July 15, 2018

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As we have watched the inspiring World Cup Soccer Championship over the past several weeks, it has become clear that the dominant soccer teams of the past have changed, and the baton has been passed to newer teams. Germany, Brazil, and Argentina left the tournament early leaving the final four: France, Belgium, England, and Croatia -- two teams that have never been in the final and two teams that have not seen the final in over 20 years. And now we are about to go into the final match with France and Croatia.

Like the World Cup, it is a time of change in the Heart Failure Society of America. The former CEO, Michele Blair, and COO, Patrick McGary, have departed for new opportunities. Under their tenure was a time of important growth for the society. We are extremely fortunate to have Mr. John Barnes as interim CEO to oversee the society as we conduct the search for a new CEO. John has provided stability during this time of transition and quickly integrated into the leadership of HFSA. He has recruited an interim COO, Joori Jeon, who has important experience in both communications and finance. This transition period is an excellent opportunity to reevaluate all aspects of the society. We will look at our internal operations, strategic initiatives, and overall governance. I am confident that we will continue to grow and increase our footprint as we continue to carry out our overall mission to reduce the burden of heart failure across the globe.

Our important strategic initiatives continue to move forward. The research program has developed an HFSA network of investigators and they are already beginning to participate in clinical trials. Our international initiative has identified important collaborative relationships across the globe and we will be setting up an ambassador program for every region to improve our international footprint. We continue to move forward with our heart failure certification program, and we are reevaluating our awareness campaign to make sure it is aligned with our overall strategic goals. The Journal of Cardiac Failure continues to be strong, and the recently released Impact Factor report showed an increase for the third year in a row, up to 3.942. We had a record number of applicants volunteering for committees this year, demonstrating the strength of our membership and society. We are moving in a tremendously positive direction.

We remain fiscally sound and stable in our revenue and investments. I believe that we can continue to grow at a steady rate with reorganization of our governance structure, operations, and strategic initiatives in the next several years. This will put us in an important position to reinvest in our membership, education and research initiatives.

Finally, I want to emphasize our commitment to patients. The board has recently approved a patient partner initiative, which will focus on patient membership, patient participation, and patient advocacy.

HFSA is strong and will continue to grow thanks to our focus on patients and our dedication to our mission. Thank you for all you do to support our society.

Sincerely,

Christopher O'Connor, MD, FHSA
President HFSA
@coconnormd