ACHE – SouthEast Texas Chapter (ACHE-SETC) and the Asian Healthcare Leaders Association (AHCLA) as well as the AHCLA caucus of the ACHE-SETC were well represented at the Sixth International Conference on Healthcare Systems held at the Zirve University campus, Gaziantep, Turkey, from October 20-22, 2010. Dr. Ashish Chandra, Chair of the Healthcare Administration Program of the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) (located in the Texas Medical Center) and member of the Board of Directors of both the ACHE-SETC and the AHCLA along with Dr. Fevzi Akinci, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Zirve University were instrumental in organizing this extremely successful conference as the Conference Co-Program Chairs.
ACHE-SE Texas was also represented by key leaders, educators, and student namely Mr. Raymond Khoury, Executive-in-Residence, Healthcare Administration Program, UHCL, Mr. Don Gibson, Executive Director of Operations for ACHE – SETC, Mr. Anup Bodhe, MHA/MBA graduate student, UHCL (and past recipient of two ACHE-SETC scholarships) and Dr. William B. Stroube, Program Director of the Healthcare Administration Program at the University of Evansville. All these individuals served on the plenary opening session, which was a panel session moderated by Dr. Ashish Chandra, pertaining to the value of networking in the healthcare industry and the role that ACHE-SETX has played in such efforts. This session provided panelists an opportunity to promote the local ACHE-SETX chapter, particularly how valuable it has been for students as well as the value of ACHE membership and networking, and the AHCLA. Mr. Anup Bodhe also made a presentation regarding the often ignored and underappreciated pivotal role of facility planning on behalf of WHR Architects, his current employer and a key sponsor of the ACHE-SETC as well as a supporter of the Healthcare Administration program at UHCL.
Historically, this international conference was developed by the University of Houston-Clear Lake in collaboration with the Autonomous University of Queretaro, Mexico in May 2000 and spearheaded by Dr. Paul Bruder, current faculty member of UHCL Healthcare Administration. Given the tremendous success of the first conference, it was agreed by most of the delegates that this conference be held every two years and will be primarily organized by a host institution with the assistance of some other key institutions and individuals who have been an integral component of this conference from its inception and have been instrumental in the success of this extremely important means of exchanging information, learning, and networking for healthcare administration faculty, students, and practitioners. The second international conference was held in Ankara, Turkey in July 2002 where Dr. Adnan Kisa, now President of Zirve University, Gaziantep, Turkey, was highly successful as the conference Program Chair and was a very gracious host. The third international conference was held in Charleston, WV, and this is the first time that it was held in the US and Dr. Ashish Chandra, served as the conference program chair. The fourth was held in Bratislava, Slovakia (conference program chair – Dr. Viera Rusnakova) and the fifth was held in Milwaukee, WI (conference program chair – Dr. Mary K. Madsen).
Similar to the success of the past five conferences, this particular conference had a very diverse and strong program that helped in fostering relationships between healthcare academics and practitioners of many countries. Academicians, professionals, and students from Georgia, Taiwan, Turkey, The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, and the United States, to name a few, participated at this conference. One of the unique values that this conference has is its established and ongoing relationship with the following journals: Hospital Topics, Health Care Manager, and The International Journal of Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Marketing.
Conference attendees were very impressed with the “royal treatment” they received from various gracious hosts (Mr. Tanner Nakiboglu, Chair, Board of Trustees, Zirve University, and President Dr. Adnan Kisa, Zirve University; Bilal Ceker, President of Primer Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey; Mr. Cahit Nakiboglu, Chair, Gaziantep Organized Industrial Zone Board; Gaziantep Mayor, The Honorable Dr. Asim Guzelbey; Professor Dr. M. Yavuz Coskun, President, Gaziantep University, that opened their hearts and facilities for touring to provide insight into the educational programs, history of Turkey and Gaziantep, and delivery of healthcare.
In 2012 UHCL Healthcare Administration Program, TMC will serve as the host for the Seventh International Conference on Healthcare Systems and Dr. Ashish Chandra has agreed to serve on as the conference program chair for that conference as well. The support of local healthcare and educational institutions is highly critical in making the next conference a success. We as ACHE-SETC members would like to plan on proving support for the success of this conference and most of our healthcare organizations can play a significant role to show our guests an unforgettable experience during their visit to Houston as well as what the healthcare arena in Houston has for the local and global health customers.
In the photo on the stage, here are the details (from left):
Moderator: Ashish Chandra, Chair and Professor, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, TX, USA
Member, Board of Directors, Asian Healthcare Leaders Association
Member, Board of Directors, American College of Healthcare Executives – Southeast Texas
Executive Editor, Hospital Topics
Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing
Editorial Board Member, Health Care Manager
Past President of:
Business Health Administration Association
Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators
MBAA International
Federation of Business Disciplines
William B. Stroube, Director and Professor of Healthcare Administration, University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana, USA
Past President, Business and Health Administrators Association
Raymond Khoury, Executive-in-Residence, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, TX, USA
Ex-CEO St. John Hospital, Nassau Bay, Texas, USA
Ex-CEO St. Joseph Hospital, Houston Texas, Texas, USA
Ex-VP Christus Health System, Houston, Texas, USA
Ex-CEO, St. Francis Health System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Don Gibson, President, Quantum Leadership, Inc., Houston, TX, USA
Executive Director of Operations, American College of Healthcare Executives – SouthEastTexasChapter
Anup Bodhe, WHR Architects, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
Medical Planner and Healthcare Designer
In the panel session, Dr. Chandra represented the AHCLA and Don Gibson represented ACHE-SETC. Then both discussed about the AHCLA caucus within ACHE-SETC. Since the meeting was technically in Asia, there was a lot of interest shown by delegates. Dr. Chandra also mentioned about the various well known healthcare organizations that are located in Houston.
In the second picture, conference attendees gather outside the Zirve Univesity for a photo op with the President of Zirve University, Dr. Adnan Kisa (standing on the front row between Dr. Ashish Chandra, University of Houston-Clear Lake and Dr. Fevzi Akinci, Zirve University, the Conference Co-Program Chairs)
In the third picture, it is (from left): Mr. Raymond Khoury; Mr. Don Gibson; Dr. Ashish Chandra; Dr. Sahin Kavuncubasi (from Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey), and Anup Bodhe. (ALL the ones underlined are members of ACHE)
Mr. Bilal Ceker, President of Primer Hospital, Gaziantep, graciously hosted the delegates of the conference for a tour of his hospital. In the fourth picture, Mr. Ceker presented a bouquet of flowers to Dr. Chandra to accept as a welcome to all the delegates and in the fifth picture he generously presented all the delegates with a gorgeous Turkish coffee serving set to all the delegates which was received by Dr. Chandra, UHCL and Dr. Joyce Fitzpatrick of Case Western Reserve University.
The day before that start of the conference, The University of Houston-Clear Lake also signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Zirve University. In the sixth picture, the MOU signing (from left, Dr. Ashish Chandra, UHCL, Br. Mrinal Mugdh, Associate VP for Academic Affairs, UHCL, Dr. Adnan Kisa, President, Zirve University, and Dr. Fevzi Akinci, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Zirve University).
Dr. Chandra, Mr. Khoury, and Mr. Gibson reiterated that even though we were representing UHCL, ACHE-SETC, and AHCLA each of our organizations strive for the improving global health and we will be happy to help them in future endeavors.