About VHHA
About VHHA
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) formed in 1926 as a trade association of Virginia hospitals.
In 1995, members voted to change the name from the Virginia Hospital Association to reflect changing membership, which includes not only rural and urban hospitals, but integrated health care delivery systems and their long-term care facilities and services, ambulatory care sites, home health services, insurance subsidiaries, and other health system-related entities.
Collaborating with our members and other stakeholders, VHHA works to ensure the sustainability of Virginia’s health care system, transform the delivery of care to lower costs and promote higher value across the continuum of care, and improve the health of all Virginians.
To make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation.
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) formed in 1926 as a trade association of Virginia hospitals.
In 1995, members voted to change the name from the Virginia Hospital Association to reflect changing membership, which includes not only rural and urban hospitals, but integrated health care delivery systems and their long-term care facilities and services, ambulatory care sites, home health services, insurance subsidiaries, and other health system-related entities.
VHHA’s activities focus on four strategic areas:
1. Work with our members to develop and advocate for policies, practices, and programs to ensure the sustainability of Virginia’s health care system.
2. Transform the delivery of health care to promote affordability, improve outcomes, and foster a consumer-friendly health care system.
3. Be the recognized leader on a holistic approach to addressing public health, social determinants of health, and other external factors that impact the health of all Virginians.
4. Restructure the Association to promote agility and enhance VHHA’s member-focused value proposition.
1. Work with our members to develop and advocate for policies, practices, and programs to ensure the sustainability of Virginia’s health care system.
- Promote hospitals’ and health systems’ financial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Advocate for effective health policies to improve efficiency, reduce costs, ensure adequate reimbursement, promote stability within our health care system, and address key issues such as access to care and behavioral health
- Reframe hospitals’ and health systems’ relationship with commercial health insurers.
- Ensure hospitals and health systems have the resources they need, including PPE and other medical supplies, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Transform the delivery of health care to promote affordability, improve outcomes, and foster a consumer-friendly health care system.
- Identify best practices and other resources to assist members with the transformation to a high-value, consumer-friendly health care system.
- Share strategies to improve health care quality, safety, service, and outcomes for both patients and employees.
- Address the pre- and post-COVID-19 challenges and opportunities within the healthcare workforce.
3. Be the recognized leader on a wholistic approach to addressing public health, social determinants of health, and other external factors that impact the health of all Virginians.
- Lead on equity and population health in Virginia.
- Leverage hospitals’ response to COVID-19 to expand Virginia’s capacity to respond to future health emergencies.
- Identify and expand the resources necessary to drive improvement on social determinants of health and other factors that impact health costs and outcomes.
4. Restructure the Association to promote agility and enhance VHHA’s member-focused value proposition.
- Improve VHHA’s long-term financial sustainability and reduce reliance on member dues.
- Create a more agile organization to respond to dynamic environmental changes impacting hospitals and health systems.
- Broaden member engagement and create value for a larger subset of VHHA members and stakeholders.
About VHHA Membership
VHHA has 26 member health systems. They are:
Health Care Providers
Operate 111 community, psychiatric, and specialty hospitals.
Accommodated nearly 754,202 inpatient admissions, and delivered more than 87,000 babies in 2021.
Offer emergency department care 24/7/365 that treat more than 3.4 million patients annually and serve a vital role as part of regional, state, and national disaster or emergency readiness systems.
Deliver more than 87,000 babies annually.
Provide a substantial percentage of the long-term care, hospice, and home health care services in the state and operate 36 continuing care retirement facilities.
Major Employers
Directly provided more than 120,000 good-paying jobs with payroll and benefits of more than $11.3 billion.
In 46 percent of Virginia counties and cities, hospitals and health systems are among the top three employers; in 60 percent they rank among the top five.
Important Community Assets
Provide care, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to all in the community who need care, regardless of ability to pay.
Serve as the hub for Virginia’s health care safety net by providing care for the indigent and playing a central role in emergency readiness.
Offer a wide range of wellness, health improvement, and outpatient services throughout their communities.
Provided more than $3.1 billion in community benefit programs and services in 2021.
Generated nearly $60 billion in economic activity in 2021.
Common Vision
Virginia’s hospitals and health systems share a common vision:
Health care for all that is high-quality, high-value, compassionate, and respectful
Health care defined to include all services needed to achieve optimum health
Virginia as the healthiest state in the nation
This vision is based on three core beliefs:
1. We should strive for a health improvement system that includes:
Lasting health improvement and better outcomes for chronic health conditions
Evidence-based delivery of care
Use of care management tools
Partnerships among providers, the public health system, and community leaders
2. We should adhere to the highest ethical standards regarding
Patient privacy
Patients’ rights to informed choice
Providers’ rights to religious or ethical beliefs
End-of-life care decisions
Effective use of resources
Support of community health efforts
3. Virginia is well-served by the combination of a private health care marketplace and public sector involvement in quality, financing, and public health.
How To Join
VHHA offers two types of memberships – institutional and associate. Institutional membership is available for Virginia hospitals and health systems. Associate membership is for businesses and organizations that serve hospitals and health systems.
Institutional Member Benefits
- Interacting and networking with other health care leaders around the state.
- Helping to formulate and communicate policy positions affecting health care delivery.
- Providing effective advocacy and influence in the political decision-making process.
- Attending educational programs for trustees, senior management, medical staff, and employees.
- Receiving timely and concise communications on fast-moving legislative and regulatory changes affecting hospitals and health systems.
- Participating in the collection of health care data and receiving outcomes information.
- Receiving and sharing information to improve the health status of Virginians.
- Accessing Members-Only content on our website.
- Membership applications for institutional members are available by contacting VHHA.
Associate Member Benefits
- Interact and network with health care leaders around the state at our various events.
- Receive VHHA communications and access Members-Only content on our website.
- Ability to attend VHHA and VHREF educational programs for trustees, senior management, medical staff, and employees at special Associate Member registration rates.
- Ability to sponsor VHHA and VHREF events and programs at a discounted rate.
- Listed on the online VHHA Associate Membership Directory.
- Membership in the VHHA Hospital Grassroots Network – receive timely and concise communications on health care legislative and regulatory policies and Action Alerts.
- Complete the form at this link to begin the application process.