Elkridge, Md. - The Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) has named Melony G. Griffith as its new President & CEO.
“This position is an extension of Melony’s life work as a problem-solver, organizer, and community health advocate,” notes
Thomas Kleinhanzl, MHA Board of Trustees Chair. “As a state lawmaker for over 24 years, Senator Griffith has built a stellar
reputation, relationships, and policy knowledge that will advance our Association and our hospitals through the coming years. She is a collaborator who brings together competing ideas and needs, finds consensus, and builds the best solutions for our communities and our state.”
Currently serving as the Chair the Maryland Senate Finance Committee, Senator Griffith has held myriad roles with progressive responsibility within the Maryland legislature including President Pro Tempore, chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee’s Health & Human Services Subcommittee, leader of the Senate President’s eight-member bipartisan Work Group on Equity and Inclusion, chair of the Special Joint Committee on Pensions, co-chair of the Senate Pensions Subcommittee, vice-chair of the Capital Budget Subcommittee, and chair of the House Oversight Committee on Pensions.
In addition to her vast knowledge and experience from the Maryland General Assembly, the Senator previously served as vice president for external and government affairs of the Greater Baden Medical Services (a Federally Qualified Health Center); as program director at the Prince George’s County Health Department; as deputy director for the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council; as a licensed clinical social worker; and as a hospital discharge planner and project coordinator for the National Basketball Players Association Health Education Project at Johns Hopkins University.
Senator Griffith says, “I am excited for this unique opportunity to continue supporting worldclass health care access and delivery in Maryland. My aim is to improve quality and services for every Marylander while showing the state how hospitals help patients and meet their communities’ needs.”
The Senator is the recipient of many accolades and awards including the Health Care for All Leadership Award, the Maryland Health Care for All Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Courageous Leadership Award, the Maryland Hospital Association Outstanding Legislator Award, the Howard University School of Social Work Inabel Burns Lindsay Social Work Education Leadership Award, the Maryland Public Health Association Michaeline R. Fedder Legislator of the Year Award, and the Arc Legislator of the Year Award among others. She has also been named to The Daily Record Power Government and Lobbying List. She is an honorary board member for the Open My Heart Foundation and a former member of Non-Profit Prince George’s.
Senator Griffith has a Master of Social Work from Howard University and successfully completed the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute Community Health Leadership Program.
Senator Griffith is MHA’s fifth-ever President & CEO and the first Black woman to hold this role in the Association’s 54-year history. She will officially begin at MHA on Dec. 18, 2023.
To interview MHA Board of Trustees Chair Thomas Kleinhanzl or Senator Griffith, contact MHA at agoodwin@mhaonline.org.
About the Maryland Hospital Association
The Maryland Hospital Association serves Maryland’s 62 nonprofit hospitals and health systems through collective action to shape policies, practices, financing, and performance to advance health care and the health of all Marylanders. For more information, visit www.mhaonline.org.