Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts

08/19/2026

Up Next in Governance Education: Join us on Wednesday, September 9, from 12:00 - 1:00 PM, “2026 Procurement for Public Hospital Districts (PHDs)” presented by Josh Klika, NIGP-CPP, CPPB, LSSGB, Procurement & Contracting Consultant, Municipal Research and Services Center.

Learn about updates to the procurement process for public hospital districts. You will also receive resources from MRSC related to purchasing, bidding, and contracting.

Registration for 2026 Procurement for PHDs, is available through the Governance Education Portal. To register and see upcoming sessions, please click here: https://www.awphd.org/governance-education/

08/11/2026

It was such a pleasure to visit the Harbor Regional Health campus and join in celebrating the retirement of an exceptional CEO, Tom Jensen. His charismatic leadership, thoughtful guidance, and diplomatic approach have left a lasting impact on so many. We at AWPHD wish Tom all the best as he begins this exciting next chapter. Congratulations on a remarkable career!

08/06/2026

Check out this new Governance Education Short Video on Developing Leadership Skills for Board Chairs. This is a great video for current or aspiring board chairs.

In this short video, you will learn how to:
– Understand the importance of taking a strategic approach to board talent
– Describe board chair relationships
-Identify key leadership skills/competencies for board chairs, with a focus on collaboration

To view this short video and other governance education shorts specific to public hospital districts, click here: https://www.awphd.org/governance-education/

07/24/2026

The AWPHD team was honored to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the expansion of Summit Pacific Medical Center.

It was inspiring to hear Summit’s leadership reflect on the journey that made this milestone possible. CEO, Josh Martin’s mantra, "the obstacle is the way," captured the perseverance, vision, and collaboration that transformed challenges into opportunities and ultimately led to this remarkable expansion.

Congratulations to the entire Summit Pacific Medical Center team on this incredible achievement. We look forward to seeing the lasting impact this expanded facility will have on the health and well-being of the communities you serve.

07/16/2026

Up Next in Governance Education: Join us on August 4 from 12:00 - 1:00 PM for “The Board's Role in Credentialing and Privileging,” presented by the WSHA team of Taya Briley and Darcy Jaffe.

The hospital board’s role in credentialing and privileging is central to ensuring safe, high‑quality care. This webinar is an essential primer for boards that want to confidently govern one of the most difficult governance functions to perform effectively, and one of the most important board responsibilities for hospital quality and safety.

Registration for The Board's Role in Credentialing & Privileging is available through the Governance Education Portal. To register and see upcoming sessions, please click here: https://www.awphd.org/governance-education/

07/02/2026

This year’s Rural Hospital Leadership Conference was a focus on good governance practices.

Key takeaways included how to have healthy disagreement in a board room, how to comply with OPMA and PRA in everyday practice, learning key questions and key data to help navigate risk and setting up new commissioners for success in onboarding, education and mentorship.

As always the best part was networking and seeing members connect on similar issues and successes in local health care access.

06/16/2026

Up Next in Governance Education: Doing the Right Thing: An Ethical Framework for Hospital Board Members

Join us on Monday, June 22 from 12 – 1 pm for Doing the Right Thing: An Ethical Framework for Hospital Board Members.

This webinar will leverage the classic “four principles of bioethics” to show how stewardship, generosity, humility and fairness form the ethical backbone of effective hospital board leadership. It will be a practical, foundational look at how these principles guide decision‑making in the boardroom. This webinar is the first of a 2-part series with the part two being offered in-person at the 2026 WSHA & AWPHD Rural Hospital Leadership Conference June 28 – July 1 at Campbell’s Resort in Chelan.

To register and see upcoming sessions, please click here: https://www.awphd.org/governance-education/

To register for the 2026 WSHA & AWPHD Rural Hospital Leadership Conference, click here: https://www.awphd.org/events/

In partnership with WSHA, AWPHD offers its members educational opportunities to increase their knowledge of hospital governance in Washington.

06/10/2026

This is our favorite time of year as member visits and board presentations ramp up. We made our way to Skagit Regional Health last night to deliver the Rules of the Road: Best Governance Practices board education.

Throughout the visit it was evident that this board is dedicated to their vision: improving lives through compassionate and innovative healthcare.

Thank you for having us.

05/14/2026

At AWPHD, we know public hospital district commissioners are actively engaged in their communities. We have created a one-page document to help commissioners explain their role in governing a public hospital district.

This summary provides a concise description of the fiduciary duty, role and responsibilities of a publicly elected or appointed commissioner to a PHD.

Click Here for the Commissioner Role Summary:https://www.awphd.org/wp-content/uploads/Commissioner-Role-at-a-PHD.pdf

05/07/2026

Check out the new Governance Education Video Short about what constitutes a Serial Meeting under the Open Public Meetings Act. In this short, you will walk through a few scenarios to help you, as a commissioner, avoid this potential violation.

The short video is available on the AWPHD website and through our Governance Education portal.

To view the short, visit: https://www.awphd.org/governance-education/

For a list of all available governance education shorts, please click:https://www.awphd.org/wp-content/uploads/AWPHD-Gov-Ed-Short-Flyer_26.05.06.pdf