same programming is offered in other ACHE chapters across the country at a price of $1,500.  CAHL financially supported this particular program for our chapter members, so we hope you took advantage of this special opportunity.

Each quarter, as a chapter, we like to reflect on the themes of integrity, diversity, lifelong learning, and leadership.  Within our ACHE Code of Ethics, we are called to “conduct professional activities with honesty, integrity, respect, fairness and good faith in a manner that will reflect well upon the profession.”  There are many different definitions and quotes on what integrity means and how it is expressed in our actions.  One definition of integrity is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” When thinking about integrity, I am reminded of a quote from Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway: “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

As you know, CAHL is a chapter of volunteer board and committee members; we would not be able to offer the programs and events that we do without the dedication and tremendous support of our volunteers.  We are continually recognized by ACHE as one of the leaders in the nation for our educational and networking offerings, which is a direct reflection of the commitment of our volunteers.

I look forward to connecting with you at an upcoming CAHL event.

Toby Marsh, RN, FACHE
Chapter President