Recognition and next steps
I want to thank the attendees, sponsors, exhibitors and speakers who contributed to another successful Health Care Facilities Innovation Conference™ in July. This event is an important venue for rewarding key accomplishments that members and Chapters of the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) achieved regarding teamwork, excellence and benchmarking.
It was great to see the growth of ASHE’s Energy to Care® awards, which highlight energy performance enhancements and bottom-line utility cost improvements. Other accolades include the FM Excellence and Emerging Regional Leader awards, and leaders who have achieved ASHE Senior and Fellow status. Shout-out as well to this year’s President’s Award recipient, Larry Newlands, who was recognized for his pioneering efforts with Energy to Care, and Dave Lockhart, the 2025 Crystal Eagle Leadership Award winner, for his legacy of process improvement and longstanding innovation.
The need to support the next generation of health care professionals in a manner to which they are receptive is the key takeaway from my discussions with conference attendees. Perceived membership value is so important, especially because ASHE members have wide-ranging yet overlapping focus areas. How can ASHE and its Chapters collaborate to enhance member value, attract and retain members, and foster Chapter growth? ASHE is known for its education and networking, but how can we ensure its offerings are aligned with the changing role of the facilities professional?
To this end, the association has recently rolled out its ASHE Strategic Plan, an organizational road map that defines our triennial objectives. I encourage you to review this plan and work at the Chapter and regional levels to ensure we focus on aspects of the plan that encourage member growth while supporting innovation in our field. “Optimizing the health care physical environment” is more than just a tagline; it defines and summarizes ASHE’s mission. Construction, project management, energy management, reliability-centered maintenance, regulatory compliance and staff development — these are the basic “Legos” of ASHE members.
Again, congratulations to the winners, and please tell us how you are using your Legos to build ASHE’s future. Regards!