Dear Colleagues,
I write today for our final newsletter of 2020 and my last as your chapter president. It has been a highly rewarding two years in the role, despite the well-known and unusual circumstances we all operated under for most of the year. I want to thank all my fellow board members for their hard work and support over my term and especially this year. All chapter members should be aware of and appreciate the highly committed and talented professionals that volunteer their time to serve as their board leaders. I have been on more boards than I can count over the years and yours is among the best.
We have achieved much this year despite the crippling effects at work and home of the COVID 19 pandemic which resurges as I write today. In the midst such periods of stress, I find it helpful to pause and think about what IS going right and what there is to be thankful for. And pandemic or not, there is much to feel good about at ACHE MA. The hard work of all our committee members, chairs, sponsors, student affiliates and other volunteers kept the organization moving forward on so many fronts. Our conversion to virtual education conferences was smooth and opened new avenues by which we can reach our members with quality educational content, as evidenced by our three excellent quarterly sessions this past month. This initiative will be more than just a “temporary COVID fix”, but a long-term strategy that will enhance our programs effort. The work of our DEI Committee has been highly recognized and continued its great work over the past year. We were proud to modify our bylaws this year so that the role of chair on this committee now holds a voting board seat. The great work of Baystate Health in this area was recognized with our second annual Diversity and Inclusion Award and congrats to Dr. Mark Keroack and his team on this great honor. The addition of Annamarie Grise as our new association executive this year could not have been a better selection–if I do say so myself! — and her expansive knowledge of chapter operations throughout New England led to our ability to forge great new partnership efforts with both the RI and CT chapters.
What will 2021 bring? First and foremost, a vaccine that we all can aspire will bring our professional and personal lives a good deal closer to normalcy. Second, at our December retreat, the board mapped out new initiatives in member support, educational efforts, partnership, membership engagement, DEI and continued development work with our early careerists that you will all hear more about as we formulate the detailed plans. 2021 will also bring new leadership at the board level as Maureen Banks takes over as your chapter president. As many of you know, Maureen is a well-established health care leader in the Commonwealth whose focus and decisiveness will keep our board moving forward. Maureen’s efforts will be complimented by Monique Porter who takes over from Karen Moore as Regent in March of 2021. Congratulations to all three who I have had the honor of working with as president these past two years.
All the best on a healthy and happy holiday season!
Sincerely,
John Fogarty, FACHE
President, ACHE of MA
