CEO Message

Speaking with One Voice Critical to Hospitals’ Survival and Success 

This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.

“Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.” — Alexander The Great 

In the past year, the women and men who believe in protecting the ability of California’s hospitals to fulfill their mission of caring for the ill and injured made their voices heard. 

They made sure that hospitals were represented whenever health care was being discussed at the highest levels of government. 

They did all they could to ensure that policymakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., understand and share the values that hospital leaders hold dear: compassion, professionalism, dignity, equity. 

They also gave generously to CHPAC, to support legislators who recognize and fight for the patients and the communities you serve. 

From the four of us, privileged to serve as the leaders of your state and Regional Associations, we are grateful to all who contributed to CHPAC and helped exceed goal in 2022.  

As we enter 2023, California hospital margins — already thin due to more than $12 billion lost during the heights of the pandemic — are being further strained due to what health care consultant Gibbins Advisors refers to as a “COVID hangover” — skyrocketing labor and supply costs driven by a nursing shortage and supply chain issues, the exhaustion of COVID-19-related government funding, and a limited ability to respond to cost increases, among other factors. 

Looking to this year and beyond, CHPAC will be even more important — not only because of the unprecedented levels of stress hospitals are under, but also because adversarial interests continue to strengthen. Consider that organizations often opposed to hospital initiatives annually raise nearly nine times the contributions made to CHPAC. This means we have an opportunity for hospital supporters to gain ground. 

We are humbled by your generosity in 2022 and eager to build on the success of the past year to protect the special place hospitals hold in communities throughout our state.