Albers to step down as AAHA leader at year's end

Denver

-- After 23 years as leader of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Dr. John Albers announced today that he will resign his position as executive director effective Dec. 31.

Albers has served more than two decades in the position and sees it as a good time to leave, according to AAHA.

“He feels the association is heading in the right direction,” says AAHA spokesperson Jason Merrihew.

“With upcoming initiatives like the accreditation awareness campaign already under way, it's a good opportunity for a new executive director to step in.”

Albers' lengthy AAHA career includes work on the organization's hospital standards, establishment of the National Commission on Veterinary Economic Issues (NCVEI) and the AAHA studies on compliance. He served on the 10-person panel that wrote “Future Directions of Veterinary Medicine,” today known as the Pew Report. Albers will continue to serve on the board of directors of NCVEI and as a past president and hospital director alumnus of AAHA, and will announce even more plans in the veterinary arena in the coming months, according to Merrihew.

In a written statement, current AAHA president Dr. John Tait applauded Albers for leading AAHA to "a position of immeasurable respect and leadership within the profession.”

“Dr. Albers is confident in the current AAHA staff and board of directors,” Merrihew said. The board is appointing a search committee to find Albers' replacement.

“We're definitely going to miss him,” Merrihew said.