Editorial
Message From the President
Welcome to the website of the International Hospital Federation (IHF). As the worldwide body for hospitals and healthcare organizations IHF develops and maintains a spirit of cooperation and communication among them, with the primary goal of improving the health of society. We hope you will join us in achieving this goal.
When I began in healthcare management in the 1970s, the healthcare delivery problems around the world were often very different. Today, we all share three primary challenges: quality, cost and access. And never before have innovations in one or more countries been as potentially applicable to others.
IHF advances our goal of improving the health of society in a variety of ways. In the educational arena, our biennial World Hospital Congress is truly one of the premier international healthcare events. I hope you will join us 18–20 June 2013 in Oslo, Norway. On alternate years, we conduct a Leadership Summit, which is a smaller, more intimate gathering of world healthcare leaders.
In the area of publishing, our quarterly journal World Hospitals and Health Services draws on authors and researchers from around the world. In addition, the quarterly IHF Newsletter is a quick distillation of activities within IHF and its member nations. In addition to these publications, we also periodically publish reports of international significance. Finally, as you can see, this website provides a wealth of knowledge about international healthcare activities.
With respect to networking, IHF is located in Geneva, Switzerland, the global hub of international healthcare activities. We are always happy to help our members make contacts within this community. In addition to the networking that takes place within Geneva and at our educational events, IHF has either started or is in the process of starting chapters that will address the interests of a subset of the membership (e.g., group purchasing organizations, university hospitals, etc.).
I hope you will consider membership in IHF. If you represent an association or organizational body deemed representative of healthcare organizations, in particularly but not exclusively hospitals, in a country or polity or a circumscribed region of the world, you are eligible for Full Membership. If you represent a healthcare organization, in particularly but not exclusively a hospital, or other institution having a distinct relationship with the provision of healthcare, you are eligible for Associate Membership or Premier Associate Membership with additional benefits. If you are a supplier to the healthcare community, we would welcome you as a Corporate Partner. Please contact us for further membership information.
Please explore our website. I hope you will join us in advancing the health of our global society.
Thomas C. Dolan, PhD, FACHE, CAE