William P. Santulli, FACHE, Chair, ACHE, presents the 2024 Award for Chapter Excellence to Alexis T. Kainz, FACHE, president, ACHE—North Florida Chapter, during the Congress on Healthcare Leadership.

Thirty-one ACHE chapters were recognized for their 2023 performance as part of the Chapter Management and Awards Program at the 2024 Congress on Healthcare Leadership. The award-winning chapters were honored during the Malcolm T. MacEachern Memorial Lecture and Luncheon on March 26.

One chapter received the Award for Chapter Excellence. Additionally, 10 chapters won the Award of Chapter Distinction, and 20 chapters won the Award of Chapter Merit. Seven chapters won a second award, the Award for Sustained Performance.

To receive recognition, chapters must meet or exceed one or more of the four performance standards based on a tiered recognition system. There are six awards:

  • Award for Sustained Chapter Excellence: Chapters meet three of the four performance standards for four consecutive years.

  • Award for Sustained Performance: Chapters meet at least one of the four performance standards for three consecutive years.

  • Board of Governors Award: Chapters meet all four of the performance standards in a current award year.

  • Award for Chapter Excellence: Chapters meet three of the four performance standards in the current award year.

  • Award of Chapter Distinction: Chapters meet two of the four performance standards in the current award year.

  • Award of Chapter Merit: Chapters meet one of the four performance standards in the current award year.

Meeting and Exceeding Chapter Standards

ACHE—North Florida Chapter is the sole winner of the 2024 Award for Chapter Excellence, and it’s the first year the chapter won this award. ACHE—North Florida Chapter President Alexis T. Kainz, FACHE, operations administrator, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla., says the board is passionate about ACHE’s mission to advance members and healthcare leadership excellence. “While we are excited and honored to be receiving this award, we are most proud of the impact we are making in our communities and profession by growing our membership and providing educational and networking opportunities to inspire and assist members as they lead and serve their organizations,” says Kainz.

The chapter increased its educational offerings in 2023, with focused efforts on planning in-person events across North Florida. Through partnerships with its Higher Education Network universities, local health systems and community sponsors, the chapter was able to reach a larger number of members over its large geographic region. Highlights from the year include hosting Erica M. Scavella, MD, FACHE, assistant under secretary for health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; adding a Women’s Leadership Forum; and collaborating with other Florida chapters and the Florida Hospital Association at its annual meeting.

ACHE—North Florida Chapter achieved the award standard in member satisfaction. “Receiving feedback from our members was critical, so we let them know how much we valued their response to the member survey and how to check their profile to ensure they were receiving it,” says Kainz. “Our members wanted educational offerings that were convenient to them, so we offered virtual and in-person events across the region at varied times to meet their needs. We also enhanced our communication with members with regular updates through LinkedIn, our website and email. Finally, our members wanted to learn how to get more involved, so we have expanded our committee structure to increase engagement and assist with succession planning for our board.” 

The chapter is working toward receiving the Board of Governors Award and the Award for Sustained Performance next year. “The chapter hopes to accomplish this by elevating our efforts from 2023,” says Kainz. “Additionally, we are working on formalizing a mentorship program and creating a sponsorship structure that will allow us to increase member engagement. We are appreciative of the collective efforts of ACHE, our board, members and sponsors that allow us to make a difference in our communities.”

Encouraging Exceptional Service
ACHE’s Chapter Management and Awards Program recognizes the delivery of high-quality services to ACHE members at the local level. The program’s goals include creating a system that compares chapter performance objectively, manages success based on a common set of indicators and provides well-deserved recognition to top-performing chapters.

Performance Standards
ACHE uses the information from reports submitted by chapters to calculate the performance standards that must be met each year. These performance standards are set annually by taking a three-year average of performance at the 90th percentile level for each standard.

Fully chartered chapters had to meet or exceed the following standards to receive one of the 2024 awards:

  • Education and networking performance. This key indicator is a calculation of the number of programming hours multiplied by the number of attendees and divided by the total chapter membership at the beginning of the current award year. In 2023, winning chapters were required to provide at least 8.4 hours of chapter event programming per chapter member.

  • Net membership growth. This outcome is measured by the percentage difference between the total number of ACHE-affiliated chapter members in all membership categories at the beginning and end of the year. In 2023, winning chapters were required to have a net membership growth of at least 6.2%.

  • Level of member satisfaction. Each chapter is expected to have a top-ranking level of member satisfaction as measured in the annual survey administered by ACHE. In 2023, winning chapters were required to receive at least a 4.2 on a 5-point scale in chapter member satisfaction.

  • Advancement of eligible members. This outcome is measured by the percentage of the eligible pool to advance to Fellow each year. In 2023, chapters were required to advance a number greater than or equal to 9% of the chapter members eligible to advance at the beginning of the year.

Congratulations to the 2024 chapter award winners. View the full list of award recipients at ache.org/about-ache/news-and-awards. 

To find your chapter, search the chapter directory. To discuss your ideas for chapters, contact Stacey A. Kidd, CAE, director, Chapter Relations, Department of Executive Engagement, at (312) 424-9323 or skidd@ache.org. 

Mentoring – It Is a “Just Do It” Thing

Like most of you, I make time to mentor.  It is often hard to squeeze in.  The calendar is ugly, the projects many.  However, every time, whether it is a long-term relationship or a one-off request for a career huddle, I am always enriched by the time I spend with each person.  Is it easy to make time? No, but the reward is great.  Watching junior colleagues form and storm and demonstrate their value is exhilarating.   Here are a couple of thoughts for you to ponder as you step into or beef up your mentorship outreach:

·  Expand your reach - Mentoring a junior healthcare administrator or university student is great, but also remember that you can influence middle and high school students as well.  
·  Tap into other industries – Mentoring a young professional from another industry is great!  You get a bit of insight into their world and have lovely synergistic moments.  
·  Reward yourself - While we don’t mentor for the rewards, we all know you can earn credits with ACHE towards volunteerism.  That’s tangible, but the pride is so much more.  
  Recently, I had the pleasure to travel to Reno to watch one of my mentees check off one of her goals.  She wanted to perform on the TedX stage.  She doesn’t work in healthcare, our paths crossed through our DEI work.  We enjoy time together talking about our DEI opportunities, family work and the goals that we have for ourselves.  Yes, I said the goals WE have for ourselves.  I didn’t include this one on the above list.  Share YOUR goals and get their perspective.  A CEO/SVP etc. can learn from junior colleagues and students just as much.  Humility, giving and gratitude will always be cornerstone pillars of our success. 

Ann Marie-Knight, Regent, American College of Healthcare Executives, North and Western Florida

Executive Diversity Career Navigator


The Executive Diversity Career Navigator is an online resource designed for healthcare leaders from underrepresented groups to successfully navigate their career path to senior-level positions. By enhancing diversity in leadership, the EDCN will help cultivate a diverse healthcare workforce that is best equipped to address disparities in care and access—effectively improving health for all.

EDCN offers its users access to information, tools and inspiration for navigating their career paths to senior level positions. It is a place for healthcare leaders from diverse backgrounds and at all career levels to learn from others who have successfully navigated their route to C-suite healthcare management. Learn more about EDCN.

Traits for Aspiring Leaders at all Stages

Entrepreneurship: Develop an entrepreneurial mindset aimed at meeting others’ needs. Although it seems to be part of a new vernacular, “entrepreneurship” in healthcare is hardly new. In her book Unlikely Entrepreneurs, Catholic Sisters and the Hospital Marketplace 1865–1925, Barbra Mann Wall shares the story of a 27-year-old Irish immigrant nun who sailed across the ocean in 1877 and would later become administrator of a major Catholic hospital in the U.S. That nun, Sister Lidwina Butler, would ultimately lead two different hospitals, and her second stint as a hospital administrator would last 18 years.  Her literal and figurative journeys defined her and many other religious women who set sail from Ireland and other European countries and some who relocated from within the United States to serve the healthcare needs of others. The women who made those journeys also helped set the standard for the modern healthcare leader: to create and sustain a robust health infrastructure and care models to take care of the vulnerable, their families and communities. Their model of entrepreneurship was as relevant then as it is today. They carefully and systematically studied their communities to identify unmet needs and focused relentlessly on meeting those needs—traits today’s leaders should aspire to as well.
Accountability: Be accountable to yourself and others. For years, author Cy Wakeman has proposed that accountability––which she describes as the mindset to exert control over one’s circumstances and embracing reality––increases individual performance. Embracing reality and rejecting the urge to fill in the blanks with biases and drama are timeless characteristics that will help leaders succeed.  Trust and Trustworthiness: Trust and be worthy of the trust of others. In their Sept. 8, 2016, article in the journal Business Ethics: A European Review, authors Alvaro Lleo de Nalda of the University of Navarra, Manuel Guillen of the University of Valencia, and Ignacio Gil Pechuan of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, discuss their research on the influence of three factors that influence the trust between managers and subordinates. They use the widely accepted definitions of these terms as follows:
  
  • Ability: The skills and knowledge necessary to do one’s job.
  • Benevolence: The demonstration of caring for those under one’s leadership, and loyalty   to them for reasons not related to self-interest.
  • Integrity: The adherence to sound ethical and moral principles (including an  organization’s articulated values) and following through on one’s word.
  Though organizations have multiple ways in which to influence the degree of trust employees have in them, there is no variable more able to impact trust than the immediate supervisor.  Higher Purpose: Connect to the mission and find a higher purpose at work. In their book Option B, Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg speak about the importance of finding meaning at work. For those of us in the healthcare workforce, well-being is dependent on the healthy integration of life and work. As a generation of millennials engages in leadership pursuits, many also are experiencing how life and work are now permeating each other. They, like Gen X and baby boomers, realize the importance of what we do matters beyond profits and losses and that we can impact the lives of others for the better, thereby increasing fulfillment with work. To do work that matters also increases one’s ability to experience happiness and joy in life and work.