President's Message

Posted on 9/20/24

This week, I'm in Little Rock, Ark., with OHA members who are participating in the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board meeting. The RPB is used as a tool to allow hospitals in the field to provide some feedback to the American Hospital Association. Today we began with a really good in depth briefing on some of the major policy issues that are outstanding as well as the potential impacts of the fall election, not only the presidential election but also the Congressional elections. 

We spent some time talking about what is left in the legislative calendar for Congress as well as the expected lame duck session. We spent a little bit of time talking about some of the Supreme Court decisions and what they might mean in terms of their impact on future regulation development. Then this afternoon, we broke up into small groups. We took that time to talk about some of the challenges we are experiencing as it relates to recruiting and retaining our physicians. We also spent time this afternoon talking about community trust. 

The Regional Policy Board meeting is important because not only does it allow the AHA to receive feedback, but certainly the state hospital associations can use what we're learning to further amplify our work at the state level. Next week, the OHA board will meet and as part of our strategic planning session, we'll be talking about what some of our priorities are for the coming year and there is alignment with the AHA. We will talk about workforce and talent development, community trust and member engagement, as well as health transformation. So, if you've got some suggestions or ideas that you would like the board to consider, please share those with us and we will do our best to make sure the board hears from you. 

Why is all this important? It's important because we know when we can come together and we can focus on the good work that our hospitals are doing, we can successfully improve health and health care in Oklahoma.

Rich Rasmussen
President & CEO