Jack Jaeger, MSN Ed, FSSH, CHSE, CCRN
Executive Director, Rural Health Innovation Collaborative
Nomination Form SSH Board of Directors–At-Large SeatNominee StatementPlease describe why you are interested in this position, the specific skills and experiences you will bring to the role, and your overall vision for the Society over the next 3 years (500 words or less). The statement should be addressed to the SSH membership and will be posted as written on the SSH website if slated for elections. Dear SSH Members, I am honored to stand for an At-Large seat on the SSH Board of Directors. For nearly fifteen years, SSH has been the professional home where my work in rural simulation, accreditation, and international standardization has been challenged, refined, and amplified. I am asking for your vote because I believe the Society now stands at an inflection point that benefits from leaders who have built programs from scratch, governed national councils, and stewarded SSH initiatives on a global stage.
My SSH service has been continuous and operational. As the most recent Chair of the SSH Accreditation Council (2023–2025) and now Immediate Past Chair, I led monthly Council meetings, oversaw the Program Reviewer, Quality, and Risk subcommittees, and devoted 10–15 hours weekly to Society business. I led two revisions of the SSH Accreditation Standards, chaired the Companion Documents revision, and introduced competency-based training and evaluation for Program Reviewers and Team Leads. Since 2016, I have personally reviewed more than fifty simulation programs across seven countries as a Lead Site Reviewer. In 2024, I led the Society in establishing the Commission for International Simulation Accreditation (CISA)–work recognized with an SSH Presidential Citation–and I was elected Fellow in the SSH Academy in 2025.
I bring three things this Board needs. First, executive leadership of a complex, multi-stakeholder organization: I founded and lead a nine-partner 501(c)(3) consortium with eleven staff that trains roughly 15,000 learners annually across 62health disciplines, and that became the first SSH-accredited program in Indiana. Second, fluency with rural, underserved, and resource-limited contexts: much of my career has been spent extending simulation to 38 rural and critical access hospitals, securing $1.3M in state and federal investment, and translating best practice into settings where budgets and staffing are tightest. Third, a global perspective on standardization: through CISA, I am actively building pilot accrediting bodies with simulation societies in Mexico, Canada, and Pan-Asia, with additional discussions underway in South America, the Pacific Rim, and Europe.
Over the next three years, I will work toward an SSH that is financially resilient, globally connected, and unambiguously useful to its members–including the smallest centers and the newest professionals. Specifically, I will advocate for: (1)sustainedinvestment in accreditation, certification, and fellowship as the Society’s quality backbone; (2) deliberategrowth pathways for international members and affiliated societies through CISA and partnered programs; (3) practical, scalable resources for rural and community-based simulation centers so that excellence is not gated by zip code orbudget; and (4) intentional mentorship and leadership pipelines so that the next decade of SSH leaders reflects the fulldiversity of our membership.
I would be privileged to bring an operator’s discipline, an accreditor’s rigor, and a rural educator’s heart to your Board.