A Message From Your Regent

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about ‘joy’ in our work, and I know that we are fortunate to work in a field where the work we do helps others at their most basic level of need. We see these themes come through in Daniel H. Pink’s Drive and Simon Sinek’s Start with Why (among other written works) that speak to the connections between the fundamental work we do and what satisfies our individual need for living our values. I also believe that part of finding joy in our work is recognizing the great work of others, and we’ll do that below.

As a part of ACHE, we’re fortunate to be part of an organization that stretches around the world with the mission of advancing our members and healthcare leadership excellence. For those fortunate to serve in these roles, this mission resonates perfectly with the work that we’re called to do each and every day. Four great examples of leaders who have embodied the mission of ACHE have been honored with the Tennessee Regent’s Awards for 2023 – 2024, as nominated by our Regent’s Advisory Council. It gives me joy to recognize them here:

Tim P. Adams, FACHE, Regional Operations Officer, Ascension

Tim is one of our Senior Careerist awardees for this year, and he’s taken a leadership role in our state for years, not only within Ascension but also THA and ACHE. As an example, Tim was installed as the Chairman of the THA Board this past September.

Joseph Webb, DSc, FACHE, CEO of Nashville General Hospital

Dr. Webb is our second Senior Careerist awardee for this year. Dr. Webb has been a great advocate of ACHE and can frequently be found participating on educational panels. He’s also a respected leader in social determinants of health and other healthcare initiatives in the Nashville community.

Russell C. Peters, Director of Brain & Spine Services, UT Medical Center

Russ has served in many of the roles within the East Tennessee Chapter, including President. He’s UTMC’s Executive Sponsor for the Knoxville Heart Walk and has been asked to Chair next year’s Centennial event. His nominator says, “he’s always willing to do anything, he always does a great job, and he has a huge impact on the success of our local chapter.”

Robin Womeodu, MD, FACHE, Chief Academic Officer, Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare

Dr. Womeodu is recognized for Excellence in Diversity, and specifically for her work in eliminating disparities in health. She is the Chief Academic Officer for Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare and she’s led the re-start of the Internal Medicine Residency here at MLH.

Please join me in congratulating each of these four leaders when you see them, and let’s all commit to recognizing those around us who demonstrate the best in healthcare leadership. I don’t know about you, but celebrating leaders like these brings me joy!

Timothy A. Slocum, FACHE
Regent for Tennessee
[email protected]

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A Message From Your President

Did you notice that our very own Russ Peters, Chair of Communications for the ACHE of East Tennessee Board, was recognized with a Tennessee Regent’s Award? Russ has been an indispensable part of our chapter leadership for many years and is certainly deserving of this honor! Please be sure to congratulate Russ if you get a chance. 

Let’s talk about mentoring. Our chapter has long wished to re-establish a robust mentoring program. We currently have 106 senior level executives in the chapter, including 59 CEOs. Surely, there is a multitude of opportunities to match mentors with mentees! After all, the future of healthcare in East Tennessee depends on well-prepared and dedicated professionals who may today be students and early careerists. However, mentorship is not just for those specific groups. 

According to Hoffman (2022), benefits to the mentee include:
Refining their professional values; developing stronger communication and leadership skills; honing other skills and expertise they need to succeed; establishing short- and long-term career goals; improving job satisfaction, performance and self-confidence; being exposed to new and different perspectives; expanding their professional network; being better prepared for interview questions; and identifying and addressing possible gaps in skills and knowledge.

Furthermore, mentoring is rewarding for the mentor in intangible ways, but also in more practical ways such as learning to become a better listener. It can also help one learn more about the profession, be exposed to new insights and opinions, and enhance your network. Ultimately, it also demonstrates your leadership skills and willingness to serve others, which may help in pursuing your next career change (Helfer, 2021). 

Look for more information and requests to get involved soon. 

Helfer, D. (2021). Mentor benefits. ACHE Blog. https://www.ache.org/blog/2021/5-benefits-of-being-a-mentor

Hoffman, P. (2022, July/August). Promoting the joy of mentoring. Healthcare Executive. https://healthcareexecutive.org/archives/july-august-2022/promoting-the-joy-of-mentoring

Chris McCracken, FACHE
Chapter President ACHE of East Tennessee
[email protected]

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Upcoming Events

July 25th – We are offering a great in-person education event in Johnson City. The topic is Population Health Management: Access, Outcomes, and Financial Implications.

We are fortunate to have a great panel lined up, led by moderator Tom Tull, VP Chief Experience Officer, Ballad Health. 
Panelists are:

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ACHE News

You may have noticed by now that we have recently changed the name of our chapter to ACHE of East Tennessee. We made this decision to align more closely with ACHE national and to benefit from that name recognition locally. There is no point in having a great chapter with interesting education events and well-attended networking opportunities if people don’t know we exist! Please share with your colleagues and others in healthcare - and invite them to join you for a future event. 
We have also changed our website domain.

Our website address is now: ACHEofeastTN.com

Future emails will be coming from: @acheofeasttn.com

Please be sure to enable our emails to reach you. One way to make this easier is to assign your personal email address to your main ACHE account. You can change this at ache.org, under your profile.

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Community Service

Planning for 2025

It is that time of year when we begin to think about Board composition for CY2025. If you are a member of ACHE and interested in serving on our Board, please contact Chris McCracken at [email protected]

We are looking for:

•  President-elect (will be chapter president in 2026)
• Secretary/Treasurer
• Chairs and/or members for the following committees:
  • Membership/advancement (member growth, satisfaction, FACHE)
  • Communications (emails, webpage, announcements)
  • Programming (planning events)
  • Mentoring (new committee aiming to partner mentors with mentees)
  • Sponsorships (securing sponsorship funds to help with our programming costs)
  • Nominating (finding officers and chairs for 2026)
  • Marketing and social media (managing our LinkedIn account, etc.)
    Supporting Your Chapter

Can we count on your support? Aside from serving as a volunteer Board member as mentioned above, there are other ways to support us:

•  Go to our LinkedIn page, like and follow, share our posts - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ache-of-east-tennessee-44a093197/
• Attend our in-person education events and networking events
• Talk to other healthcare leaders, aspiring leaders, and students about ACHE – remember, one does not have to be a member to attend events
• Fill out the annual chapter membership survey (every May)
• Bring a guest to events
• Consider asking your company to sponsor the chapter, see sponsorship details and levels here: https://acheofeasttn.com/Sponsorship_Opportunities

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