Laura Kaiser, president and CEO of SSM Health in St. Louis, has been elected chair-elect designate of the American Hospital Association, according to a July 12 AHA news release.
Ms. Kaiser will serve as chair-elect in 2027 and become AHA chair in 2028, the top elected position at the organization, which represents nearly 5,000 member hospitals and health systems. She has served as SSM Health’s president and CEO since 2017. Prior to that role, she served as executive vice president and COO of Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City and held several senior leadership roles at Ascension Health, including as president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola, Fla., according to the release.
The election comes about two weeks after AHA named Steve Walsh as its incoming president and CEO, succeeding Rick Pollack, who will retire by the end of 2026.
St. Louis-based SSM Health is a 24-hospital system with more than 40,000 employees and more than 540 physician offices and outpatient sites across Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, according to the release.
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