WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Directors of the Community Health Accreditation Program - CHAP - announces the selection of Ms. Karen Collishaw as the nonprofit organization's new President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Collishaw will direct CHAP - the nation's leading organization in community-based, homecare accreditation - as it embarks on a new strategic direction to advance the highest quality in community-based care. Ms. Collishaw will begin leading CHAP on July 24, 2013.
"We are thrilled that Ms. Collishaw will lead CHAP into its next phase of defining and advancing the highest quality of community-based care for patients and their families," says CHAP Board Chair Mr. David R. Schneider. "We are confident in Ms. Collishaw's ability to build on CHAP's legacy while setting a strategic direction for the organization as we grow in response to the increasing demand for excellence in home and community-based care."
Ms. Collishaw is the former Deputy Executive Director of the American Academy of Dermatology, and previously served as Division Vice President for Science and Advocacy at the American College of Cardiology. In both professional medical organizations, she had a critical role in developing, implementing, and achieving strategic goals and promoting excellent service and influence in the health care community. Ms. Collishaw has had responsibility for activities related to advocacy, research, quality and patient safety, clinical standards, practice management resources and the annual meeting. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and Past President of the American Association of Medical Society Executives. Collishaw says, "I look forward to working with CHAP's board of directors, its accredited organizations, stakeholders and staff to ensure the organization anticipates and effectively addresses the demands of today's fast-changing health care landscape of home and community-based care."
"I wish to extend my heartfelt and deepest thanks to Ms. Julie Reynes for her outstanding leadership and direction when she so ably served as CHAP's Acting President and Chief Executive Officer," said Katheen J. Dodd, CHAP's Board Secretary and Chair of the Search Committee. "We are extremely grateful for Julie's incredible guidance in steering CHAP to an even higher level during this transition."
Ms. Dodd adds, "I wish to thank the members of CHAP's Search Committee for their generous time and strong direction in bringing Ms. Collishaw to CHAP."
Created in 1965, CHAP is the oldest national, community-based accrediting body with more than 8,300 organizations currently accredited nationwide. Through "deeming authority" granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, private duty, public health clinics, community nursing centers, pharmacy, home infusion, staffing support and home medical equipment services. For more information on CHAP, please visit www.chapinc.org.
To arrange an interview with Ms. Collishaw, please contact Michael Grogan at mgrogan@chapinc.org, or 202-862-3413.
