The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, the largest ambulatory healthcare accreditor, has named new board officers and two elected directors for the 2024-to-2025 season.
The new board officers' one-year terms began Nov. 17, according to a Nov. 18 press release shared with Becker's.
The new leadership team includes:
Joy Himmel, RN, board chair, is the first licensed behavioral health provider elected as AAAHC board chair, the sixth female board chair and the third college health professional elected to the position in the organization's history. She has more than 40 years' experience in behavioral health working in hospital and community-based programs, and more than 25 years in college health and counseling. Dr. Himmel has been on the board of directors of AAAHC for five years, has served as a surveyor since 2009 and is part of the teaching faculty for the organization.
Steven Butz, MD, board chair-elect, practices pediatric anesthesiology in the Milwaukee area. He is currently a professor of anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin where he acts as medical director of the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Surgicenter.
Jan Davidson, MSN, RN, immediate past board chair, has worked as a perioperative registered nurse for more than 40 years. In addition to her OR experience in a large metropolitan trauma center, she has served as clinical director of a freestanding ASC.
Lawrence Kim, MD, secretary/treasurer, will begin the second year of his two-year term. He joined the AAAHC Board of Directors in 2004 and has served in numerous roles for this organization including as surveyor, committee chair and governing council member. Dr. Kim is a partner at South Denver Gastroenterology, a 27-physician independent GI practice.
Keith Anderson, PhD, new AAAHC director, is a licensed psychologist with more than 30 years' experience providing behavioral health services in a primary care/student health setting. He is also an AAAHC surveyor and has been a member of the organization's engaged constituency since 2020.
Valerie Kiefer, DNP, new AAAHC director, was elected for a second three-year term on the board with more than 40 years of experience in healthcare, which includes critical care, emergency transport as a flight nurse paramedic, special procedures, internal medicine, primary care and college health. She served as an AAAHC surveyor for more than 10 years and is an active faculty member and mentor for AAAHC surveyors. Additionally, she has served on several AAAHC engaged constituency committees.