Press Release

Andrew M. Stern to Chair AHA's Committee on Governance

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that Andrew M. Stern will be chair and David B. Hyman, DDS, will be chair-elect for the AHA's 2017 Committee on Governance (COG).

The COG is a specialty committee of the AHA Board of Trustees. The committee is responsible for providing input for AHA’s policy development, leading effective involvement of the nation's hospital trustees in grassroots advocacy, providing advice on AHA’s trustee initiatives and enhancing communication with and involvement of trustees in the AHA.

Andrew M. Stern is a trustee at Medical City Dallas Hospital, the 670-bed flagship HCA facility in Dallas that includes a children’s hospital. He previously served as the board’s chair and vice chair. He is on the board of Dallas Medical Resource and AMN Healthcare Services, and previously served as chair for Texas Healthcare Trustees and as a trustee for the Texas Hospital Association.

Stern served on boards of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, MediSend International, the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, Dallas Charitable Golf, Inc., The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce. He was the founding chair of Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. Stern is the advisory director of the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware and a member of the Public Relations Society of America. He is also CEO of a public relations firm.

David B. Hyman, DDS, director of the board of Hartford HealthCare in Hartford, Conn., will serve as chair-elect and will assume the role of chair in 2018. Margaret Wagner Dahl, trustee of WellStar Health Network ACO in Marietta, Ga., is the immediate past chair. Vanessa Ervin, board chair, Onslow Memorial Hospital, Jackonsville, N.C., serves as the AHA board liaison to the Committee on Governance.

Newly elected members serving three-year terms beginning January 1, 2017, include: Kevin Nietmann, trustee, Calvert Memorial Hospital, Prince Frederick, Md.; Gene Wenstrom, trustee, Lake Region Healthcare Corporation, Fergus Falls, Minn.; Scott Hilburn, trustee, Mason General Hospital, Shelton, Wash.; Delia Vetter, trustee, Milford Regional Medical Center, Milford, Mass.; Michael Charlton, trustee, AtlantiCare, Egg Harbor Township, N.J.; Carolyn Scanlan, trustee, Penn Medicine Lancaster Regional Health, Hummelstown, Pa.; Frances Owl-Smith, trustee, Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority, Cherokee, N.C.; Patrick Shannon, trustee, Mackinac Straits Hospital and Health Center, Saint Ignace, Mich.; Donna Fraiche, trustee, Woman’s Hospital, Baton Rogue, La.; Alan Osumi, trustee, Cobre Valley Community Hospital, Globe, Ariz.; and William Cox, M.D., trustee, Yampa Valley Medical Center, Steamboat Springs, Colo.

The new committee members join current COG members: Catherine Quencer, trustee, Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, N.Y.; Ron Dodson, trustee, Southern Crescent Hospital for Specialty Care, Riverdale, Ga.; Waunita Delaney, trustee, Henry Ford Allegiance Health, Jackson, Mich.; Richard Evnen, board chair, Bryan Medical Center, Lincoln, Neb.; Rosemary Burns, board member, East Texas Medical Center Foundation, Tyler, Texas; David Brown, board chair, Billings Clinic, Billings, Mont.; Fran Roberts, board chair, Presbyterian Health Delivery System, Albuquerque, N.M.; Marie O’Brien, immediate past board chair, Bristol Hospital, Bristol, Conn.; B. Durwood Dominy, board secretary, Colquitt Medical Center, Moultrie, Ga.; Connie Vitali, M.D., former board member, MercyRockford Health System, Rockford, Ill.; J. Lynne Cannon, board chair, Robert Wood Johnson-Hamilton Medical Center, Hamilton, N.J.; Elizabeth Merry, trustee, LRGHealthcare, Laconia, N.H.; Vic Orler, board chairman, Presence Health, Chicago; and Dan Schuette, board chair, St. Charles Health System, Bend, Ore.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.