The Rochester Regional Healthcare Association has officially changed their name to Pandion Optimization Alliance, with a grand unveiling at the inaugural Health Care Innovations Conference on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
Not to be confused with Rochester Regional Health, which is one of Pandion’s members, Pandion has stood under the RRHA moniker since 1926. The confusion with Rochester Regional Health stood as a prime motivator for the name change, as well as increasing growth making the moniker obsolete. Specifically, through the for-profit Seagate Alliance LLC, owner of Premier Inc., RRHA’s influence spans beyond the Rochester area to a total of 1,800 members in 30 states.
“We just feel like Pandion Optimization Alliance better defines our future and allows us to grow in many ways,” President and CEO Travis Heider said. “We’re in 30 states now, so while our roots are in Rochester, we certainly have grown beyond that in many ways, both through classes of trade and geographically as well.”
As Heider noted, Seagate’s services have spread beyond health care into veterinary care, hospitality, recreation and education, another reason why the RRHA brand no longer fits.
“With Pandion Optimization Alliance, and the three arms of our company underneath that, there’s some commonalities that bring it all together,” Heider said.
Those three arms are broken down into sourcing and purchasing, consulting and health care, education and advocacy.
“While we’re trying to make things better for all of our members and partners that exist within each of those three branches, that is the commonality we’re optimizing, we’re trying to improve,” Heider said.
The name change, while fitting the company’s projected future, raises a simple question: what in the world is a Pandion? As it turns out, it’s the genus of bird that ospreys fall into. Ospreys are birds of prey found around the globe in a range of different climates, from Alaska to the jungles of Vietnam. For Heider, the osprey represents the perfect description of what Pandion aims to be.
“The characteristics of the osprey we’re really applicable to what we do,” Heider said. “We’re very adaptable. The osprey can live on land, or live at sea. It’s proactive, it targets food in the waters, it doesn’t wait for it to come to the surface. It goes into the water with its talons and rips it out. They’re loyal, they mate for life, so, we think all of those characteristics are very applicable to us and our members and really define the brand and what we do.”
Heider didn’t specify whether ospreys enjoy ease in trademarking and branding because of their genus name, but did note that is certainly the case for RRHA as it changes to Pandion.
The full conversion to Pandion Optimization Alliance will begin Jan. 1, with no major structural changes happening at the company.
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