PHOENIX — The American Hospital Association (AHA) has elected Steve Purves, President and CEO of Valleywise Health, to its Board of Trustees for a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2023. The Board of Trustees is the highest policymaking body of the AHA and has ultimate authority for the governance and management of its directions and finances.
“My election to the AHA Board of Trustees is a tremendous honor. I am very grateful for the support of the Valleywise Health Board of Directors and that of our senior leadership team in accepting this important appointment. I look forward to working with my fellow AHA members to address the many serious issues facing hospitals today,” Purves said.
Purves was one of six new Board members announced by the AHA today.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals committed to advancing health and healthcare in their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, its clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to its professional membership groups.
Purves has over 40 years’ experience in healthcare and began his tenure at Valleywise Health in September 2013. He serves as the immediate past chair of the board for America’s Essential Hospitals, a 300 plus member association of safety net hospitals, is a past chair of the board of the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association and serves on a number of local academic and civic organization boards and committees.
Among the many awards and recognitions over his career in healthcare, Purves was awarded the U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 2006 and served as an honorary commander of the 161st Air Refueling Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard in 2020. He was the recipient of the 2020 Dean Conley award from the American College of Health Care Executives for his article “How Transparency Efforts Helped One System’s Financial Turnaround,” published in the spring 2019 issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management.
About Valleywise Health
Located in Phoenix, Arizona and named one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health in 2020, Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) has a proud tradition of being the public safety net health care system with a mission and commitment to serving the underserved. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, Arizona’s only public teaching hospital, Level I Trauma, and Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States. Other services include the McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV primary care in Arizona, the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, three behavioral health centers, and a network of community health centers located throughout Maricopa County. To learn more, please visit ValleywiseHealth.org