The AAHC leads by educating policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public about the value and contributions of the academic health center enterprise to the nation.  Academic health centers:

• Are vital to the national interest;
• Are engines of the 21st century knowledge economy;
• Are leaders in research and technology;
• Are the essential core of the health system;
• Invest in people;
• Promote the integration of ideas and services across multiple sectors of the economy; and
• Foster collaboration with the public and private sectors.

AAHC’s goals are to:

• Strengthen the voice of the academic health center enterprise in government as well as in private sectors;
• Increase attention to academic health centers as leaders of change with the expertise and willingness to take a principal role in finding solutions to critical national health issues;
• Advance the academic health center enterprise as an engine of the 21st century knowledge economy and as a critical pillar of the nation’s infrastructure in health, science, and higher education;
• Promote collaboration and new initiatives among academic health centers to provide examples of quality and high performance in all aspects of patient care, biomedical research, and health professions education;
• Educate and work with policymakers to contribute academic health center expertise in reshaping the domestic policy agenda;
• Promote informed debate on issues concerning the nation’s health and well-being; and
• Enhance the nation’s investment in the academic health center enterprise and the supporting infrastructure that is so vital to the nation’s health and economic well-being.