Category Archives: From The President

Welcome Message From the President

Kim Fierst
President
ACHE of Western PA

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of ACHE of Western PA, welcome to what I hope will be an engaging and productive new year! As your 2021 Chapter President, I could not be more honored to work alongside a talented board of directors in delivering valuable opportunities for growth and development during such an interesting time in our industry.

To say 2020 was a “challenging” year is likely an understatement. As I am sure you can relate, the pandemic forced our chapter to think differently about how we function internally as well as support our 400+ loyal members. Like many of your organizations, our chapter overcame obstacles together and emerged stronger as a result. From abruptly shifting to a virtual environment to rearranging our traditional programming calendar, I was impressed by the dedication of all those involved. Given this hard work, our chapter is proud to be a recipient of ACHE’s 2020 Award of Chapter Merit.

Looking forward to 2021, we hope to build on this momentum by providing you with networking, education and volunteer leadership opportunities that are not only fulfilling, but truly help you develop the skills you need to advance in your career, wherever and however works for you. Whether through ACHE face-to-face credit offerings, facilitated mentorship, or engaging workshops on dynamic topics, the board is committed to support you as you lead and serve within your healthcare organizations.

More than ever, we know your schedules are demanding. In the nature of continuous improvement, we would love feedback on how to better align our opportunities with your desires in the limited time we spend together. Please feel free to contact me directly at the email below, or reach out to us at info@westpa.achechapter.org. We are eager to hear from you.

Let’s make 2021 another year to remember (for very different reasons)! Stay safe and be well.

Thanks,
Kim Fierst
President, ACHE of Western PA
Kimberly.fierst@highmark.com

Welcome!

My name is Natalie Bulger and I am honored to serve as the President of the Western Pennsylvania chapter of ACHE in 2018.

Our Chapter of ACHE is fortunate to be located in the Western Pennsylvania region. With over 400 members from more than 150 different organizations spanning from Lake Erie to the boarders of West Virginia and Ohio and to the Johnstown area east, the opportunity for healthcare leaders to come together to network, learn and advance their careers is really limitless. ACHE of Western PA offers a wide array of education and networking events to its members including joint education with other professional organizations such as the Women’s Leaders Conference (with HFMA) and the Western PA Healthcare Summit (with HFMA, AAHAM, WPHIMA and HIMSS). Our goal is to meet the needs of all of our members whether you are a student or senior executive, current Fellow or early careerist. You should receive newsletters from the chapter every 2-3 weeks and a quarterly newsletter of update from ACHE national.

There is an event almost every month so keep your eyes peeled and we hope you will join us at one. Your engagement and interactions are what make this chapter such a success. In 2018 we earned the Chapter Merit Award for meeting one of the excellence standards set by ACHE – take pride in that. We hope you will join us on our social media accounts which I will list at the end of this message.

The 2018 Board of Directors & Board Committees, made up of your peers from various organizations across the healthcare continuum, are dedicated to giving our members the best possible experience. If at any point you have suggestions for our chapter, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or one of our Board members. I cannot wait to see where 2018 takes us – so please, come along for the ride!

Natalie Bulger, CHC, FACHE
President, ACHE of Western Pennsylvania
natalie.c.bulger@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACHEWPA/

Twitter: @ACHE_WPA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ache-of-western-pa/

Email: info@westpa.achechapter.org

Welcome!

My name is Stacey Vaccaro, and I am honored to serve as the President of the Western Pennsylvania chapter of ACHE in 2016.  Professionally, I serve as the Executive Vice President and COO at The Children’s Institute, a pediatric specialty hospital, school, and family services agency, located in the Squirrel Hill section of the City of Pittsburgh.  Like many facilities in Pittsburgh, The Children’s Institute has a rich history rooted in serving children for nearly 115 years, and I invite you to contact me any time you are in the area to stop in and talk about your needs and experience as an ACHE member.

Our Chapter of ACHE is fortunate to be located in the Western Pennsylvania region.  With over 400 members from more than 150 different organizations, the opportunity for healthcare leaders to come together to network, learn and advance their careers is really limitless.  We would like you to view ACHE of Western PA as your partner for cutting edge education and career advancement. We recognize that your time is in demand, and strive to offer programs and services that will keep you updated on the latest healthcare issues in a way that is convenient and cost effective.  Please know you have a dedicated team of peers that volunteer to serve on our committees and the Board of Directors – they work hard to represent your needs and are always open to your suggestions in person or by e-mail (info@ache.westpa.org).  Please check our website (http://westpa.ache.org/) often for education and networking opportunities and full day events to enrich your career.  And, we can’t be successful without your engagement – make a point to join us at least once this year to see your chapter at work and meet the people that help to create customized programs to meet your needs.  We can do great things together.

Welcome to ACHE of Western PA’s new site! The goal of this redesign is to provide a new, fresh, and streamlined tool to push information and resources to you as members. Connectivity to your chapter’s activity and updates is a critical component of being an active member of ACHE, and our new site’s goal is to help achieve this. There are many great events and changes going on in our chapter so please take advantage of the many opportunities for credits, networking, continued education, and overall career development!
Anna Voelker, MHA
President, ACHE of Western Pennsylvania