NEW ORLEANS, LA (September 19, 2014) — Healthcare Credit Union Association (HCUA) sponsored its 8th annual education conference in New Orleans during the third week of September. HCUA is an organization of credit unions that serve employees (and their families) and volunteers of all types of healthcare industry operations. 32 credit union executives and board members from 24 credit unions attended the conference to share ideas, experiences, and innovations with their healthcare credit union peers.
Steve Gilliland was this year’s keynote speaker, presenting a lively conversation, “Leveraging the Challenges of Change.” Steve takes a unique look at how change influences people, leaving participants with ideas for boosting morale and creating a purposeful mental outlook in the midst of far-reaching changes, strategies and tactics certain to minimize workplace disruptions, and techniques for harnessing the power of emotions to leverage the challenges of change.
Troy Bond, Vice President of Human Resources for Interim LSU Hospital and the new 444-bed University Medical Center set to open in mid-2015, presented a dynamic discussion on the issues facing HR departments in healthcare facilities and how they affect current and potential credit union members, offering insights into how we can reach, recruit, and retain healthcare workers and help them achieve their financial goals.
Holly Buchanan discussed Selling Financial Services to Women, coaching participants on different buying processes, questions, and communication styles displayed by women vs. men; and how understanding these differences can increase the credit unions’ sales successes dramatically while providing a huge competitive advantage.
High Performing Credit Unions, by Dr. Randy Thompson, demonstrated processes that focus on the financial analysis required to accomplish strategic goals. As an added bonus, Dr. Thompson completed a complementary analysis for all HCUA member credit unions attending the conference.
“There's never been a more important time for us tounite, to collaborate, to learn from each other, to share ideas and to develop business relationships to help us grow our credit unions, serve our members and stay relevant,” said Charlie Collura, HCUA board chair and CEO of Healthcare and Municipal Employees’ Credit Union in Ontario, Canada.
The current Board of Directors includes Chairman Charlie Collura; Vice Chair Benita Harp, COO of Life Credit Union; Secretary Linda White, CEO of United Health Credit Union; Treasurer Todd Nelson, SVP of HealthCare Associates Credit Union; and director at large John Saatela, SVP of Financial Partners Credit Union. Executive Director of HCUA is Sherry Essmann, former CEO of Montana Health Federal Credit Union.
Founded in 2005, Healthcare Credit Union Association promotes the growth, viability and unity of healthcare credit unions and is a source of information on banking and financial services issues and trends unique to credit unions serving the healthcare industry. With 10 new member credit unions in 2014, HCUA has 45 member credit unions in 18 states and one Canadian province. In addition to the annual conference, members also access an active list serve and a Members Only forum on the HCUA.org website.
For more information or to contact HCUA, visit www.HCUA.org.