Washington D.C. -- The American Hospital Association (AHA) has announced that Thomasine Kennedy will be chair and Steven Perkins will be chair-elect of the AHA's 2008 Committee on Governance (COG). Kennedy is chair of the board of directors of Duplin General Hospital in Kenansville, N.C. She has been a member of the board since 1991 and held the office of secretary prior to being elected as chair. Additionally, she has served on various committees and provided leadership in many board activities. In 2007, Kennedy was appointed to the Pitt County Memorial/University Health Systems Board in Greenville, N.C. She is serving as a member of the Quality Committee, Rehabilitation Committee and the Audit and Compliance Committee.

The Committee on Governance is one of four specialty committees of the AHA Board of Trustees. The COG whose membership includes national hospital and health system leaders is responsible for leading effective trustee involvement in grassroots advocacy and providing input into AHA's policy development. Additionally the COG works to enhance communication with and involvement of trustees in the AHA and to provide advice on AHA's trustee initiatives.

Kennedy's involvement with the AHA includes service on the AHA's Committee on Governance from 2002 to 2004 and its Congress of Hospital Trustees from 1993 to 1995. She joined the AHA's Leadership Development Committee in 2005 and has served as a trustee representative of the AHA's Mental Health Task Force.
Kennedy is an active participant in the activities of the North Carolina Hospital Association and was recognized as the North Carolina Trustee of the Year in 2004. Prior to her recent retirement as Assistant Director of Eastpointe Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, Kennedy also retired as a public school administrator. She was an active participant in regional and statewide initiatives in both the mental health and educational arenas.

She is currently serving on the board of directors of Omni Visions, Inc., a multi-state provider of therapeutic foster care services and other local community and county activities.

Perkins is chair of community advisory board of Sanford Hospital Luverne in Luverne, Minn. He is a board member of the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), its Trustee Council and Minnesota Hospital PAC Board and was named MHA 2006 Trustee of the Year. Perkins joined the AHA's Committee on Governance in 2005 as its Region 6 Trustee Liaison. He semi-retired in 2006 and now does business and financial consulting part-time. He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.
About AHA

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to health improvement in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include almost 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, and other providers of care. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the Web site at www.aha.org.

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