Washington, DC, January 20, 2022 - The voting members of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) and the AAHC (Association of Academic Health Centers) have approved a merger of their two organizations as of April 1, 2022. Under the terms of the agreement, the AAHC will become part of the AAMC.
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.
“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,” said David J. Skorton, MD, AAMC president and CEO.
“As we look forward to tackling the big challenges in health care, it is essential for the AAMC and the AAHC to engage in meaningful collaborative work. This merger will provide greater opportunities for members of the AAHC, the highest level of health system leaders, to better collaborate across all the health professions and grow a vibrant international network. I am excited to begin our work together to educate and diversify the next generation of health professionals, strengthen biomedical research, and improve health care,” said Steven L. Kanter, MD, AAHC president and CEO.
With this merger, Kanter will join the AAMC as senior advisor to the president and CEO and serve as the executive director of the Association of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI), a limited liability corporation 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 Sullivan Alliance became a central program of the AAHC in 2020.
A detailed integration plan is being developed to ensure a smooth transition of AAHC employees and the continuation of the AAHC portfolio with little disruption by the effective date of the merger.
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The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) is a nonprofit association dedicated to transforming health through medical education, health care, medical research, and community collaborations. Its members are all 155 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 teaching hospitals and health systems, including Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 70 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC leads and serves America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and the millions of individuals employed across academic medicine, including more than 186,000 full-time faculty members, 94,000 medical students, 145,000 resident physicians, and 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences. Additional information about the AAMC is available at aamc.org.
Founded in 1969, the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advances health and well-being through the dynamic leadership of academic health centers as they transform, adapt, and thrive in the changing healthcare landscape. The Association of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI) is a member-based association founded in 2008 as a subsidiary to the U.S.-based AAHC that focuses on bringing together institutions that serve the academic health center mission with a global vision of enhancing health and well-being worldwide.