The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care elected a new board for the next year.
Meena Desai, MD, was elected chair of the board of directors. Dr. Desai is a board-certified anesthesiologist and managing partner for Nova Anesthesia Professionals in Villanova, Pa. She is also the president of the Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia.
Additional board members were elected as follows:
1. Kenneth M. Sadler, DDS: vice chair
2. Arnaldo Valedon, MD: treasurer
3. Ira Cheifetz, DMD: secretary
Dr. Sadler is the president of Winston-Salem (N.C.) Dental Care and the current president of the American Academy of Dental Group Practice and past president of the NC State Board of Dental Examiners.
Dr. Valedon is a board-certified anesthesiologist and vice president and chief of the ambulatory surgery division of First Colonies Anesthesia Associates in Rockville, Md. He is a board member of Acreditas Global, AAAHC's international accreditation body. He has been a leader of the American Surgery Center Association and Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia.
Dr. Cheifetz is a retired diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He is past chief of the oral and maxillofacial surgery division at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, N.J. He is on the board of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation and has been an AAAHC surveyor since 2012.