James Prister, president and CEO of RML Specialty Hospital in Hinsdale, Ill, is the 2010 chair of the American Hospital Association‘s (AHA) Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation. As chair, Prister will lead the section’s governing council, which advises the AHA, Chicago, on public policy issues of concern to all post-acute and continuing care providers. The governing council represents executives from among the nation’s rehabilitation, acute long-term care, skilled, home health, and continuing care services.
Prister has been president and chief executive officer of RML Specialty Hospital since 1996. Previously, he held positions as chief operating officer of Suburban Hospital and president of the Ventilator Support Center, both located in Hinsdale, and served for more than 8 years as VP of operations for Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Mich.
A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Prister is a member of the Northern Illinois Regent’s Council for ACHE. He has served on the board of the National Association of Long Term Hospitals since 1998, is active on committees of the Illinois Hospital Association, and also served on the board of the Long Term Acute Care Hospital Association of America.
Michelle F. Bellantoni, MD, medical director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Center, Baltimore, was named as the chair-elect of the section and will assume the role of chair in 2011. New members joining the governing council are Catherine Barr, CEO, Bethesda Hospital and VP, HealthEast Care System, St Paul, Minn; Janice Hamilton-Crawford, administrator, Southern Crescent Hospital and regional administrator, CHRISTUS Dubuis Health System, Riverdale, Ga; and, Lynn C. Jones, senior VP, post acute care services and president, home health and community services, Christiana Care Health System, New Castle, Del.
The AHA’s Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation represents more than 2,500 institutional members of the American Hospital Association, providing a blend of forum and network, linking members to advise AHA on policy and advocacy, and discussing issues of importance to providers of post-acute and continuing care services.
[Source: AHA]
