Building connections at state healthcare executives annual meeting

Three faculty and five students from the WVU School of Public Health’s Master of Health Administration and B.S. in Health Services Management and Leadership programs attended the 2022 Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (WV ACHE) in Charleston on Friday, Dec. 9. 

Featuring speakers from across the state and its many healthcare organizations, the meeting included over 60 healthcare leaders for a daylong conference focused on addressing the state of healthcare in West Virginia; leading through mergers and acquisitions; healthcare leaders’ roles in improving community health status; and staffing and human resource lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Erik Carlton, president-elect/acting president of the WV Chapter, led the meeting and Jim Kaufman, president and CEO of the West Virginia Hospital Association, offered the lunch keynote.

"West Virginia ACHE and the WVU School of Public Health share a special connection," Carlton said. "Most of the top healthcare executives and many leading voices in health policy were in attendance, presenting on important topics and speaking with our students. I can’t think of a better place our students could have been today.”

All students in WVU’s Master of Health Administration program are provided two-year student memberships in ACHE to help solidify their connection with the state’s healthcare leaders.

Pictured above: WVU School of Public Health Senior Associate Deans Erik Carlton and Sarah Woodrum (far left) and MHA executive-in-residence David Woodrum (far right) and several students pose for a photo during the 2022 Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives in Charleston, W.Va. (Submitted photo).