Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association Hosts 91^st Annual Fall Meeting Nov. 1-3

November 1, 2017

Conference at The Omni Homestead Resort Themed “The Power of Engagement: Elevating the Patient Experience”

HOT SPRINGS, VA – This week, the Virginia Hospital Research & Education Foundation (VHREF) is hosting the 91^st annual Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) Fall Meeting Nov. 1-3 at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. The meeting is themed “The Power of Engagement: Elevating the Patient Experience.” It will feature national experts offering cutting-edge education and key strategies for hospitals and health systems to engage patients as active participants in their health and wellbeing. Coinciding with this year’s Fall Meeting is the inaugural Patient and Family Experience Week in Virginia sponsored by the VHHA Center for Healthcare Excellence.

“By working together, the hospital community is committed to making Virginia the healthiest state in the nation,” said Sentara Healthcare Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Michael V. Gentry, the VHHA Board of Director’s Chairman. “Events like the Fall Meeting are an opportunity to come together and learn from each other and other experts about innovative and successful strategies to achieve our quality and safety goals in support of the many Virginians who entrust their care to community hospitals.”

The Fall Meeting is one of three statewide meetings VHHA holds each year. Attendees include VHHA member hospital and health system senior executives, physician leaders, trustees, and other health care professionals and stakeholders. The meeting, and Patient and Family Experience Week (Oct. 30-Nov. 3), presents an opportunity for members of the health care community and the public to learn about the exciting work happening in Virginia’s community hospitals and health systems focused on enhanced patient and family experiences.

“Each year, we highlight a timely theme relevant to the health care quality and safety work occurring each day in community hospitals and health systems across Virginia,” said VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “This year’s focus on elevating patient and family experiences during hospital visits and stays is a reflection of our members’ continuing commitment to delivering exceptional care to the countless Virginians who enter a local hospital in need of medical treatment. The Fall Meeting is a chance for health care providers and stakeholders to commune, and gain insight about industry best practices that inform ongoing work by Virginia hospitals to support the communities they serve and public health.”

This week’s meeting offers a robust program featuring engaging and informative lectures from four keynote speakers:

• World-renowned health care strategist Nicholas Webb;
• Jason Wolf, PhD, a passionate champion and recognized expert on patient experience improvement, organizational culture and change, and sustaining high performance in health care;
• Troy Cicero, president of MulticultuReal ® Communications, Inc.; and
• Studer Group Senior Leader Craig Deao, MHA.

Celebration of the inaugural Patient and Family Experience Week in Virginia comes on the heels of the recent unveiling of two new tools to support hospitals and clinical staff in their efforts to make patients and their families feel welcome and comfortable as partners in the care and treatment process. These tools, which can be accessed through the revamped Patient and Family Experience page on the VHHA.com website, are the new Patient and Family Experience Improvement Guide and the Virginia Hospital Patient Experience Data Dashboard. The week has also been recognized with a proclamation from Virginia Governor Terence R. McAuliffe.

VHHA is grateful to the sponsors whose generous support helps in making this Fall Meeting a successful event. They include:

• VHREF Corporate Partners: VHHA Shared Services; Novo Nordisk; US Acute Care Solutions (USACS); and InSight Telepsychiatry.
• Member Sponsors: Bath Community Hospital; and VCU Health System.
• Gold Sponsors: Appriss Health; Donate Life Virginia; Envision Physician Services; Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle (HDJN); MEDNAX; Palo Alto Networks; RCM&D; and TeleTracking.
• Silver Sponsors: ApolloMD; Clarify Health; Healthcare Systems Federal Credit Union; Troutman Sanders; and Sound Physicians.

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 110 hospitals and 29 health delivery systems that develops and advocates for sound health care policy in the Commonwealth. Its vision is to achieve excellence in both health care and health. Its vision is through the power of collaboration to be recognized as a driving force behind making Virginia the healthiest state in the nation. Connect with VHHA through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and ISupportVirginiaHospitals.com.

Download the press release here.

Download the gubernatorial proclamation here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Julian Walker
Vice President of Communications
(804) 297-3193 office
(804) 304-7402 mobile
jtwalker@vhha.com