Spotlight on Joy: A Conversation with Elisa Arespacochaga, MBA

Group Vice President, Clinical Affairs and Workforce

American Hospital Association

A Systemic Change

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what brought you to physician/APP well-being.

As group vice president for workforce and clinical affairs at the American Hospital Association, I’ve had the privilege of leading the association’s early work on well-being through the AHA’s physician outreach efforts. Physicians were raising concerns about burnout and the implications for themselves, their colleagues and their patients, prompting me to get my hands on anything I could read about the subject. As a member organization for America’s hospitals and health systems, we wanted to understand how the organization and its infrastructure could support well-being across the institution, for all team members.

The Legend of Don Juan

Has there been a figure or experience in your life that compelled you to become a part of the well-being conversation?

My entire life I heard stories about my grandfather, a small-town doctor in 1930s rural Spain who carried little more than compassion in his black bag. His ability to care for his community was as much diplomacy to eradicate mosquito breeding spots as it was delivering babies. But the care he had for his community, and they for him, always stood out.

I had a chance to visit the town with my father (who was a carbon copy of his own father) in the late 1980s, nearly 50 years after my grandfather died. As we stopped to get water in the grocery, the man behind the counter looked up at my dad, and with a bit of a tremor in his voice he said, “Aqui los hijos de Don Juan no pagan.” (Here the sons of Don Juan don’t pay.)

That connection to his community, 50 years later made me realize, that while I wasn’t going to follow directly in his footsteps and become a clinician, anything I could do to support the mission, compassion, and deep connection to patients, that is how I would contribute.

A Good Luck CHARM

What is one project or initiative you’ve been a part of that has made a positive impact in your healthcare circles? What were some of the challenges you had to overcome?

The AHA partnered with a group of chief wellness officers (CWOs) belonging to the CHARM (Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine) chief wellness officers network to help leaders, whether they be new CWOs or other leaders tasked with addressing health care organizational well-being, navigate where their organization currently is and how to effectively take next steps.

I had the privilege to work on this project and interview a number of chief well-being officers  to understand how they do their jobs and what allowed for their success. Both codifying successful practices and getting to hear how each approached their work within the context of their health system highlighted for me the importance of leading by influence and the skills needed to encourage a whole c-suite of colleagues that the work you are so passionate about is essential to them as well.

Watch Elisa's webinar on this project here.

Staying Consistent

What sentiment would you like to leave for those looking to enter the conversation on well-being?

Well-being isn’t one effort. It isn’t one event or one pilot, it is about engaging with the team, learning what those closest to the problems think about potential solutions and bringing that kindness and compassion of healing not just to our patients but to the colleagues we work alongside every day.

Thank you to Elisa Arespacochaga, MBA for participating in the Spotlight on Joy series! Elisa is an active Board Member of the Coalition for Physician & APP Well-Being as of April 2026. Elisa also serves as the Chair of the Coalition's Research and Development Committee.