Dear members, future members, staff, colleagues, and patients:

I am about to begin my service as the President of the Heart Failure Society of America. This is a tremendous honor and I am most humbled by this opportunity to serve the organization that has been so impactful to the field of heart failure. As the 13th President of HFSA I believe it is important to reflect on our past and acknowledge the leaders whose vision and dedication made the HFSA great. Jay Cohn was the first President 1996 - 1998 followed by Arthur Feldman, Milton Packer, Marvin Konstam, Gary Francis, Barry Greenberg, Doug Mann, Tom Force, JoAnn Lindenfeld, Mandeep Mehra and our immediate Past-President Chris O’Connor. The HFSA has been led by 2 prior CEOs; Cheryl Yano, and Michele Blair. Michele departed from the HFSA in June 2018; we are indebted to Cheryl and Michele for their service and stewardship that has transitioned to our interim CEO John Barnes.

HFSA MISSION AND VISION

The HFSA Vision: To significantly reduce the burden of heart failure

The HFSA Mission: Provide a platform to improve and expand heart failure care through collaboration, education, innovation, research, and advocacy.

Past President Mehra led our Strategic Plan and immediate Past President O’Connor began the process to implement the strategic plan. As our executive staff has transitioned we are refocusing on our strategic plan and core initiatives and I will provide updates in the months ahead. An additional task at hand is to select a new HFSA CEO. I am indebted to Mandeep Mehra who is leading the search committee and has been charged by President O’Connor to form the committee, select an agency for recruitment, and importantly to adhere to an aggressive timeline and make a recommendation to the HFSA board. Additionally I welcome our new President-Elect Biykem Bozkurt, Treasurer Corrine Jurgens, Secretary Nancy Albert and 5 new members to the board of directors James Fang, Michael Givertz, Maria Rosa Costanzo, Gregg Fonarow, and Michael Felker.

WHY IS HFSA UNIQUE?

HFSA has been part of my life for over 20 years. As a very junior assistant Professor I got to meet and mingle with the contemporary icons of HF in a very personal way. I met many of my future mentors via the HFSA. The opportunity to deliver a Hyde Park presentation with Milton Packer and Carl Leier chairing was a thrilling experience. Being asked to lecture at an annual scientific session was an honor and provided numerous opportunities for networking and professional growth. The virtues of a meeting with 2,000 attendees versus 20,000 cannot be overlooked as each attendee has opportunities to meet, greet, interact, socialize and develop friendships with peers and senior members. Anyone with a career focus on Heart Failure will be welcome at HFSA and encouraged to participate be a “teacher” and a “student” as we all will learn from each other best practices, new ideas, and opportunities to work together in ways to help each member individually and the society as a whole. Heart Failure is the best example in medicine of bringing together all multi-disciplinary specialists to form a team with a common goal to treat the patient with HF. Please consider the unique HFSA attributes; I will guarantee that your active engagement and participation will enhance your individual success and the overall success of the HFSA. Early careers members are the life-blood of a vibrant HFSA. Future leaders today will be the mentors and leaders for tomorrow.

THE HF PATIENT; PART OF THE HFSA TEAM

“Listen to your patient; he (she) is telling you the diagnosis.” 

“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”  

Sir William Osler

The HFSA has a patient member on our board. We are examining new avenues for patient involvement and engagement to enhance HFSA and provide opportunities for caregivers to educate patients and empower patients to be members of the “team.”

MY COMPASS FOR THE FUTURE

I want to leave you with these statements that will be our guideposts for 2018-2019.

• We will strive for parity and diversity in the membership and leadership with multi-disciplinary representation at all levels of HFSA
• All stakeholders will have a voice and will influence our decisions and we need to learn all perspectives
• We will maintain financial stability while maximizing our potential for growth and new initiatives
• We will expand our reach globally and seek key collaborations with heart failure societies so we will each synergize while maintaining our independence
• We will increasingly focus on the patient and seek their representation and engagement
• We will continue to enhance our staff/leadership/membership communications

Heart failure is an exciting and evolving discipline. The field is exploding in many ways and HFSA will seek to be encompassing, collaborative and to lead the way for our members and future membership.

“Please open your Twitter account! Follow @HFSA and @JCardFail (JCF’s new Twitter account), and receive updates and join the dialogue. Don’t miss out on the latest news!” I encourage your active participation to enrich and shape the future of the HFSA.

I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Please contact me at any time.

Best regards,

Randall C. Starling, MD, MPH, FHFSA

HFSA President

Twitter: @rcstarling