AHA Announces Retirement of Melinda Hatton, Names Chad Golder as AHA General Counsel and Secretary

WASHINGTON (November 30, 2023) – The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that Melinda (Mindy) Hatton, AHA’s general counsel and secretary, will retire after a long and distinguished career in the association and legal world.

The AHA has promoted Chad Golder to assume the role of general counsel and secretary. Golder most recently served as AHA’s senior vice president and deputy general counsel.

During Hatton’s 23-year tenure, she has been a strong advocate on behalf of hospitals and health systems. Among other accomplishments, she successfully reined in the Department of Justice (DOJ) in their misuse of the False Claims Act, protected the Affordable Care Act in many legal challenges, and won a unanimous Supreme Court decision to restore the government’s $10.5 billion of illegal cuts in payments to hospitals in the 340B program.

Hatton assembled and led legal teams that have earned the respect and admiration of the AHA membership, policymakers and the legal community for their effectiveness and influence. She elevated the professionalism of AHA operations by establishing a formal compliance program — in coordination with internal audit and governance functions — that increased accountability, fostered transparency, and ensured that the AHA was being held to the highest standards.

“Mindy’s wisdom, judgement, intellect and wit have made her an invaluable source of advice and counsel to me, her colleagues and our members,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “Moreover, Mindy has brought us great talent to continue this legacy.”

As part of a planned transition, Hatton recruited Golder, a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School, to the association. Prior to joining the AHA, Golder was a partner and founding member of Munger, Tolles and Olson’s Washington, D.C. office. He served as Deputy Associate Attorney General at the DOJ, where he worked on complex constitutional, statutory, and administrative law issues affecting multiple sectors, including health care. Prior to serving in that position, Golder spent four years as an assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and more than two years as counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. Earlier, he served as a law clerk for Associate Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

“We recruited Chad to this position more than two years ago because he brings a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and high-level government service to the association, and he has already made many key contributions during his time with the AHA,” said Pollack. “He will continue to enhance our robust legal advocacy efforts on behalf of hospitals and health systems across the nation.”

Golder assumes his new position on January 1.

About the American Hospital Association (AHA)

The American Hospital Association (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 advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and 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.