FROM THE Chief Executive Officer

2020 was an unprecedented year. We faced a global pandemic, waves of social change, a devastating number of wildfires and hurricanes and a fully charged presidential election, to name a few. While last year brought a number of challenges, it also brought a year of innovative thinking and lessons learned that will forever shape how we live life and strategize for the future.

In December 2019, COVID-19 hit us without warning. What started out as an isolated outbreak of a respiratory illness rapidly led to a public health emergency of international concern in January 2020 before being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March. While the pandemic has changed the way we live and view the world we live in, it has provided a new lens through which to view how health care is delivered and what is possible to achieve. From re-engineering hospital environments to resilience planning to supporting healthier and happier populations, the pandemic has afforded us the flexibility of remaining nimble and being able to quickly shift our priorities or standard way of doing business to meet the needs of others.

Never would we have imagined our 2020 Annual Meeting would have been cancelled. However, in a short amount of time we were able to pivot from an in-person meeting and deliver a first-class event through a fully virtual environment. This shift presented several digital and technical challenges we hadn't faced before, but in the end it was the agility of our leadership, members and staff who made the virtual event a success.

COVID-19 completely shook up health care operations, including emptying outpatient departments and doctors' waiting rooms and virtualizing many activities overnight. Many patients were too scared to seek care in-person, and providers needed to determine a viable solution to seeing patients while also keeping them safe. Both of these were the necessary forces for overcoming any reservations about telehealth, and in a matter of weeks telemedicine went from a little-used novelty to a primary way for seeing and reaching patients. It even proved successful in reaching patients in underserved populations or communities. Based on a recent survey of members, 73% said they plan to use more telemedicine in the future because of COVID-19. To ensure this remains a viable option the AUA continues its advocacy efforts to maintain the current flexibility of telehealth.

Events throughout 2020 sparked the need for stronger diversity and inclusion efforts. As part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion within the urology community, the AUA recently announced the creation of an AUA Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, chaired by Dr. Tracy Downs. Additionally, the Urology Care Foundation added 2 new Research Scholar Awards for 2021 that focus on diversity and the inclusion of women and underrepresented minorities in urological research. The Foundation has also created several Humanitarian Grant Endowments focused on Diversity and Inclusion. Respecting, embracing and celebrating diversity is integral to the AUA's DNA.

The AUA will continue to navigate its challenges while remaining flexible, nimble and patient. We want to thank our members for their patience as we develop solutions for difficulties we are facing for the first time. 2020 has taught us many valuable lessons, and we will continue to apply these lessons as we enter 2021.