Will Ferniany, PhD, CEO of UAB Health System, has been named chairman-elect of the Alabama Hospital Association (AlaHA) and Tom Shufflebarger, COO of Children's of Alabama, was elected to the AlaHA Board as a representative of Birmingham-area hospitals.

Ferniany became CEO of the UAB Health System in September 2008. A senior leader in health care since 1975 and in academic medicine since 1988, Ferniany came to UAB from his position as associate vice chancellor and CEO of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, having previously held key leadership positions at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and at UAB.

Shufflebarger is an honors graduate of Duke University, having earned undergraduate and MBA degrees there, and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. He has served on the Boards of The Lakeshore Foundation, Magic Moments, The American Red Cross, and Riverchase United Methodist Church.