According to a Jan. 20 press release from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the voting members of the AAMC and the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) approved a merger of the two organizations as of April 1, 2022.
The release states that “Under the terms of the agreement, the AAHC will become part of the AAMC.”
Further, “The leaders of both organizations expressed enthusiasm about the merger, which was overwhelmingly approved by both organizations. The AAMC’s voting members comprise the 153 non-profit schools of medicine; the AAHC’s voting members are their domestic institutional members.”
David J. Skorton, MD, AAMC president and CEO was quoted in the release saying that “Academic medicine is evolving rapidly, especially during this time of pandemic. This merger will enable the academic medicine community to amplify our efforts to improve the health of people everywhere through our new strategic plan and speak out even more strongly with one voice in support of the patients, families, and communities we serve.”
Steven L. Kanter, M.D., AAHC president and CEO, will join the AAMC as senior advisor to president and CEO and serve as the executive director of the Association of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI), that the AAMC will acquire.
“The merger also includes the AAHC’s Sullivan Alliance, which aims to strengthen the capacity and quality of the nation’s health workforce by increasing diversity in every area of health care and across all aspects of academic health centers,” the release continues. “The Sullivan Alliance became a central program of the AAHC in 2020.”
A plan on how the two organizations will integrate is being developed to transition AAHC employees and the continuation of the AAHC portfolio with minimal interruption by the merger date.
