AACVPR Members, I hope this edition of News & Views find you well and in good health. I am very excited to serve you as the AACVPR President for this upcoming term. More importantly, I am honored to serve you and work alongside all the leaders represented on the AACVPR Board of Directors.

First, I want to recognize Ana Mola for her leadership of the AACVPR over the past 12 months. This was an unprecedented year for our organization and our specialty practice. I want to personally commend Ana for her steadfast leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic. Working alongside her, I personally witnessed her empathetic and authoritative leadership style in action. Ultimately, she advocated for you and your patients and elevated our members’ voices in effort to get critical clarity and answers that our programs and patients needed. Further, Ana strengthen relationships with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Million Hearts^®. Finally, she ushered in a new strategic plan guiding the future of AACVPR. Thank you Ana for all you did for AACVPR, leading our organization as President, over the last year!

2020 Virtual Meeting

WOW! What a great Annual meeting. Although I missed seeing you all in person, I could not be more proud of the support of this year’s meeting. First, thank you to the program planning committee and staff for all your hard work to make this event successful! Additionally, sponsor, vendor, and speaker support were critical to the success of this years event. Each worked hard to adapt to the virtual setting. To our attendees, I couldn’t be more proud of the engagement and reception of the virtual format. Ultimately, to all involved, I thank you for your commitment and support of this year’s meeting!

About Me

I want to take a moment to share a bit about my history in cardiac and pulmonary rehab and the AACVPR. I started my career in 2003 during my post graduate studies, where I joined the team at University Medical Center, in Lubbock, Texas, as an exercise specialist in cardiac rehab and senior fitness. After obtaining my masters, I became the supervisor of this team and eventually added pulmonary rehab to our services! I became a member of the AACVPR in 2006, and attended my first annual meeting in Salt Lake City in 2007. From that first annual meeting, I knew I desired to become more involved in the AACVPR and recognized the benefit of professional association involvement. It was not long after that I attended several Day on the Hill events with AACVPR in Washington, D.C. I began my AACVPR service on the Website Committee and soon thereafter joined the Membership and Affiliate Relations Committee, eventually serving as committee chair. In 2013, I was honored to be recognized as a fellow of the AACVPR.  I was appointed to the Board of Directors in November 2016 as treasurer and served in that capacity until 2019 when I was elected as president elect. As previously stated, I am honored to serve as your president!

Moving Forward

The AACVPR Board of Directors launched a new, 2020-2022 Strategic Plan with goals designed to lead our association into the future of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation care and grow our member community. Over the next year, you’ll see a lot of these initiatives and resources roll out. The three pillars of the 2020-2022 AACVPR Strategic Plan are Membership Engagement and Growth, Program Quality and Sustainability, and Science and Outcomes.

To highlight the direct workings of the strategic plan you will see over the next 12 months, you will see the establishment of a data analytic center to manage and analyze data from the Registries. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to think creatively about delivering quality care and AACVPR is leading the strategy for innovative methods of delivery in cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services. Finally, you have likely all seen the new AACVPR website and member community! I am very excited about the new design and flow of this site! AACVPR.org has been completely overhauled and redesigned with your experience in mind. On the website you can navigate the our new member community, AACVPR Central! AACVPR Central the hub for member communication and resources which serves as a one stop shop with many valuable resources!

It is important to recognize that AACVPR is committed to the “healthy” side of business and not just the COVID pandemic to support you and your programs. As always, we will continue to support you in both areas.  I am confident our profession will come out as a more cohesive and innovative community but only through growing relationships and building trust as we move forward. Thank you for your commitment to Cardiac and Pulmonary rehabilitation, your patients, and the AACVPR.

Stay well!

Dean