Douglas Tanner, FACHE, president of Atmore Community Hospital, recently became a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders.

Tanner is now privileged to use the FACHE credential, which signifies board certification in healthcare management and ACHE Fellow status.

“The healthcare management field plays a vital role in providing high-quality care to the people in our communities, which makes having a standard of excellence promoted by a professional organization critically important,” said Deborah J. Bowen, FACHE, CAE, president and chief executive officer of ACHE. “By becoming an ACHE Fellow and earning the distinction of board certification from ACHE, healthcare leaders demonstrate a commitment to excellence in serving their patients and the community.”

Fellow status represents achievement of the highest standard of professional development. In fact, only 9,100 healthcare executives hold this distinction. To obtain fellow status, candidates must fulfill multiple requirements, including passing a comprehensive examination, meeting academic and experiential criteria, earning continuing education credits and demonstrating professional/community involvement. Fellows are also committed to ongoing professional development and undergo recertification every three years.

The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) is an international professional society of 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. ACHE’s mission is to advance our members and healthcare management excellence. ACHE offers its prestigious FACHE credential, signifying board certification in healthcare management.