Tailor resources to community's health agenda. Interview by Frank Sabatino

D. Kirk Oglesby, Jr., president of Anderson (SC) Memorial Hospital, is the new chairman-elect designate of the American Hospital Association. Oglesby says that a number of key policy issues will be discussed during his tenure, but one of the most important will be determining the appropriate way to be a key player in reshaping the country's health care delivery system. The role of the community hospital is also of interest to Oglesby. He sees these institutions as vital players in providing the total health care agenda for the people they serve. This will take commitment, he says, as well as a forward-looking and flexible attitude that allows hospitals to modify services as the community dictates. Oglesby currently serves as an AHA commissioner on the Committee of Commissioners to the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) at a time when this organization has come under considerable criticism from the hospital field. As part of his interview with Hospitals, he was asked how responsive he feels the JCAHO has been to concerns from the field and his vision of the importance of the JCAHO to the future of health care.