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October 2022
Inside AAHA October 2022
AAHA immediate past president Adam Hechko DVM, looks back on his year as AAHA president. Log in to the AAHA Community to join the conversation with other AAHA practice team members.
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What a Difference a Year Makes!
When I assumed the role as president last year, our world was just starting to recover from COVID and AAHA was changing the ways we help our practices. I am personally grateful that we are back to in-person interactions with our clients as they help strengthen our relationships to provide the best care for our patients. Many of our practices have not only survived but thrived with more change than we ever could have envisioned.
While you have been working hard in your practices to excel with change, our amazing board of directors and AAHA staff worked hard to drive new innovation to support our members. We are providing new ways to live up to our mission and vision of Simplifying the Journey toward Excellence for veterinary practices. Throughout the pandemic, we surveyed a portion of our members each month to learn about their needs and how AAHA could better serve them and our profession. We learned so much from you! This has converted to new support, programs, and opportunities for our members to continue to drive better medicine and healthier practices for our teams, patients, and communities. Because of your voice, the AAHA board of directors and leadership gained sound scientific data to guide our decisions and investment into our members, such as a new guidelines certificate program to help practices better utilize and implement them. We also partnered with a leading technology company to provide benchmarking data to our practices. Both of these new initiatives are just some of the ways we are working to help our hospitals and their teams while continuing to support ways for them to best treat their patients.
As I have transitioned out of my role as president, I cannot stress how important it is for us to work together to solve the challenges ahead and, importantly, not forget to celebrate what we have achieved these last few years. I couldn’t be prouder of the work that AAHA is doing and have so much gratitude for the work my own team has done this past year when I was out of the office serving AAHA. It is easy to lose our passion for veterinary care with all the challenges we have faced over the past few years. Take a moment to step back and reflect on all you and your team have accomplished. We are critically important to the communities we serve and the lives of the patients we all love. Our strength is our ability to heal and alleviate suffering while helping families build stronger bonds with their pets. I believe this is our narrative to remember and be proud of!
P. Adam Hechko, DVM, is AAHA’s immediate past president. He grew up in Columbia Station, Ohio, and went on to the University of Findlay to complete his undergraduate degree in pre-veterinary medicine. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and an avid Buckeye fan. He owns a seven-doctor veterinary practice just south of Cleveland, Ohio. His practice was named AAHA Practice of the Year among North American hospitals in 2015. Hechko has three children, Alexander, Benjamin, and Catherine. His wife, Dr. Jen, is a pediatric dentist. |