Greetings AVAHO Members and Supporters;

I hope that this message finds you all doing well, that you have comfortably returned to the workplace and are feeling a returned sense of “normalcy” (whatever that may be in 2023!).  This has been an amazing year of accomplishments for our organization, and I truly believe it is only the beginning!  This past year AVAHO developed and put on three live “regional symposia” bringing additional knowledge and training to our members; one in Nashville focusing on CAR-T therapy, one in Indianapolis focusing on NSCLC, and finally one in Tampa focusing on female malignancies.  Therse were all hugely successful and extremely well attended and would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of your AVAHO Administrative team and our amazing sponsors!  I hope you were able to attend at least one of these regional meetings.  Plans are already underway for 2024, with proposed topics and locations of the multidisciplinary management of head and neck cancer (Seattle) and precision oncology (Durham).  Stay tuned for dates and announcements for registration in the upcoming months!  This past year we also worked on a collaborative webinar with members of HOPA and ACCC on the issues regarding critical drug shortages and it’s impact on patient care and health organizations.  This too represented a first for AVAHO, with hopefully many more collaborative programs to be conducted in the future.

In this summer edition of the newsletter, I have tried to include articles or stories that share the excellent work that you provide to your patients daily, showing not only the commitment to quality care you all share but also the results your commitment has meant in terms of how that care is perceived by patients and health care plans and providers.  I’m sure you will not be surprised by the excellent scores and reviews VA has received across the continuum, not just in cancer care but in all aspects of care.  Please take a few moments to read these stories of accomplishment, both from your peers and your organization.

We look forward to seeing you all in Chicago at the end of September for our annual meeting.  Believe it or not, plans are already underway in planning for the 2024 meeting which will also be AVAHO’s 20^th anniversary!  The planning committee has an excellent program in place that will meet everyone’s needs, and in addition there will be a half day workshop on Thursday prior to the meeting starting that focuses on health care literacy and methods to both identify problems and to improve them.  We hope to see you there.

As always, we are always looking for volunteers to serve on any of our committees, members to consider running for board positions and for additional news and submissions to include in our newsletters.  Thank you all for all you do.