Passion, Purpose, Priorities And Performance Will Guide MHA’s Annual Convention
The Missouri Hospital Association’s 2025 Annual Convention offers a time for hospital and health system leaders and teams to refocus, reenergize and recommit to their organizations’ missions.
This year, four powerful ideas — Passion, Purpose, Priorities and Performance — will guide the conversations, learning and networking that will help leaders of all kinds translate the aspirational into actionable.
“We want to demonstrate how hospitals’ and health systems’ priorities and performance are linked to their passion and purpose,” said MHA President and CEO Jon D. Doolittle.
Let’s look at how these four concepts will be shared throughout the three-day event.
Passion
This year’s convention will showcase several keynote speakers who aim to reignite the passion of health care workers who are serving their patients and communities.
Stephen Shedletzky, with Simon Sinek, Inc., will discuss the importance of speak-up culture. A panel discussion will follow about leaders who listen, where attendees can learn best practices from their peers.
Command Sgt. Maj. Gretchen Evans will explore the life-changing idea of finding a “rope team,” and Justin Wren, an MMA fighter and humanitarian, will share his journey of leadership and mental health advocacy.
Additionally, the Celebration of Achievement Awards Dinner will honor individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation and dedication have made a lasting impact on health care in Missouri.
These sessions will focus on human connection, motivation, leadership and culture — all of which reflect the passion that drives individuals to innovate, care deeply and keep going even when the challenges are great.
Purpose
MHA’s 103rd Annual Convention’s theme, People: The Point of Care, says it all: Health care’s purpose is people.
This year, a variety of sessions will emphasize the bigger “why” behind the work of health care teams — why they do what they do, as well as the impact they make.
One of the breakout sessions will explain the importance of leaders serving as ambassadors for their hospitals and health systems.
Other sessions will explore how hospitals can better support their teams, address behavioral health needs and harness technology to improve care delivery — all while staying true to their organization’s mission.
Priorities
Hospital leaders are mission focused. To best serve individuals and communities, they commit to values-based priorities.
The convention agenda reflects this, with topics ranging from workforce development to digital transformation.
On the first day, Doolittle will explore how people-centered strategies — focused on patients, providers and communities — can shape the future of health care, while connecting these themes to MHA’s 2026–2028 strategic goals of relevance, responsiveness and relationships.
Navigating the political landscape and changing health care policies will be addressed, too. In addition, keynote speaker Dr. Geeta Nayyar, chief medical officer at Salesforce and AT&T, will tackle the critical issue of misinformation in health care.
Attendees will gain insights about how to align organizational goals with community needs, ensuring that strategic decisions reflect what matters most.
Performance
Performance strategies that drive results also will be highlighted during this year’s convention. Experts from MHA’s data company, the Hospital Industry Data Institute, will share their role in supporting hospitals through data and insights.
Other sessions on payer management strategies and updates to the Federal Reimbursement Allowance can help hospital leaders make more informed decisions in the future.
One of the breakout sessions will look at how organizations can use security technology, environmental design standards and data to mitigate violence in hospitals.
Leveraging high reliability organizing to improve an organization’s culture of safety and reduce avoidable harm will offer insights that health care leaders can implement at their hospitals and health systems.
Remember the 4 Ps
From keynote sessions to networking events, MHA’s 2025 Annual Convention provides health care teams the chance to reflect on their passion, reaffirm their purpose, clarify their priorities and elevate their performance.
“People are the point of care,” Doolittle said. “Through these four values, health care teams from around the state can feel empowered to deliver on their service-oriented missions. As we frame the challenging and evolving health care environment, we’ll be reminded about why the work matters.”
Join your Missouri hospital peers to learn, engage, reflect and grow together at MHA’s convention. Register today!
The Missouri Hospital Association is a nonprofit association in Jefferson City that represents 136 Missouri hospitals. In addition to representation and advocacy on behalf of its membership, the association offers continuing education programs on current health care topics and seeks to educate the public about health care issues.