Setting Directions

By Bill Algee, CRA, FAHRA

WOW! That was the first word I said after Angie Bush announced me as the 2018-2019 AHRA President at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Annual Meeting. It’s still very surreal to have sat in the audience at the Annual Meeting for many years admiring the presidents during their first address to the membership, and now it’s me. I am so humbled to serve all of you and this incredible association. For those of you who were in attendance, thank you for sticking around and supporting me and a great design team led by Mark Feeley at the AHRA Super Bash to wrap up the week’s festivities.

I used my time on stage to share my thoughts concerning setting a direction for the upcoming year with a focus on four key elements:

Change: We all go through many changes in our everyday work. AHRA is no different and is in the process of undergoing a change in leadership as Ed Cronin’s AHRA career of 13 years comes to a close with his retirement. The CEO Search Committee has been hard at work with a search firm to find our new CEO. Our goal is to have this search completed and a new CEO in place by the end of the year.

Collaboration: AHRA does amazing things with building leaders, networking, and influencing regulatory discussions. This work is seen by many organizations that we have great relationships with, and we need to work to further develop those relationships and forge new ones. Many of us are leaders of areas other than just radiology, and we need to continue to expand our efforts in those areas as well. This work is well underway!

Family: Using the AHRA Member Forum and attending our Fall, Spring, and Annual Meeting, as well as local area meetings, are all opportunities to reconnect and expand the AHRA family. We need our family to grow. Growth in membership helps to strengthen our voice when advocating on issues of importance, enhances services for our members, and provides more networking connections. As I write this our membership is 5,778 strong. My goal is for us to have at least 6,000 members by the time we meet in Denver in 2019. Let’s all help grow the family!

Superheroes: Kevin Brown, the keynote on Monday at the Annual Meeting, discussed three key characteristics of a Superhero: those who chose not to be ordinary, see life through a lens of optimism, and make such an impact that when those who work for them look in the mirror they see that person’s face. I challenge all of us to be superheroes to our staff and our patients.

My articles this year will have elements of these four key topics. Also, I am a big music buff and would like to leave you with some lyrics related to the article:

We are one
Everywhere I go, everyone I see
And I see my face looking back at me
We are one
Everything I know, what I know is true
Every one of us is inside of you
We are one – KISS

Bill Algee, CRA, FAHRA is the 2018-2019 president of the AHRA Board of Directors. He is the director of imaging services at Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, IN and can be reached at balgee@crh.org.