EDITOR'S NOTES
A Mailbox Mystery—Solved!
By Jane Jeffries
Wondering where we came from? Here's the answer
For a long time, I thought my mother-in-law had secretly subscribed me to a cooking magazine. I imagined my husband whispering into the phone to her about my poor cooking skills and how he was slowly starving to death. Perhaps he had subscribed me! But no. I finally received a notice from Cook's Illustrated suggesting I pay an outstanding balance, which I promptly tore up. It felt like a marketing ploy designed to prey on the insecurities of a new wife.
Budget Travel's arrival in my mailbox was an even bigger mystery. I am descended from a long line of people who like to stay put, so that magazine has no place among my reading materials. Backpacking through a foreign land, hiking up mountains or eating things that have no English translation are not my ideas of leisure, and I'm pretty sure even my mail carrier knows that. Those unwanted issues went, unopened, straight into the recycling bin.
I hope there is nothing inexplicable about Trustee's appearance in your mailbox. The magazine is an American Hospital Association member benefit, which means we send a copy of every issue to the member hospital's board chair. Member hospitals also purchase additional subscriptions for their trustees. Members of the Center for Healthcare Governance, AHA's governance education subsidiary, receive copies for their trustees. All of AHA's committee members and the CEOs of state hospital associations receive the magazine. Finally, trustees and other health care leaders can purchase their own subscriptions.
Trustee is one of many resources the AHA provides to its member hospitals and their trustees. The latest guidance on reform and other pressing issues can be found at www.aha.org. As a starting point, take a look under the "Issues" and "Resource Center" tabs. You'll find a variety of publications, data and tools on numerous topics to assist you in leading your hospitals and systems.
This article 1st appeared in the July 2010 issue of Trustee Magazine.
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