I am writing this column on the last day of the year, always a time to reflect on the past 365, how (increasingly) rapidly those days came and went and what will come next. As we close the books on 2019, WHA’s 99th year, we see another year of very strong performance – the latest in a sustained upward trend that has made WHA and our members one of the most impactful advocacy voices in Wisconsin.
WHA’s many 2019 accomplishments, including a new forward-looking strategic plan (see below), are summarized in our Annual Report, a copy of which accompanied 2020 dues invoices and can also be obtained
here. For the far more detailed (14 pages) accounting of WHA’s robust annual goals or a member-specific impact and engagement dashboard, WHA members should feel free to send me an
email. Like our members, WHA is very transparent and accountable.
When this column is published, it will be 2020 – WHA’s 100th year! I can’t say the past 100 years have gone by fast, but I can say my last 18 years at WHA certainly have, especially these last five years as President & CEO. Indeed, I mentioned to one of our newer team members the other day “time moves fast at WHA” … because we embrace an agenda that seeks out opportunities, prioritizes relevance and impact and moves toward new challenges. We are always active, engaged and each new year builds upon the last to become a step in an upward climb. That WHA psyche is perfectly captured in a new strategic plan, including our updated core values, which I believe well reflect the WHA of 2020 and beyond:
WHA Values
Advocacy, Integrity, Foresight, Relationships, Leadership
Which brings me to our plans for 2020. It’s always easier to look back to the past than ahead to the future, and while we are proud of and will do the former, we tend toward the latter. I truly believe that today, as we step into our 100th year, WHA is the strongest and most impactful it has ever been. That’s less an observation about our past, more a statement about our future. And appropriately, we enter this next century guided by a new vision statement that reflects where we have been and guides where we are going:
WHA Vision
To be the unifying voice for Wisconsin’s hospitals and health systems and the state’s most trusted and influential health policy advocate.
WHA has established a trajectory of accomplishment built on a foundation of those who came before us, enabled by exemplary support from our members and highly engaged Board of Directors and sustained by a WHA team that just gets better. It’s taken a lot of dedication and vision from some genuinely remarkable people to get us here, and we have much in store to recognize WHA’s centennial and that journey. So, stay tuned throughout the year and join us in celebrating!
It is an honor to be a part of WHA’s 100-year legacy. It is a privilege to be a part of this dedicated and skilled WHA team as we step into our second century.
To all our members and partners, we say THANK YOU for being a part of another great year! On behalf of the WHA staff, we wish you all much success in 2020 and are committed to being right there with you.