Rural Health Leadership Radio™: Recent Episodes
Dr. Bill Auxier
Over the last ten years, over 100 rural hospitals have closed their doors. Roughly one in three rural hospitals have been identified as “at risk.” If there was ever a need for strong leadership, that time is now. RHLR’s mission is to provide a forum to have conversations with rural health leaders to discuss and share ideas about what is working, what is not working, lessons learned, success stories, strategies, things to avoid and anything else you want to talk and hear about. RHLR provides a voice for rural health. The only investment is your time, and our goal is to make sure you receive a huge return on your investment. For more information, visit www.rhlradio.com or e-mail bill@billauxier.com.
Learn about Jenna's Capstone Project as she graduates with her Masters in Public Health degree, and the work she will be doing as she joins CRHL full-time following the completion of her internship.
Learn how Samantha VanSchoik, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Corporation for Independent Living (CIL), explores the potential development of community housing options in rural communities for individuals with IDD, mental health, recovery, or ABI issues.
The visit CIL's website, go to: https://www.cil.org/
To reach Samantha, email her at svanschoick@cil.org.
Learn about how Zachary D'Argonne and the EPHC are making a difference in rural healthcare!
EPHC is a collaboration of rural hospitals working together to provide excellent healthcare services for the rural communities on the Eastern Plains of Colorado and surrounding areas, while increasing the sustainability of its members.
Learn about how Jessica and Sarah are making a difference in rural healthcare.
Humla Health focuses on reimagining nurse staffing for a sustainable and healthy future, utilizing their tech platform to streamline staffing and scheduling, connecting healthcare facilities with credentialed W-2 nurses.
Stratis Health uses leading-edge methodologies to deliver data-driven insights and evidence-informed and culturally relevant interventions that inspire and enable organizations and communities to achieve solutions to their most complex and diverse health improvement challenges.
Guests: Janice Walters, Candice Talkington, and Steven Davis from the Rural Health Redesign Center (RHRC) Learn about how the RHRC is working to help rural communities across the nation THRIVE through healthcare reform and community-based strategies to maintain and improve access to care. Join us live to hear their stories, ask questions, and learn.
Rural Health Leadership Radio LIVE! Our first episode back on the air - listen to our conversation with Angie Wilson and Justin Perkins from Texas A&M's Rural Engagement Program (REP). Hear about the work they are doing with rural hospitals across Texas, upcoming events and educational opportunities, and more!
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we announce our final episode after eight fantastic years on the air! We have a one last conversation honoring RHLR by sharing reflections, insights, and stories about the podcast’s origins and journey. We share the most listened-to episodes from the past eight years, the growth that RHLR has seen, and celebrate all the amazing guests and support we have received along the way. As always, we talk about the future of rural healthcare, the importance of resilience, and the power of using one’s voice to make a difference.
“Use your voice. Don't be afraid to speak up. I don't care what your role is, what your title is, what your self-confidence is. Use your voice and speak up, and you, too can make a difference.”
– Dr. Bill Auxier
Bill is the President & CEO of the Center for Rural Health Leadership, responsible for NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification programs for CEOs, CNOs, CFOs, CMOs, HR Directors, Board Trustees, and a program for rural health nurses. Bill is also the founder of Rural Health Leadership Radio, a 501(c)3 non-profit and podcast.
Bill assists rural health leaders develop and understand their personal definition of leadership for greater personal and organizational success by utilizing what he has learned about leadership in the real world combined with what he has learned about leadership in the academic world. Bill’s mission is to improve rural America by engaging rural health leaders in conversations for greater learning, greater effectiveness, greater health equity, and greater well-being in rural communities.
Sydney Grant is the Director of Programming/Operations for the Center for Rural Health Leadership, responsible for NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs. She is also the Chief Operations Officer for AUXIER Group, which offers coaching, cultural transformation, and other rural health professional development opportunities.
Sydney received her Bachelor of Science from Florida State University and her Master of Healthcare Administration from the University of South Florida. Sydney started her journey in rural healthcare as an intern for Dr. Auxier’s Rural Health Leadership Radio podcast in 2019 and became co-host in 2022. Sydney’s goal is to help provide the tools, networks, and resources to rural health leaders across the country to help develop strong leadership and bridge the isolation gap of rural healthcare.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are wrapping up our series on NRHA’s 2023 Fellows Program Policy Papers with Fellows Michelle Fortune and Abby Radcliffe. Michelle and Abby explored one of the hottest topics in healthcare, particularly impactful in rural – healthcare workforce shortages. The Fellows share short and long-term strategies in handling workforce shortages, as well as pragmatic and policy-based recommendations.
“Everybody in every community can take some action in some way, and it doesn't have to be looking for that gigantic next step. The big is in the little, so do something.”
– Michelle Fortune
Michelle Fortune, MBA, BSN, FACHE is the President of Surgery and GI Service Line for Mercy Health in St Louis, MO. Prior to joining Mercy, Michelle led the Perioperative and Anesthesia Service Lines for Atrium Health and then served as a CEO for a Critical Access Hospital managed by the system which needed an operational turnaround. Michelle is a Certified Ambulatory PeriAnesthesia Nurse and a National Rural Health Fellow. She is currently participating in the NRHA Rural CEO Certification Program. Michelle has a passion for assuring the availability of high quality healthcare in rural communities. Her work in Rural Healthcare has brought her numerous honors, including being named the 2023 Rural Community Champion of the year by the North Carolina Rural Health Association for her work in advancing Cardiac Care in Rural North Carolina.
Abby Radcliffe currently serves as the Senior Director of the Small and Rural Hospital Constituency Section at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA). She has worked with rural hospitals at IHA for over 17 years and has worked on several grant initiatives. In 2023, she served as a National Rural Health Association fellow and was also awarded the Rural Health Hero Award from the National Center for Rural Health Professions.
Abby graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a major in Speech Communication and a double minor in Business Administration and Public Relations. In 2005 she graduated from Miami University with an MA in Speech Communication. Abby has also worked in state government and development.
On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we talk to a physician who came out of retirement to rekindle his passion for rural healthcare at a critical access hospital in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Dr. David Alcindor shares his incredible journey, from his childhood in France to his volunteer work in rural nations across the world, as well as the U.S. as a traveling ED physician. David is Chief of Staff at South Lincoln Hospital District and practices in Emergency Medicine and Med-Surg.
“It’s a small system, you could to the CEO, CFO, COO, CNO in the same hallway – or you could visit them in their homes…everything is approachable, everything is scalable.”
– Dr. David Alcindor
David grew up in Paris, France, and moved to the U.S. to start studies focused on helping disadvantaged persons, first by obtaining a degree in architecture and pursing research in housing for the poor. Construction research in a developing Caribbean nation led David to cross paths with rural medical volunteers. In joining them, he discovered that medicine had far greater impact in addressing not just poor living standards but impacting the health of each individual.
After completing medical school, David volunteered in the US Air Force as a medical officer, served on the war front and returned to civilian life to focus exclusively on the health of land laborers (miners, farmers and ranchers) in remote, rural America. After nearly 20 years of being a traveling rural ED physician across the U.S., David and his wife decided to settle in Kemmerer, Wyoming. David first traveled to work in Kemmerer at SLHD emergency department in February 2022. He has since joined the hospital's executive leadership team on a full-time basis with a plan to gradually assume various departmental directorships.
This week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio continues our series of exploring the Policy Papers of NRHA’s 2023 Rural Health Fellows. In this conversation, we talk to Lex Pierre and Jeff Dunbar who researched the intricacies of long-term care in rural healthcare. The pair broke their paper down into financing, staffing, and regulations to uncover the importance, possibilities, and difficulties of supporting long-term care in rural areas.
“Bringing awareness is the main thing and it's great that we have all these different avenues and different ways of doing it..”
– Lex Pierre
Jeff has been in the healthcare field for nearly 30 years in a range of roles from Sales to HR in pharmaceuticals, medical device, dental, fitness, and telemedicine. Currently and for the last 15 years he’s been running a telemedicine company providing physician services to rural and critical access hospitals. He derives great satisfaction providing access through technology to critical care specialists, hospitalists, infectious disease, and cardiology physicians that aren’t available to patients locally. He lives in N.CA wine country with his wife, three daughters, and golden retriever. When not working he’s usually on a bicycle in the mountains or on a country road.
As Director of Dentistry for Chambers Health, Lex is responsible for overseeing all operations within the dental department. He has been committed to providing superior dental care to underserved areas since graduating from dental school. His focus remains on addressing rural oral health disparities by increasing and promoting oral health access. Lex earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama State University and his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry. He is currently pursuing fellowships within the Academy of General Dentistry and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Lex travels nationally to attend the best continued educations to stay up to date with all the innovation within the dental field.
Continuing our series on NRHA’s 2023 Fellows and Policy Papers, this week we’re talking to another group of Fellows that explored pediatric vaccination rates in rural America. Nitika Moibi, Andrea Stephenson, and Cynthia Calixte each touch on the current state of pediatric vaccination rates from the unique perspectives of a provider, through the lens of data, workforce and access, as well as community trust. The Fellows share personal experiences, historical data and information, as well as the importance of increasing these rates and tactics to make a difference.
“If you don’t have trust in your healthcare provider, then progress can't be made and you're not going to get the good care that you deserve. So please advocate for that and find a healthcare provider that you trust and can have these conversations with.”
– Dr. Cynthia Calixte
Cynthia Calixte, MD, MPH serves the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland as a Family Physician and the Physician Deputy for Wicomico County and Somerset County Health Departments. She works part-time at Menocal Family Practice in Salisbury, Maryland. Dr. Calixte graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical College in Brooklyn, NY, and completed her residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. After residency, she obtained her Masters in Public Health from CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy in New York. As a provider, she addresses the health inequities in her community. She also understands the importance of preventive care and health education. She is committed to educating her rural community on healthy lifestyle and chronic disease management.
Andrea Stephenson-Royster, MBA, MHA is the Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Okeechobee Rural Health Network (LORHN), one of nine rural health networks established by the Florida state legislature. Mrs. Stephenson-Royster is committed to the residents, providers, and community partners that form the rural communities around Lake Okeechobee. She has developed a solid knowledge base of issues and trends in healthcare and human services during her 20 years in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and has served on community committees and the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations in the fields of aging, health care, child welfare, community partnerships, and mental health.
Nitika Moibi works for the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. She oversees statewide collection and analysis of data on Minnesota’s healthcare workforce and directs research on workforce availability, distribution and emerging trends to inform workforce policies and investments. Her background includes health services research and rulemaking. Nitika received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Human Resource Management from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and her graduate degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we kick off a series focused on NRHA’s 2023 Rural Health Fellows and their policy papers. The first group we chatted with includes Lisa Rantz, Kevin Lambing, and Dr. Carrie Shaver who had the task of examining Medicare Advantage. In our conversation we discuss the intricacies, impacts, as well as personal experiences that the Fellows uncovered in their research.
“Get involved and advocate and educate on these issues. It will require all of us working together to create the change in policy and funding mechanisms that we need to ensure that our rural Healthcare is supported and continues to be strong.”
– Dr. Carrie Shaver
Kevin Lambing serves as the Senior Program Officer for Health at the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. In this role, he helps ensure East Texas children, adults, and families are healthy and have access to quality healthcare. He organizes and convenes stakeholders and develops community partnerships with potential health related grantees in East Texas, consisting of 22 rural counties and one primarily urban county, Harris County and Miller County, Arkansas (Texarkana area). In addition, he monitors federal and state legislation related to health with intentions for future gaps in funding health resources in rural East Texas.
Kevin’s 30-plus-year career in the Air Force culminated in his service as the Senior Advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General. In this role he defined, shaped, and executed health care policy in support of 45,000 personnel at 75 medical treatment facilities around the globe, ensuring a cost effective, patient-centered, and prevention-based healthcare continuum for 2.6M beneficiaries. He earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from the Community College of the Air Force, Bachelor of Science degree from Wayland Baptist University, a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Webster University and is a 2023 National Rural Health Association Fellow. He is married to his wife Sheliea and they have 2 children, Noah and Lydia.
Lisa Rantz is the Executive Director of Hilo Medical Center Foundation which serves as the Hawaii Island Area Health Education Center, focusing on health career recruitment from K-12 to graduate medical education. She is the President of the Hawaii State Rural Health Association and in 2023 joined the National Rural Health Association Board of Trustees. Lisa is a 2023 NRHA Fellow and has over fifteen years of experience in facilitation and focus groups in education and health care, Lisa has developed impactful programs to address rural health challenges and advocate for community needs. Her accolades include the 2020 Small Business Advocate of the Year, the 2021 Peacemaker Award, the 2022Athena Leadership Award, the 2023 Community Star recognition for Hawaii, and the 2024 NRHA Volunteer of the Year award.
Dr. Shaver is an Assistant Professor of Health Management and Leadership at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and a founding member of the New Mexico Rural Health Association. Dr. Shaver has a strong background in the social service sector and has experience administering disease prevention, treatment, and health and wellness programs. She endeavors to bridge gaps between traditional silos in healthcare and foster collaboration among healthcare professionals through Systems Thinking. By embracing this holistic framework, she aims to contribute to the development of sustainable, inclusive, and equitable healthcare systems. Dr. Shaver’s research centers around understanding and addressing the unique healthcare challenges faced by rural and frontier communities along the United States-Mexico border and countries within Latin America and the Caribbean.
Medical residency in a rural area is one of the key influencing factors for providers to stay and continue practicing in a rural area. This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking to Yoana Cruz, Clerkship and Sub-Internship Coordinator in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. We talk with Yoana about the growing need for more providers in rural healthcare, and how she is bringing awareness to the need with up-and-coming medical students and working to connect those students with rural residencies.
“Although I may not be the person that gives direct care for patients, I hope to encourage medical professionals at an early stage of their career to provide the best quality care for patients.”
– Yoana Cruz
Born and raised in southwest Kansas, Yoana Cruz grew up in a welcoming community, full of hard-working immigrant families from more than thirty countries. Despite its rich heritage and tolerant culture, this agrarian city has many health disparities due to its growing number of immigrants and political refugees. The regional healthcare delivery system is slow to react to the complex medical and social needs of these diverse groups. Yoana’s own experiences with barriers to utilizing the healthcare delivery system as a child of immigrants have informed her perspective on health equity and motivated her to pursue mission-driven work in healthcare administration.
Yoana has 6+ years of project planning experience in the healthcare setting while previously working at Kearny County Hospital, Cerner Corporation, and now at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is a 1st generation academic student where she received her BBA from Fort Hays State University and recently graduated in May 2024 in her Master of Health Services Administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center. In her spare time, she holds professional development workshops for undergraduate students pursuing business or healthcare-related careers.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking to Karen Brown, Revenue Cycle Director at Mountrail County Medical Center. Karen shares the intricacies of revenue cycle, particularly in rural hospitals, and how revenue cycle professionals can work to maximize their efforts. Karen also shares the work she does coaching her staff on revenue cycle matters and offers advice for other rural healthcare financial leaders dealing with similar challenges.
“In rural hospitals, we wear so many hats that sometimes you could have one on and walk through the door and it has to change. Just give yourself some grace…”
– Karen Brown
Karen Brown is currently the Revenue Cycle Director for Mountrail County Medical Center. She is originally from Chicago and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. Karen enjoys bowling, golfing, and working puzzles.
On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we talk to Nick Derusha, Director and Health Officer of the LMAS District Health Department in Newberry, Michigan. Nick gives us a glimpse into what life was like for a rural district health department before, during, and after the pandemic and tells us about the lessons learned from that journey. Nick also shares the impact and importance of leadership development and growth for his organization’s culture, community, and leadership team.
“Your organization will become a reflection of you….So I would leave people with that insight, and also treat your employees well and take care of your communities.”
-Nick Derusha
I was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and I am married with four daughters. I enjoy hunting, fishing, football, hockey, and spending time with my family. I am a Registered Environmental Health Specialist, have a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Health from Ferris State University, Graduate Certificate in the Foundations of Public Health from the University of Michigan and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Northern Michigan University. I have been the Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft District Health Department (LMAS) Director and Health Officer since 2009. I was President of the Michigan Association of Local Public Health 2020-2022, I am Treasurer of the Helen Newberry Joy Hospital Bandmember the Michigan Center for Rural Health Board of Directors, Co-Chair of the Michigan Local Public Health Accreditation Commission and appointed to the Michigan Public Health Advisory Council.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are happy to welcome Norberto Orellana, the Public Relations Lead at Campbell County Health in Gillette, Wyoming. Norberto shares his inspiring journey from overcoming personal challenges, including cerebral palsy and homelessness, to influencing rural healthcare through public relations. The episode highlights Norberto’s approach to leadership, which focuses on empowerment and utilizing personal narratives to inspire change and build trust within the community.
“A large part of public relations is getting that message out there. Sharing and cheering what we're doing, where we hope to be, where we're going”
- Norberto Orellana
Norberto Orellana defies the odds with a life marked by resilience. Born with cerebral palsy, he rose above chronic homelessness and is on a meteoric rise. His journey, characterized by unwavering belief in individual potential, has inspired countless others at TEDx events and speaking engagements across the country. Devoted to community and civic engagement, Norberto is an advocate for rural healthcare. An aspiring critical access hospital CEO, Norberto hopes to contribute to sustainability and innovation in rural healthcare by serving and inspiring others. To Norberto, success is a duty, obligation, and responsibility – and though Norberto has already come far, he is only just getting started.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Dr. Bill Auxier reflects on his recent experience at the Coaching and Leadership in Healthcare event co-hosted by Harvard Medical School, the Institute of Coaching, and McLean Hospital. He discusses the concept of "intelligent failure" as presented by Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing intelligent failures, which are well-considered and lead to valuable learnings, from mere sloppy mistakes. The discussion explores how embracing intelligent failures can foster innovation and growth within organizations and the pivotal role of leadership particularly in rural settings.
“Intelligent failure happens all the time. It happens in science, in industry innovation projects, in sports, and even in ordinary life."
-Dr. Bill Auxier
"The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth" by Amy Edmondson is a pivotal guide for fostering an environment where innovation and engagement are forefront. This book argues that the traditional workplace culture of conformity and silence is detrimental in today's knowledge-driven economy. Instead, it champions a culture where it's safe to share ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes.
Edmondson presents practical strategies for creating psychological safety, enhancing team performance, and encouraging the open exchange of ideas to fuel innovation and growth. The book offers a blueprint for leaders looking to nurture a climate of transparency and openness, ensuring that every team member feels valued and heard, thereby driving organizational success. You can purchase a copy of the book here: The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth: Edmondson, Amy C.: 9781119477242: Amazon.com: Books
When you think about rural healthcare, you may not think about Scotland, but Scotland has some very rural areas that deal with similar issues we deal with in rural America. Hear about what they are doing in rural Scotland to deliver health and wellbeing to their residents, by listening to our conversation with Dr. Emma Watson, 2021-22 U.K. Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice Deputy Medical Director at NHS Highland.
“NHS Highland delivers integrated health and social care, so it is not just about illness.”
~Dr. Emma Watson
Dr. Emma Watson MSc, FRCPath, FRCPEd is a 2020-21 UK Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy and Practice. A Consultant Medical Microbiologist by background and a senior clinical systems leader in Scotland, she is an expert in quality improvement and in medical education and workforce planning. Emma is Deputy Medical Director in NHS Highland which is, geographically, one of the largest and most sparsely populated combined health and social care systems in the UK. She is also a senior medical adviser in the Scottish Government. In both roles her focus is on developing innovative approaches to ensuring equitable access to high quality health care services with a sustainable healthcare workforce, particularly in remote and rural areas.
Emma has led a number of major change programs including the development of Scotland’s first graduate entry medical school. Emma previously held a post in the Scottish Government as Clinical Lead for the Scottish Patient Safety Program during which time she ensured quality improvement methodology translated from the development of health policy and strategy through to implementation across the entirety of the Scottish healthcare system. Scotland was the first country in the world to implement a patient safety program on a whole system basis at national level. As Director of Medical Education in NHS Highland she focused on the delivery of high quality medical education as a tool to increase recruitment and attract young doctors to the region as well as ensuring there is now an established programme to encourage young people from the area to go to medical school. During the COVID-19 pandemic she led the clinical response in her region and ensured there was a whole system approach to manage the impact of the virus.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Michael Hassell, CEO of Melissa Memorial Hospital in Colorado, discusses his journey from paramedic to hospital executive. Hassell discusses his strategic focus on community-centric initiatives, like enhancing local orthopedic services and integrating telemedicine. He also shares insights on effective collaboration through the Eastern Plains Health Consortium, underscoring the value of collective action in addressing rural healthcare challenges.
“Being rural should be seen less as a location and more like a proclamation of our dedication to creating stronger, sustainable healthcare.”
-Michael Hassel
Michael Hassell is the CEO of Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke, Colorado. His experience includes roles in healthcare leadership, incident command, and consulting. Notable positions include Deputy Incident Commander for Region 7 All Hazards Incident Command in Florida during the COVID-19 crisis. He has also held management positions at various healthcare facilities, demonstrating expertise in leadership development, operations, safety, emergency management, and service line expansion.
Michael is a Fellow for the American College of Healthcare Executives, holds a certification from the National Rural Health Association, and an adjunct professor for Regis University. He holds a Bachelor's of Science and Master of Business Administration and enjoys camping and spending time with his two daughters.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Kevin Stansbury, CEO of Lincoln Community Hospital in Colorado, shares his diverse and extensive experience in healthcare, including his time working internationally and his transition into rural healthcare leadership. He emphasizes the critical role of rural hospitals in providing essential services and the personal connections that enhance community healthcare. Kevin passionately advocates for more significant investment in rural healthcare infrastructure and policies that support the sustainability and advancement of health services in rural areas.
“The people who work in rural and frontier healthcare, we're so connected to our communities... It's that connection with community that is delightful and really reassuring”
-Kevin Stansbury
Kevin Stansbury serves as the CEO at Lincoln Health in Hugo, CO. Kevin has over 35 years in healthcare, primarily in community hospitals. He has served in roles in hospital administration, strategic planning, healthcare project planning and service in emerging economies. His work has taken him not only across the United States but all over the globe, including Bangladesh, Botswana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Vietnam. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Colorado Hospital Association Board of Trustees as Immediate Past Chair. He has also served on various State and National task forces supporting rural health.
Recently Mr. Stansbury was appointed by Governor Polis to the Colorado Option Advisory Committee. He also serves on the Colorado e-Health Commission. Mr. Stansbury is a founding member of the Eastern Plains Health Consortium. He received his BS in Business Administration from the University of Wyoming; MS in Health Services Administration from Central Michigan University and he received his JD with honors from the University of Wyoming College of Law. Kevin and his wife Jennifer have three grown children, a daughter in Castle Rock with one of their grandchildren, a daughter and son-in-law in Firestone, Colorado with their other five grandchildren; and a son who lives in Wichita, Kansas
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, hosted by Bill Auxier and Sydney Grant, guest Kristen Juliar, a capital resources consultant with the National Organization for State Offices of Rural Health, discusses her journey into rural healthcare. In our discussion with Kristin, she talks about the importance of understanding rural healthcare needs and highlights various successful partnerships and projects that integrate healthcare with broader community services. Kristin helps rural communities sustain healthcare services by engaging partnerships and accessing capital resources.
“There is a ton of expertise out there, so don’t be afraid to tap into that”
-Kristin Juliar
Kristin Juliar is a seasoned consultant with the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, where she leads the Rural Health Capital Resources Council and Center. She has an extensive background in rural health and community development, having previously directed the Montana Office of Rural Health and the Montana Area Health Education Center at Montana State University for 16 years. Before her tenure in Montana, she directed Minnesota's Healthcare Education-Industry Partnership and served as Executive Director of a rural development organization. Juliar is actively involved in various national rural health committees, including the Executive Committee of the National Rural Health Resource Center and the AHA Population and Community Health Advisory Committee. She holds an M.A. in Urban and Regional Studies.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, hosted by Dr. Bill Auxier and Sydney Grant, we welcome another young rural health leader, Alana Monson Administrative Fellow at Trinity Health in Des Moines, Iowa. Just months after graduating with a Master's in Health Administration, Alana found herself in the role of interim CEO at Manning Regional Healthcare Center, a critical access hospital close to her hometown in Iowa.
In our conversation, she discusses how she rapidly transitioned her leadership skills, adapting to the role thanks to a lot of trust from her team. Her story is a testament to the potential for young leaders to make significant contributions to healthcare in rural settings.
“If you were ever facing a challenge or responsibility that might seem daunting to you, just do it because your future will thank you for the growth”
-Alana Monson
Alana Monson is an administrative fellow with Trinity Health – MercyOne in Des Moines, Iowa and recently served as Interim Chief Executive Officer for Manning Regional Healthcare Center in Manning, Iowa. Alana grew up in rural Western Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting in 2020 and Master of Health Administration in 2023.
While pursuing her graduate degree, she worked with classmates to form the Student Association for Rural Health. In addition to her experience as CEO at a critical access hospital, Alana also has experience working for a Medicare administrative contractor, an academic medical center, a health system, and serving on the Iowa Rural Health Association board.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Aidan Hettler, CEO of Sedgwick County Health Center, shares his unique journey from a recent college graduate with a background in supply chain management to becoming the CEO of a rural hospital at the age of 22. We discuss the importance of servant leadership and the impact young people can have in rural healthcare even without significant experience. Aidan shares the highlights of his role as CEO including the growth of services and his role in the community.
Rural America is a really good place to work if you are young and aspiring to make a really big impact."
- Aidan Hettler
Aidan Hettler is a Pittsburgh native, who moved to Colorado for his college education. Aidan is now the CEO of Sedgwick County Health Center (SCHC), a critical access hospital system serving a rural community on the Colorado Eastern Plains and extending into neighboring Nebraska. As the largest employer in Sedgwick County, SCHC not only offers crucial medical services through its clinics, long-term care facilities, and a critical-access hospital but also sustains the economic vitality of the region. Aidan’s vision extends beyond his immediate responsibilities, aspiring to collaborate with like-minded professionals and organizations to innovate and champion a rural healthcare landscape where quality care is a universal right, not a privilege limited by geography.
Capital funding plays a crucial role in the success of rural hospitals. This week, we feature Brian Haapala, CEO of Stroudwater Capital Partners, who is at the forefront of assisting rural healthcare organizations in overcoming the hurdles of securing capital funding. Brian emphasizes the pivotal role of healthcare in small communities and shares his dedication to empowering these communities to drive healthcare improvements from within.
Our discussion with Brian sheds light on the significance of updating rural healthcare infrastructure. He provides insights into effective strategies for obtaining funding and implementing capital improvement projects in rural environments, underscoring the transformative impact these investments can have on community health support and rural economic vitality.
“Rural Healthcare is the cornerstone of rural economies”
-Brian Haapala
Brian is the CEO of Stroudwater Capital Partners helping improve access to capital for rural health care providers nationally. He is passionate about creating solutions to improve rural healthcare through capital investment, and he guides leaders through the process of securing capital through the rural challenges of limited resources. Brian has over 25 years of experience as an advisor and investment banker to rural health systems and has planned and/or financed over $1.5 billion in rural capital investments over this time. He holds a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan.
On Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are always discussing innovation in rural healthcare, and this week our conversation is through the lens of the new Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) model. We are delighted to welcome Anna Anna who serves as the Program Director at the Rural Health Redesign Center (RHRCO) and works to promote access to quality healthcare in rural communities. In our conversation, Anna discusses the REH model and shares her insights on how hospitals can make a successful conversion, and what it means to their communities. Learn more about how organizations like RHRC can help rural hospitals on their website here!
“Although the Rural Emergency Hospital’s Designation is new, it’s already saved hospitals from closure”
-Anna Anna
Anna Anna is a transformational leader and Registered Nurse with 30 years of experience in rural healthcare. Anna’s position at the Rural Health Redesign Center includes the role of Program Director for the Rural Emergency Hospital Technical Assistance Center. In her role, Anna works directly with hospitals throughout the country exploring the Rural Emergency Hospital as a possible pathway to maintain healthcare in their communities. Before this role, Anna held positions in hospital leadership for over 20 years, including Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Executive Officer. Anna has a Master's in Healthcare Administration and is a Board Certified Nurse Executive
Looking to test your knowledge of rural health? This episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio is exactly what you need! Join Sydney and Bill as they put their rural health expertise to the test with a series of trivia questions. Covering topics from community health workers to rural health clinics, this episode is full of learning. Listen in, play along, and see how much you know about rural health.
“This was a wonderful way to learn. Good conversations, learning, and research were done by all of us today.”
Sydney Grant
Securing a healthier future for rural communities begins with the engagement of our younger generations. This week, we're thrilled to host three emerging leaders on Rural Health Leadership Radio: Jenah McCarty, Hallie Vonk, and Nick Lembezeder. These graduate students from the University of Iowa's College of Public Health share their journey in founding the inaugural Student Association for Rural Health (SARH) and outline the organization's objectives. Throughout the episode, they reflect on SARH's influence on themselves and their peers and offer guidance for students aspiring to establish similar organizations.
“The Student Association for Rural Health is reinvigorating individual’s passion for rural health, and sharing that passion with the next generation of leaders so we can create a better future for rural health”
-Hallie Vonk
Nick is a second-year Master of Public Health of Public Health student at the University of Iowa and Co-Programming and Events chair for the SARH. He is from Peosta, Iowa, and spent four years in Decorah Iowa completing his bachelor’s in Classical Studies and Biology at Luther College. This fall Nick will be attending the University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine and hopes to practice medicine in rural Iowa.
Jenah McCarty is a Master of Public Health and Master of Health Administration student at the University of Iowa, and President of SARH. She is also an intern with Rural Health Leadership Radio. Jenah completed her undergraduate at the University of Iowa in Public Health and Human Relations. Jenah grew up in rural Iowa, which sparked her passion for rural health.
Hallie Vonk is a Master of Health Administration student at the University of Iowa and Co-Programming and Events chair for the SARH. She was raised in Hinton, Iowa, and completed her undergraduate degree in Health and Human Physiology at the University of Iowa. Hallie found an interest in rural health during her graduate program, highlighting the advantage of personal connections in rural communities.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Karen Cheeseman, CEO of Mackinac Straits Health System in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, shares her journey from an HR role to leading a hospital system. In our discussion with Karen, she highlights collaborative relationships in the communities Mackinac Straights Health System serves including how they integrate tribal medicine into a small hospital. Karen shares the story of a newly built facility thanks to innovative ideas and a land donation by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
“We’re addressing the care needs in a very comprehensive way in the community, including tribal medicine”
-Karen Cheeseman
Karen has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mackinac Straits Health System since 2017. Previously, Karen worked for the health system for many years and held various leadership roles including the Chief Operating Officer and the Chief Human Resource Officer. Karen holds a master's degree in Organizational Management from Spring Arbor University and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Michigan State University. Karen currently serves on the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Board of Directors. She has served as the Upper Peninsula Hospital Council Chair, the Small and Rural Health Council, and the Legislative Policy Panel for MHA. Karen is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
On this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we welcome Elise Bur, Director of the Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health. In our conversation, Elise discusses several key initiatives of the Center for Rural Health, including the feasibility of a dental hygienist program to address local needs, an oral health literacy program, and community health worker training to expand essential services. Elise also discusses an innovative Community Paramedicine education program aimed at delivering more comprehensive care to patients in their homes.
“If we can home grow our own, you are more likely to retain them in our rural community”
-Elise Bur
Elise joined Northern Michigan University in July 2020 as the inaugural director of the NMU Center for Rural Health. She has more than thirty years of combined experience working in higher education and the healthcare industry. Elise is extremely dedicated to identifying, understanding, and addressing regional health care needs through collaborative efforts. The foundation of her professional success can be attributed to building relationships and partnering with agencies and businesses on initiatives that improve the health and well-being of individuals. Additionally, she is extremely passionate about giving regional residents a voice by sharing challenges and success with local, state, and federal legislators which continues to result in new and ongoing support for regional, state, and national health-related matters.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking with Frank Brabec, CEO of Brabec Healthcare Management and President of the Imperial Valley Coalition for Sustainable Healthcare Facilities in California. We discuss the significance of community collaboration and how rural communities can come together to face health challenges. Frank shares more about the Imperial Valley Coalition for Sustainable Healthcare Facilities and the unique way they are serving surrounding communities. Brabec emphasizes the critical role of leadership in rural healthcare success, advocating for continuous self-improvement, and working together with community partners.
“Leadership is the number one determinant of rural hospital success. I’ve seen evidence of that over and over. “
- Frank Brabec
Frank Brabec is a seasoned healthcare professional with a varied background spanning from his beginnings as an orderly in surgery to leadership roles in hospital and physician practice operations. Since 2008, he has excelled in healthcare management and consulting, consistently delivering solutions that have improved operations and generated millions in increased margins. He has a strong commitment to continuous learning, evident in his recent completion of the NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program. Frank is a recurring speaker at multiple conferences, and has been a Medical Group Management Association, Certified Medical Practice Executive since 2009.
This Rural Health Leadership Radio episode features a conversation with Dr. Matt Seeger, Distinguished University Professor at Wayne State University, who has extensively studied organizational behavior, communication, and crisis management and response. Dr. Seeger shares his unique story as an undergraduate student deeply affected by a tragedy and how that led him to become a leading expert in crisis communication. We discuss the critical role of leadership in navigating crises, especially in rural communities. If you want to learn more about crisis and emergency communication check this website out: https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/
“It’s really the whole community that is going to facilitate an effective crisis response”
-Matthew W. Seeger, Ph.D.
Matthew W. Seeger, Ph.D., a Distinguished University Professor of Communication and Dean Emeritus, is renowned for his expertise in crisis and emergency risk communication, particularly in the context of infectious disease outbreaks, health promotion, and resilience and renewal post-crisis. His significant contributions include working closely with the CDC, the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, and being a part of the WHO Guidelines Development Group for Emergency Risk Communication. Dr. Seeger's research, supported by the CDC, NSF, NIH, and the State of Michigan, has led to over 200 publications, including the CDC's Handbook for Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication.
He has also authored several influential books on crisis communication and risk management. A founding editor of The Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research, Seeger's insights have been featured in major media outlets. He is a Fellow of the International Communication Association, and a member of the Wayne State University Academy of Scholars. He has received numerous awards for his service and scholarship in communication, including induction into the Public Relations Society of America, Detroit Chapter, and Hall of Fame.
This week, we are discussing how executive coaching can be used as a tool for rural health leaders to live up to their highest potential. On this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio Bill & Sydney bring us back to our mission to engage rural health leaders in conversations, learning, and research.
“Coaching can make an incredible difference, make the investment!”
-Bill Auxier
We discuss leadership development, and how coaching can play an important role in that. Bill highlights the research on the impacts of coaching on the workforce, emphasizing the enhanced resilience and retention for rural health leaders. If you are interested in coaching send us an email bill@billauxier.com and sydney@billauxier.com.
Rural communities in the U.S. are diverse, full of innovation, and each face their own unique health challenges. In this episode, we discuss some less commonly discussed rural health topics with Amy Elizondo, the Chief Strategy Officer for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). In our conversation we discuss topics such as oral health, the scarcity of dentists in rural areas, behavioral health, substance abuse, and the health concerns of the rural indigenous population Amy highlights some of the amazing work being coordinated through the NRHA to address these health issues in rural communities, both through initiatives and health policy advocacy. Check out the NRHA’s Faces of Rural video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXpJ4fXRakU
“Rural communities are far more diverse than anyone could ever imagine, truly that is where innovation can happen.”
-Amy Elizondo
Amy Elizondo serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), a non-profit membership organization with the mission to provide leadership on rural health issues to improve access to care. Ms. Elizondo received a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from Texas A&M University in 2000 and a Master of Public Health in Social and Behavioral Health from the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, School of Rural Public Health in 2002. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Public Health at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Before joining the NRHA, Ms. Elizondo served as the primary analyst for rural health care and post-acute care issues at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This position afforded her the opportunity to work as a liaison with Congress during the landmark passing of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, also known as the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. She also completed a fellowship at the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy where she took part in implementing a rural leadership program.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are sharing exciting information about the launch of a new program designed to enhance rural health managers' skills. In this episode, hosts Bill Auxier and Sydney Grant discuss the upcoming Rural Health Management Academy!
“The Rural Health Management Academy helps managers become better leaders “
-Dr. Bill Auxier
Tune in to hear insights into the 10 modules covered in the program, addressing topics such as defining management, setting expectations, effective communication, building trust, goal setting, and more. Bill & Sydney’s discussion highlights the unique challenges faced by rural health managers and emphasizes the program's commitment to providing affordable and impactful training.
If you are interested in learning more, we are hosting a webinar on Wednesday February 21st, be on the lookout for an e-mail to sign up soon!
Health policies play a crucial role in shaping the well-being of rural populations. On Rural Health Leadership Radio, we love to learn about significant policies affecting rural communities and ways to engage in advocacy. In this episode, we have a conversation with Carrie Cochran-McClain, the Chief Policy Officer for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), to gain insights into the impactful world of rural health policies.
Carrie provides an overview of current rural health policies at the federal level, offering insights into key developments expected in 2024. In our conversation, Carrie emphasizes the influential role of individual voices in shaping policy decisions, and highlights NRHA's efforts to equip advocates with resources. Carrie also shares some fun things to look forward to at the upcoming NRHA Policy Institute on February 13th -15th, exploring the noteworthy events and discussions slated for this gathering.
If you haven't already registered, you can do so here: https://www.ruralhealth.us/events/event-details?eventId=17 . To find out more about NRHA’s Advocacy efforts visit their website: https://www.ruralhealth.us/advocate.
“Your voice matters, members of congress need to hear from you and NRHA is here to help you do that”
-Carrie Cochran-McClain
Carrie joined NRHA staff in 2020 where she is the head lobbyist for the association and is responsible for driving the organization's rural health policy agenda. Carrie has more than 20 years of experience working in federal health policy development, including leadership roles at Health Management Associates, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. In her previous positions she has focused on improving health care outcomes, promoting health equity for vulnerable populations, and advising on health care policy issues. Carrie earned a BA in sociology from Willamette University and an MPA with a concentration in health policy and management from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, and a Doctor of Public Health at the UNC Gillings School.
Looking for a captivating book to start the year? Look no further! In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are joined by Dr. Tim Putnam, DHA, EMT, FACHE, and a former CEO of a critical access hospital. Tim’s the lead author of Healthcare Leadership and Rural Communities, along with contributing authors Nikki King and Bill Auxier. Tim shares insights into his career journey and how it inspired him to write a book on rural health leadership. The discussion delves into the significance of genuinely comprehending rural communities to enhance their health, and Tim explains how his book serves as a valuable resource in achieving this understanding.
“In Rural Healthcare, you get a chance to really make a difference and see the impact.”
-Tim Putnam
Tim Putnam DHA, EMT, FACHE has worked in the healthcare field since 1983 in laser/minimally invasive surgery research working with the Father of Laser Medicine, Dr. Leon Goldman. Most recently, he has spent the last two decades as CEO at Critical Access Hospitals in both Illinois and Indiana. He received his Doctorate in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2010 and is currently a member of the faculty. He is a past president of both the National Rural Health Association and Indiana Rural Health Association.
A lifelong learner, Dr. Putnam was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician in 2015 and worked for his community’s EMS service until 2019. Dr. Putnam frequently lectures nationally on topics related to the improvement of rural healthcare, transition from volume to value, rural Graduate Medical Education, EMS, and health equity. He was appointed by President Biden to the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force where he chaired the Healthcare Access and Quality subcommittee. You can purchase a copy of Tim's book here.
Happy New Year! We are ringing in 2024 by having a conversation on the importance of healthcare access to the well-being of rural communities. This week we welcome Jaquesha Jefferson, a Master of Public Health Candidate at Florida State University and current intern for the Center for Rural Health Leadership, to discuss her capstone research on rural healthcare access. In our conversation, Jaquesha shares why she was inspired to choose this health issue for her capstone, and how she identified gaps in policy that are negatively affecting rural residents.
“My Capstone looked at the root causes for lack of access to healthcare in rural areas rather than relying on short-term solutions that may exacerbate the problem over time. “
-Jaquesha Jefferson
Jaquesha Jefferson, CommHIT’s lead Data Analyst, obtained her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences on a Pre-Clinical Track from the University of Central Florida in August 2022. She is currently enrolled at Florida State University, pursuing her Master of Public Health degree. Jefferson’s degree focuses on policy, which has made her interested in understanding what changes can be implemented at the governmental level to eliminate health disparities faced by individuals residing in rural communities. Jaquesha is also an intern for the Center for Rural Health Leadership, where she enjoys obtaining and refining the skills that will allow her to lead in rural healthcare. Previously, Jefferson worked for the Florida Department of Health as the FLEX Grant Coordinator, where she oversaw and implemented projects related to quality and operational improvement of critical access hospitals across the State. Jefferson has a true passion for serving others, and expanding access to care for all individuals, ensuring that the quality of life is great for all
As 2023 comes to a close, Co-Hosts Bill Auxier, PhD, and Sydney Grant, MHA are reflecting on this exciting year with the ever-growing community at Rural Health Leadership Radio. Join us on this episode where Bill and Sydney share some of their favorite moments from 2023, ranging from insightful podcast interviews to the growth of the NRHA Certification Programs.
Throughout our conversations this year, we've heard inspiring stories, innovative strategies, and compelling research from both seasoned and new rural health leaders. Bill and Sydney also discuss some exciting things coming in 2024, including individual and team coaching, the Rural Health Management and Leadership Academy, and, of course, many more engaging conversations on Rural Health Leadership Radio.
“We’ve met some amazing people this year and allowed them to share their stories”
-Sydney Grant
We extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been part of our mission this year—to enhance the world by involving rural health leaders in conversations, learning, and research. Here's to continuing this journey in 2024, happy holidays!
Bill Auxier, Ph.D. is President & CEO of Auxier Group and Program Director of NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs. Dr. Auxier is an expert in rural health leadership development. Dr. Auxier has worked with rural health leaders across the country to improve their organizations through more effective leadership, cultural transformation, and strategic plan development. He is the creator and co-host of the Rural Health Leadership Radio podcast and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Global Campus.
Sydney Grant, M.H.A. is COO of Auxier Group and Director of Programming for the NRHA Rural Hospital Certification Programs. Sydney started her journey in rural healthcare as an intern for the Rural Health Leadership Radio podcast, where she found her passion for rural healthcare, leadership development, and creative problem-solving. She co-hosts the Rural Health Leadership Radio podcast with Dr. Bill Auxier. She is also the Communications Director and Board Member for the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Western Florida Chapter.
During this holiday season, it’s wonderful to hear stories about strong leadership based on trust and love, and it’s also wonderful to hear stories of inspiration. Stories of miracles. That’s exactly what this special holiday episode is about. Travis Udall is our guest, and he shares his story about his experiences as the CEO of a critical access hospital in rural Arizona.
Travis delves into the significance of servant leadership and shares a moving story of how his hospital staff united to support a patient. Caring for this patient made a lasting imprint on the culture of the hospital and staff. Travis’s story serves as a reminder of the shared humanity we can all celebrate this holiday season.
“Make your leadership personable. Unify people, love people.”
-Travis Udall
Travis Udall BA, MA-ED Leadership, is the father of four and happily married for 35 years. He and his wife have 9 beautiful grandkids. He has served as a community leader as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and CEO of White Mountain Regional Medical Center in rural Arizona. His leadership experience has spanned 31 years. He and his wife love the outdoors and doing road trips to remote parts of the country.
Recruiting and retaining employees is a top priority for most rural hospitals, and important to sustain the future of rural healthcare. Human Resource leaders across the U.S. are employing creative strategies to boost employee engagement. In this week's RHLR episode, Jenna Janu, HR Director at Glacial Ridge Health System in Glenwood, Minnesota, sheds light on her initiatives to address these issues.
On this week’s episode of RHLR, Jenna discusses her journey to rural healthcare. She also discusses the success of a mentorship program for new employees that Jenna created at Glacier Ridge. She highlights how this program has made a difference for employee engagement across the hospital.
“Mentorship is not just a one-time experience, but a continued source of learning and guidance.”
-Jenna Janu
Jenna Janu is a 2019 graduate of the University of North Dakota. After graduating from UND, she went on to earn a master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Mary, a private university near Bismarck, North Dakota, in 2020. She has been at Glacial Ridge Health System for three years in her current role and is a current participant in NRHA’s Rural Hospital HR Certification Program.
Data-backed decision-making is crucial in healthcare, but it can often be challenging, especially for rural hospitals with limited resources. However, from this week's conversation on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we learned that using, analyzing, and understanding community health data is more than achievable for rural hospitals.
Join us this week as we engage in a conversation with Liz Craker, Health Systems Support Coordinator for the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health within the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, and John Wadsworth, Co-Founder of REDiHealth. We discuss how leveraging data to understand patient populations can help increase access to care and manage care gaps in rural areas. Liz and John discuss the importance of their collaboration with each other and the rural hospitals they serve. We also delve into the exciting aspects of rural health, including fast-paced innovation, creativity, and how they are assisting rural hospitals in using data to support these efforts.
“The cadence and amount of innovation in rural areas is staggering to when people understand and trust their data.”
-John Wadsworth
Liz Craker serves as the Health Systems Support Coordinator for the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. She earned her BA in Journalism from Franklin College and her MBA in Healthcare Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University. She has over 30 years of leadership, project management, non-profit management, grant writing, public relations, patient advocacy, and health equity experience. She previously worked in a Federally Qualified Health Center advocating for insurance enrollment and health literacy before coming to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
John Wadsworth is a co-founder at REDiHealth where he helps healthcare institutions to turn data into actionable assets. He is skilled at designing and implementing analytic strategies resulting in operational, clinical, and financial improvements. His passion for the healthcare industry stems from helping communities leverage data to improve community health with the desired result of strengthening the overall quality of life. John earned his Bachelor of Science in Human Genetics from The University of Utah and his Master of Science in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Successful rural hospitals often have the characteristics of strong leadership, a culture of teamwork, and community support. In our upcoming episode, we explore the strategies for achieving this with our guest, Natalie Ryder, who serves as the Hospital Administrator at Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital & Borgess Allegan Hospital in Allegan, Michigan.
During this week’s conversation on Rural Health Leadership Radio, Natalie highlights the importance of cultivating a positive workplace culture and fostering teamwork. She provides valuable insights into her approach to breaking down silos between hospital locations and implementing standardized processes for sustainable success, and how her past roles and military background help her achieve this.
“I want anybody that works for me to feel supported and safe being themselves...there is no reason why we can’t be smiling all day”
-Natalie Ryder
Natalie Ryder is a Regional Hospital Administrator covering three hospitals in SW Michigan: 2 Critical Access Hospitals & 1 Long Term Acute Care Hospital. Ryder is a registered nurse and board-certified nurse executive who began her healthcare career in 2013, as a school nurse in Germany, following nine years in the U.S. Army as an Engineer Officer. Ryder held various nursing & leadership roles before becoming the administrator of Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital in 2018 and adding Ascension Borgess Allegan and Ascension Borgess-Pipp Hospitals in Aug 2022.
Ryder’s goal is to provide resources and remove barriers so her hospitals can provide the best possible care to their communities, right where they live, without any need for travel. She led her team through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained relentless in upholding their mission of delivering uninterrupted, high-quality care when & where it mattered most.
Ryder earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Point Park College in her home state of Pennsylvania and an associate degree in nursing from Columbus Technical College in Georgia. She went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration degree in healthcare management from Western Governors University. Ryder has been an active member of the Michigan Center for Rural Health Critical Access Hospital Planning Committee since 2019, and an Ascension Advocacy and Public Policy Committee member since 2020.
Collaboration and connection are aspects we often emphasize in rural health. The rural advantage allows us to collaborate with each other and uniquely connect with our communities.
Our guest this week on Rural Health Leadership Radio is no stranger to collaboration. We are delighted to share with you our conversation with Kevin Bennett, a Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Chair of the Department of Translational and Clinical Sciences, Director of the South Carolina Center for Rural & Primary Healthcare, and the Research Center for Transforming Health.
Dr. Bennett discusses his work in rural health, emphasizing the importance of addressing food insecurity and bridging gaps in healthcare access. He highlights the need for comprehensive solutions, including collaborations with medical education institutions. We also explore how to attract young professionals to a rural lifestyle.
“Rural is more than a label, there’s a beauty to it and a strength in the community connection.”
-Kevin Bennett
Dr. Bennett is Professor and Chair in the Department of Translational and Clinical Science, at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, in Columbia, SC. He serves as the Director of the Research Center for Transforming Health and Director of the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare.
He also serves on the National Rural Health Association’s Board of Trustees and as President-Elect (2024). His work focuses on care delivery for vulnerable and underserved populations and how policies and legislation affect these populations. He has also worked extensively with community organizations, rural health networks, healthcare systems, and state agencies to create, facilitate, and evaluate the impact of innovative care delivery programs.
We love to celebrate on Rural Health Leadership Radio, and this week is one of our favorite occasions of the year: National Rural Health Day on November 16th! Since 2011, the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) has devoted the third Thursday of every November to spotlight rural health and pay tribute to rural communities. This week, we welcome Tammy Norville, CEO of NOSORH, as our special guest to discuss how NOSORH is marking National Rural Health Day this year. We discuss Tammy's personal journey in the field of rural health. Additionally, we explore various ways everyone can participate in National Rural Health Day, either virtually or within your local community. Check out these websites for more information on National Rural Health Day: NOSORH.org, PowerofRural.org
“National Rural Health Day is a celebration of the positive and the crazy, creative, and innovative ways rural health providers meet the needs of those folks they serve every day.”
-Tammy Norville
Tammy Norville joined the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) team in March of 2018 as Technical Assistance Director and moved into the NOSORH CEO role in June of 2022 with more than two decades of rural health experience.
Tammy is a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate. She served rural safety-net providers for almost 15 years in the North Carolina DHHS Office of Rural Health. Tammy currently maintains Certified Professional Coder – Instructor (CPC-I), Certified Professional Coder (CPC), Registered Medical Coder (RMC), Registered Medical Biller (RMB), and Registered Medical Manager (RMM) certifications.
If you are a veteran, thank you for your service! In recognition of all veterans, Rural Health Leadership Radio is proud to publish this special episode to honor all veterans this Veterans Day Nearly a quarter of all U.S. veterans choose to live in rural areas upon their return from active military service. Rural communities offer strong community support and close-knit relationships, enhancing the appeal of rural living for veterans. On the other hand, veterans contribute valuable leadership skills and core values to these rural areas. In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are celebrating veterans and the great ways they contribute to rural communities. We are joined by three veterans and rural health leaders:
- Athena Minor, CNO/CCO of Ohio County Healthcare in Hartford, Kentucky.
- Hannah Zaun, CNO of Dakota Regional Medical Center in Cooperstown, North Dakota.
- Kenda Clopton, CNO of Ozarks Community Hospital in Gravette, Arkansas.
We welcome these three healthcare and military heroes to celebrate Veterans Day with us on Rural Health Leadership Radio!
“Veterans are all over the place using those things we learned from being in the military in our daily lives. We are in your local hospital, and ready to serve you in a new and different way now”
-Hannah Zaun
Athena Minor, hailing from Ohio County, Kentucky, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1985 and completed specialized Leadership Training with honors. She transitioned to a nursing career, earning her nursing degree from Owensboro Community College and a master's in Executive Leadership from Walden University. Currently pursuing a doctorate in Executive Leadership, Athena boasts diverse nursing experience, from neonatal and critical care to emergency and cardiac care in rural and urban settings. She's dedicated to managing chronic healthcare populations and led initiatives against infant mortality and childhood obesity in the Green River District during her five-year tenure in public health leadership. Athena serves as Chief Nursing and Clinical Officer at Ohio County HealthCare, actively participating in advisory committees, the Green River District Executive Board of Health, and healthcare panel discussions.
Kenda Clopton, RN, BSN is the Chief Nursing Officer of Ozarks Community Hospital. She has been married to her husband Marty for 32 years and they have three grown sons that are her absolute pride and joy. She graduated from Cox College of Nursing in Springfield, MO in 1998 with her ASN and returned to obtain her BSN in 2017. Currently, Kenda is taking graduate courses to obtain a Masters in Community-Based Health from Oklahoma City University. The calling to be a nurse and desire to help people needing care came early in life for her. She joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 1989 and proudly served as a surgical technologist (91D) until 1997. Her husband, oldest son, youngest brother, and brother-in-law are all veterans or still serving in the military today.
Hannah Zaun is the Chief Nursing Officer for Dakota Regional Medical Center and Griggs County Care Center in Cooperstown North Dakota. Originally from Texas and a veteran of the United States Air Force, she has chosen to put all of her experience and efforts into making nursing and healthcare a better experience for all involved. She is a graduate of Mayville State University with a Bachelors in Nursing and plans on continuing into a Masters in Nursing. An ER nurse by trade, Hannah has a passion for emergency medicine, for creating safe spaces for nurses to work, mental health, policy change, and increasing resources and services in rural healthcare.
Over the past decade, we've witnessed substantial declines in cancer prevalence nationwide. However, the reduction in cancer mortality and incidence has been notably slower in rural areas of the United States. To mitigate the rising trend of cancer incidence and prevalence in these regions, it's important to place emphasis on cancer prevention. In this week's episode, we delve into the importance of prevention in the context of cancer. Joining us on Rural Health Leadership Radio is Bill Couzens, the founder and president of LessCancer.Org. Bill shares with us the story behind creating one of the first organizations committed to cancer prevention and how LessCancer.org is contributing to the reduction of cancer rates in rural communities.
“Nobody was talking about preventing cancer...So it’s a conversation that we started as an organization”
-Bill Couzens
William U. (Bill) Couzens is an American advocate, blogger, speaker, and founder of the Next Generation Choices Foundation, also known as LessCancer.org charitable organization dedicated to cancer prevention. The loss of loved ones inspired him to provide free mammograms and establish LessCancer.org in 2004, focusing on reducing preventable cancer cases. Bill's commitment led to the creation of National Cancer Prevention Day in 2012, coinciding with World Cancer Day, and the bipartisan Congressional Cancer Prevention Caucus. He also partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation to educate families on reducing diseases and cancer risks associated with the environment. Bill's innovative initiatives extend to organizing the "Split the Mitt" bicycle ride and collaborating with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health.
It is so important to ensure future healthcare leaders have an understanding of rural health, and they can learn a lot in the process. One way to do so is to ensure students have the opportunity to learn about rural healthcare. Our next guest, Dr. Kristin Wilson Clinical Associate Professor and MHA Program Director at the University of Iowa, is excellently ensuring students are well-versed in rural health, no matter what career path they will pursue. In this episode, Kristin shares with us how she integrates rural health into the classroom for future healthcare leaders. We also have a great discussion about the importance of community engagement, and how Kristin is engaging rural communities in the development of MHA curriculum.
“I get really excited about the emerging leaders coming into rural healthcare. They are bringing a new energy, a new passion, and they are educated and trained in ways that even I wasn’t.”
-Dr.Kristin Wilson
Kristin Wilson is a clinical associate professor and director of the Master of Health Administration program in the Department of Health Management and Policy. She earned her PhD in public health sciences with a concentration in health management and policy from Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, and her Master of Health Administration degree from the same institution. While at SLU, Dr. Wilson directed the health management and policy MPH and MHA degree programs and served as the executive director of the Heartland Center for Population Health and Community Systems Development.
In addition, since 2018, she has been the principal investigator of the Missouri subcontract to the Midwestern Public Health Training Center for Workforce Development, a multi-state collaborative funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and located within the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Wilson held leadership positions within healthcare organizations and has experience at a local, state, national, and international level
Rural communities have long been touted for their remarkable resilience, and the same spirit is echoed in the hospitals in these communities. Many rural health leaders have a passion for serving the community they live in, and the resilience to keep healthcare accessible. Join us on this Episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, where we hear from a resilient leader herself, Lili Petricevic MBA, BSN, and CEO of Sheridan Community Hospital in Sheridan, Michigan. Lili shares some of her leadership traits that made the success of Sheridan Community Hospital possible. We also discuss how she builds connections and relationships with the frontline caregivers at her hospital.
“Things can change, if you do a good assessment and have good determination of where you want to be you can do it. “
-Lili Petricevic
Lili Petricevic, MBA, BSN is the CEO of Sheridan Community Hospital since 2020. She was born in former Yugoslavia, Slovenia where she completed her education in Nursing and attended the University of Edvard Kardelj in Ljubljana. After immigrating to the United States and marrying a US military veteran, she received her BSN from the University of Detroit-Mercy and later her MBA with a concentration in healthcare from Davenport University. Since Lili settled in Michigan in 1992, she held various bedside RN positions ranging from rehabilitation, and med surg to Trauma Neuro intensive care.
Her leadership positions as Manager and Director span from Nursing Departments, Care Management, Utilization Management, Home Care, Patient Care Logistics, and Throughput to third-party payer Medical Operations and Prior authorization divisions. In addition to these leadership roles, she has worked on the Tur-State IHI projects related to decreasing acute-level readmissions. Overall, Lili is extremely passionate about patient-focused healthcare services and finding opportunities to improve our healthcare system today. In her personal time, she enjoys spending time traveling with her husband Mark, and two daughters Jelena and Tiana.
On January 1st, 2023 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services opened enrollment for a new hospital designation, Rural Emergency Hospitals. Last fall the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a final rule establishing criteria for a new Medicare provider type; Rural Emergency Hospitals. The REH designation was created in response to rural hospital closures, and the goal is to ensure rural communities have access to healthcare.
The final rule for REHs was effective on January 1, 2023, and our next guest led his hospital out of an unfortunate financial situation, to one of the first REHs in the country on March 27th, 2023. Tune into our conversation with Ted Mathews, CEO of Anson General Hospital in Anson, Texas where we discuss how he and the community worked to ensure they had continued access to healthcare.
“The Rural Emergency Hospital Designation is not for everyone, but it definitely was for us (Anson General Hospital). If we had not received that designation we would have been closed by now.”If we had not received that designation, we would have been closed by now.”
-Ted Matthews
Ted Matthews has been associated with rural healthcare for over 25 years. He has served as an administrator/CEO of two Texas rural hospitals: Anson General Hospital and Eastland Memorial Hospital. He also served on numerous healthcare boards such as Torch, THA, and some state agencies. In 2021, Mr. Matthews retired to enjoy time on the lake with family and friends. Recently, however, he was approached by Anson General Hospital, where he began his career as a hospital administrator, and asked to return on an interim basis to help the hospital navigate difficult financial times. He led the conversion of AGH to a Rural Emergency Hospital.
There are countless remarkable aspects to growing up in a rural community, ranging from the tight-knit bonds within the community to the invaluable mentors. Childhood experiences are major predictors of future health, so how can we actively foster more positive childhood encounters in rural communities? Our next guest may just have the answer. This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we welcome back Dr. Elizabeth Crouch, Associate Professor of Health Services & Policy at Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina and Director of the Rural and Minority Health Research Center.
Elizabeth discusses her research into positive childhood experiences in rural and urban areas. She also discusses the intersection between childhood experiences and health policy, shedding light on the instrumental role policy can play in promoting the well-being of rural youth. To read about some of the great research Dr. Crouch and her team is doing visit this link: https://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/projects/929
“Rural communities have a lot of positive, wonderful things going on ...Let's focus on the positive and highlight things that are going really well”
-Dr. Elizabeth Crouch
Dr. Crouch is an associate professor in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management within the Arnold School of Public Health and Director of the Rural and Minority Health Research Center. Her work focuses on policy-related issues across the age spectrum in vulnerable populations at the beginning of life (children) and the end of life (elderly), particularly focusing on rural populations, with expertise in policy, claims-based analysis, and economics, with more than one hundred publications to date. Dr. Crouch serves as Rural Health Congress chair of the National Rural Health Association board of trustees and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Rural Health.
Rural health organizations provide a platform for rural health clinicians, leaders, and patients to learn from one another and advocate for rural health. State rural health organizations help connect communities across the state, and that could not be done without strong leadership. This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we welcome back Jacy Warrell, the CEO of Tennesse’s Rural Health Association. In our discussion with Jacy, she speaks to the amazing work the Rural Health Association of Tennesse is doing to support its members, including how they are working to alleviate healthcare workforce shortages. Jacy Highlights the importance of relationships and building a network in rural health, and how rural health organizations can help foster those relationships.
“Rural health associations are so important and help keep our interests in mind as the world is changing so that rural communities are not forgotten”
-Jacy Warrell
Jacy Warrell, MPA brings people and organizations together to improve health outcomes through policy and programs. She is a listener, strategic thinker, and achiever who maintains that community engagement, education, and pairing direct services with advocacy is the best way to affect positive change. Currently, Jacy is the Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Health Association of Tennessee.
Advances in cardiovascular care have significantly improved the morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular disease in the U.S., however rural areas are still falling behind. Rural residents still have higher rates of heart disease, and risk of heart failure. Our guest this week on Rural Health Leadership Radio is no stranger to the inequities rural communities face when it comes to cardiovascular care and is working to ensure rural areas have access to the care they need. Mindy Cook is a National Senior Director, Rural Health Care Quality, Outcomes, Research, and analytics for the American Heart Association (AHA). In our discussion with Mindy, she shares how the AHA is working to make cardiovascular outcomes better in rural areas and the important role of collaboration in keeping rural areas equipped to handle cardiovascular emergencies. To learn more about how your organization could use support from the AHA visit one of these links:
https://www.heart.org/en/professional/quality-improvement/get-with-the-guidelines
https://www.heart.org/en/professional/quality-improvement/rural-healthcare-outcomes-accelerator
“Where you live shouldn’t determine if you live. If you’re like me and live in a rural area, or that resonates with you, join our Rural Healthcare Outcome Accelerator Program so we can close those gaps in health outcomes between rural and urban America. “
-Mindy Cook
American Heart Association Quality, Outcomes, Research, & Analytics Team. Mindy leads the Association’s Rural Health Care Outcomes Accelerator initiative to support evidence-based care in the rural setting through the optimization of outcomes for cardiovascular & stroke patients. Mindy holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and practiced clinically in the areas of critical care, cardiac catheterization, and cardiac network coordination for 12 years prior to joining the Association. During her 12-year tenure at the Association, she has led various statewide and regional initiatives to optimize quality and systems of care coordination that have yielded a lasting improvement in patient outcomes. She is passionate about the Rural Accelerator’s opportunity to expand this model to rural hospitals nationwide through participation in the Association’s Get With The Guidelines® Stroke, CAD, and Heart Failure Programs, learning collaboratives, rural community network, and quality research publications. Mindy has a strong passion for rural health care fueled by growing up on a ranch in North Dakota where the nearest health care services were provided by a critical access hospital. She resides on a horse farm in rural Minnesota where in her free time, she enjoys performance horse competitions and trail riding.
In the world of rural health, where resources are scarce, emergency preparedness is not just important; it's essential. Join us on this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio as we dive into how the leaders of Ochiltree General Hospital in Perryton, Texas, faced a catastrophic tornado head-on. Our guests, Kelly Judice (CEO), Debbie Beck (CFO), and Jyme Kinnard (CNO) of Ochiltree General Hospital, share their firsthand experience and insights into managing a rural health crisis. In this episode, we explore the details of Ochiltree General Hospital’s response to the devastating tornado. Kelly, Debbie, and Jyme recount the lessons they learned, and the resilience displayed by their small hospital during this crisis. This episode highlights a great story of the importance of leadership and collaboration in Rural health.
“It was like living a nightmare, but witnessing a miracle all at the same time.”
-Jyme Kinnard
Kelly began working as a staff nurse at Ochiltree General Hospital (OGH) in January 2001. She worked in clinical nursing at the hospital for 15 years before becoming the CNO and COO of the hospital. Kelly is now the interim CEO and has been since October 2022. She has an associate Degree in Nursing as a Registered Nurse and BSM. Kelly is also currently enrolled at Texas Tech obtaining her Master of Science in Healthcare Administration and will graduate this December. She is also a proud wife and mother of three children, one son-in-law and three grandkids.
Debbie was born and raised in Perryton, Texas, and began working at OGH in high school. She has been the director of both the Business Office and Human Resources for OGH. She became the CFO in October 2020. Debbie has an Associate in Science degree, BBA in Finance, and is currently working on her MBA in Healthcare Management. She also has a wonderful husband and three very busy kids in junior high and high school.
Jyme was born in Borger, Texas, and raised in Fritch, Texas. After moving several times with her husband as a store director at United Supermarket, they made Perryton our home in 2010. She worked the night shift here at OGH for several years, managed the rural health clinic for six years, then accepted the ACNO/TNC position in January 2019, and ultimately became the CNO in March 2021. Jyme’s husband left his store management position of 20 years last year, and they now own a restaurant in town, Daddy’s Dogs, and more. They have three beautiful children, Courtney, 30; who works at Daddy’s Dogs; Aaron, 28; who works for Xcel Energy and Callan, 24, who is an RN and mommy. A wonderful son-in-law Logan, 25, is a lineman with North Plains Electric, and the most perfect grandson, Ryne, who is 17 months old.
We love sharing stories of successful hospitals, leaders, and programs on rural health leadership radio. This week we have the pleasure of talking with two rural health leaders of the 2023 National Rural Health Association’s Outstanding Rural Health Organization, Memorial Hospital in Carthage Illinois. Ada Bair, CEO, and Raigan Brown, CNO join us this week to discuss how they built such a strong rural hospital. They highlight the importance of community connection and moving healthcare beyond the four walls of the hospital. Raigan and Ada also share with us some of the great things happening at Memorial Hospital, a teaching kitchen to expanding behavioral health services and so much more.
“We know how to innovate and collaborate and I think that is what truly is going to contribute to the viability of rural health.”
-Ada Blair
Raigan Brown MHA, RN was born and raised in Carthage, IL. She has been with Memorial Hospital in Carthage for 11 years and has grown through the ranks starting as a staff ED nurse, moving to leadership in Rural Health Clinics, then to a department manager, and now the Chief Nursing Officer. Raigan has recently completed the NRHA CEO Certification program and her aspirations are to continue to learn and be involved in rural healthcare administration. Raigan is actively involved in many of Memorial’s strategic plans and projects. Raigan also has an active community involvement with the Hancock County EMS, Carthage Park District, The Crossing Church, and Hancock County Addiction Coalition just to name a few.
Ada Bair started her career in nursing and with great mentors over the years obtained her BSN and MHA. Having worked in the clinical arena for many years she transitioned to operations serving as a COO in 2 organizations prior to becoming a CEO for her current organization. After 20 years serving the community it certainly is home. Community outreach and support are key to rural leadership and as such volunteers with state professional organizations as well as several local organizations and boards. An outreach passion is the nonprofit she organized 10 years ago, Food For Thoughts Hancock County where meal bags go home on Friday for children who have food insecurity – serving over 250 children in 6 school districts with an all-volunteer team.
Running a rural hospital requires a lot of time, commitment, and knowledge. It is essential that rural health leaders have a platform to learn and share their success stories. This week we welcome back Brock Slabach, Chief Operating Officer of the National Rural Health Association, to discuss how the NRHA is supporting rural hospitals and those who lead them. Brock discusses a variety of programs that support rural hospital executives, boards, and legislators.
We also talk about an upcoming event to connect with rural health leaders- the Critical Access Hospital Conference in Kansas City, MO. Register with the link below for early bird pricing by September 7th! Link for CAH conference registration
“We don't do nearly enough of recognizing the great work that hospitals are doing in rural areas. And this conference is a way for us to show a showcase some of that stunning work that's going on out in, in rural parts of our country.”
-Brock Slabach
Brock joined NRHA in 2008. He is NRHA's Chief Operating Officer. He was a rural hospital administrator for more than 21 years and has served on the board of the National Rural Health Association and the regional policy board of the American Hospital Association. Brock specializes in rural health system development that encompasses population health and the varied payment programs moving rural providers into value-based purchasing models.
Brock is a member of the National Quality Forum’s Measures Application Partnership (MAP) Rural Health Workgroup and serves on the Board of Directors of Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). Brock is the 2015 recipient of the Calico Quality Leadership Award of the National Rural Health Resource Center, received the American Society of Healthcare Pharmacists (ASHP) Board of Directors’ Award of Honor for 2018, and the NRHA’s President’s Award in 2023. Brock earned a master of public health degree in health administration from the University of Oklahoma and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
The prevalence of mental illness is on the rise across the U.S., but the mental healthcare needs of rural residents often are not met. Our next guest on Rural Health Leadership Radio, Dr. Carrie Cadwell, discusses how community mental health centers and crisis stabilization units can provide better mental health access to rural residents. Dr. Cadwell is a psychologist and President/CEO of 4C Health, in our conversation she shares why she was drawn to behavioral health from her experiences growing up. We also discuss how 4C Health is combatting fatigue in a healthcare workforce we know is facing burnout at levels we have never seen before.
“Community mental health centers in every state are set up really to be that safety net for mental health and behavioral health.”
-Dr. Carrie Cadwell
Dr. Carrie Cadwell has been the CEO/President of 4C Health since 2017. She is a licensed psychologist in the state of Indiana. Dr. Cadwell has dedicated her almost 20-year career to rural North Central Indiana communities and in particular serving the behavioral health and substance use recovery needs of those with significant socio-economic disadvantage.
Community Health Workers are crucial to improving public health, especially in rural areas where health services are limited. Rural Community Health Workers improve health outcomes by acting as a connector between health services and patients. This week we learn more about the important role of CHWs in rural areas from Claire Hughes, a doctoral student and Outreach Coordinator at Community Health & Emergency Services (CHESI) in Cairo, IL. In our conversation with Claire, we delve into how research supports the role of CHWs and discuss current obstacles encountered by this workforce. We also explore how CHWs can impact the future of rural health equity.
“CHWs are a flexible workforce, and they can reach populations that licensed professionals, researchers and policymakers just will not be able to.”
-Claire Hughes
Claire Hughes is the Outreach Coordinator at Community Health & Emergency Services (CHESI) in Cairo, IL. She has been working in outreach and family advocacy in Southern Illinois for almost 10 years and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Population Health at SIU Carbondale. Claire is an active advocate for the inclusion of peer-support interventions in rural healthcare. Her doctoral research focuses on the development of the community health worker workforce in rural healthcare systems.
This week, we are celebrating the 7th anniversary of Rural Health Leadership Radio! Listen in to hear from Bill and Sydney discuss the wonderful journey of how this podcast started, and how it has created a community for rural health leaders worldwide. Bill and Sydney also countdown our top 10 most listened episodes. We are lucky to have built a community with our guests and listeners of Rural Health Leadership Radio over the last 7 years. Thank you for joining our journey to improve the world by engaging rural health leaders in conversations, learning, and research!
“We’re trying to make people feel connected, not isolated, by sharing best practices, success stories, what’s working, what’s not working in rural health. “
-Dr. Bill Auxier
Dr. Bill Auxier founded Rural Health Leadership Radio 7 years ago with the mission of impacting rural healthcare at a very fundamental level. Rural Health Leadership Radio provides a forum for conversations, learning, and research, to assist rural health leaders in becoming more effective leaders. We provide a space for rural health leaders to discuss and share what ideas are working, what are not, lessons learned, success stories, strategies, things to avoid, and anything else relating to rural health leadership.
The perspectives of young leaders in rural health are incredibly valuable, and this week we are joined by our very own, Jaquesha Jefferson. Jaquesha is an intern with the Center for Rural Health Leadership and a Master of Public Health student at Florida State University. In our conversation, Jaquesha shares her perspective on rural health from growing up in a small Florida town, and what she has learned from her experiences working in rural health. She highlights the importance of understanding different cultural backgrounds as they relate to healthcare, and we discuss the incredible bonds created among rural health leaders.
“Individuals in rural communities really stick together and want to help, It's not a mindset of I want to be the best, but how can we all be the best. “
-Jaquesha Jefferson
Jaquesha Jefferson is a 21-year-old native of Tallahassee, FL. Miss Jefferson graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences on a Pre-Clinical Track from UCF in August 2022. She is currently pursuing her Master of Public Health degree at Florida State University with a concentration in health policy and is interested in understanding what changes can be implemented at the governmental level to eliminate health disparities faced by individuals residing in rural communities. Jaquesha previously worked for the Florida Department of Health as the FLEX Grant Coordinator, where she was able to implement a Rural Emergency Hospital education curriculum and oversee other various projects to support the health and success of rural counties in the State. Currently, she works remotely as a Data Analyst for CommHIT, a501 (c)(6) located at the Kennedy Space Center. Miss Jefferson has a true passion for serving others, and expanding access to care for all individuals, ensuring that the quality of life is great for all by the elimination of health disparities.
The significance of pharmacists is growing in rural regions where healthcare provider accessibility is declining. Fortunately, initiatives such as the Rural GME Center aim to expand opportunities for rural residency training programs. Our guest this week is Emily Hawes, a practicing rural pharmacist, Associate Professor in the UNC Department of Family Medicine, and Associate Professor of Clinical Education in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Additionally, she serves as the Deputy Director of the Rural Residency and Teaching Health Center Planning & Development. During our discussion with Emily, we explore the evolving role of pharmacy in rural communities. She also provides valuable insights on how rural areas can collaborate to establish rural graduate medical education programs. More information about this can be found at RuralGME.org.
“Rural GME increases access to care, it enhances clinical services and it brings the needed workforce to rural areas”
-Emily Hawes
Dr. Hawes is an Associate Professor in the University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, where she is a leader in rural practice innovation and rural education. She has a broad background in medical and pharmacy student and resident education, including residency program leadership. She serves as a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in a family medicine clinic in rural western North Carolina. As Deputy Director of the Rural Residency Planning and Development and Teaching Health Center Planning and Development – Technical Assistance Centers, she has helped create the infrastructure to provide technical assistance to over 150 developing medical and dental residencies across multiple specialties in rural and underserved communities.
You may not notice that there is a large presence of incarcerated settings in rural America. Nearly 40% of state prisons are in rural areas. People who are incarcerated have unique healthcare needs, facing higher rates of mental illness, substance abuse, and chronic illness than the general population. This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio Charles Mathias, Professor and Director of Innovation & Impact Organization at UT Health San Antonio, discusses how rural communities play a role in providing healthcare to incarcerated persons. In our conversation with Charles, we talk about the challenges of healthcare for incarcerated persons and what the future might look like.
“Incarceration is not intended to be a healthcare setting, but they really are the biggest one in many communities when it comes to mental health”
-Charles Mathias
Dr. Mathias is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UT Health San Antonio. His research focuses on improving health outcomes stemming from behavioral health risk and its interaction with community systems. His policy work applies a Culture of Health Framework in promoting solutions for population well-being through cross-sector collaboration. He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship, Dr. Mathias guides RTTC activities related to strategic communication and health policy.
There is something special about the sense of community and family in rural communities. These values also extend into rural hospitals, which play an increasingly important role in rural America. Our next guest, Ben Davis, values the environment and family feel of rural hospitals. Ben is the President & CEO of Glencoe Regional Health Services. In our conversation with Ben, we discussed the importance of investing in your community and how he has prioritized being the employer and provider of choice in Glencoe.
“Do the right thing for the right reason at the right time based on the values that you hold and that your organizations hold and invest in people.”
-Ben Davis
Ben brings over 15 years of healthcare experience to the role. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Osceola Regional Health Center for 6 years and is currently the President and CEO of Glencoe Regional Health Services. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Radiologic Sciences from North Dakota State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Sioux Falls. Ben earned the Rural Hospital CEO Certification through the National Rural Health Association Center for Rural Leadership and recently received the Iowa Hospital Association Young Executive Award in 2022, as well as the Inspiring CEO Pinnacle Award from the HealthCare Service Excellence Conference in 2021.
There is no shortage of challenges facing the future of rural health. However, it is important to recognize these as opportunities for emerging leaders in the field. This week we are having a conversation with an aspiring leader; Jenah McCarty is a graduate student at the University of Iowa, and our newest intern with Rural Health Leadership Radio. In this episode, we discuss how growing up rural impacts your perspective of healthcare, and Jenah shares some of her personal experiences. We also look into the future of rural health leadership, and how Jenah is working to get young people excited about rural health.
“I hope to get young people excited about rural health, or how they can impact it in the career path they are in”
-Jenah McCarty
Jenah McCarty is a Master of Public Health and Master of Health administration at the University of Iowa, and an intern with Rural Health Leadership Radio. She completed her undergraduate at the University of Iowa in Public Health and Human Relations. Jenah grew up in rural Iowa, which sparked her passion for rural health. She played a role in starting a student organization, the Student Association for Rural Health, at the University of Iowa to further the reach of rural health among her peers. Jenah has worked in a variety of settings including local public health, graduate medical education, and community hospitals. She is spending her summer in Northern Utah as a graduate administrative intern with Intermountain Health.
Rural healthcare has become a hub for innovation, and this week we engage in a conversation about, yet another way rural health is taking the lead with telementoring. Our next guest on Rural Health Leadership Radio is Dr. Wari Allison, a physician-scientist and director of the National Rural Telementoring Training Center. Wari shares her insights on leadership and the power of collaboration. In our conversation, we discuss the importance of addressing health disparities in rural America and how telementoring can help bridge the gap.
“Telementoring can be there to educate and skill build and it's fairly easy to access because all you need is telecommunications.”
-Dr. Wari Allison
Dr. Wari Allison directs the federally funded National Rural Telementoring Training Center and is VP of Health Policy at the University of North Texas Health Science Center Fort Worth and Executive Director of their Center for Health Policy. She is board certified in internal medicine and Infectious disease and holds a PhD in Public Health and Community Medicine. Dr. Allison is elected to fellowship of both the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Disease Society of America and is passionate about combating health inequities.
Growing up in a rural community increases the chances of entering rural practice, but rural residencies have an even more significant impact. Our next guest, Dr. Randy Longenecker, a senior advisor and consultant at the RTT Collaborative, discusses his passion for rural healthcare and the importance of upbringing and training location on physicians' likelihood to practice in rural areas. Dr. Longenecker emphasizes the need to increase residency training in rural areas to address the shortage of healthcare professionals. In our conversation, we discussed how expanding rural education opportunities can help improve access to healthcare in rural communities.
“Train for Rural in Rural”
-Randy Longenecker
Randall Longenecker, MD is a family physician who has dedicated his career to caring for rural communities and growing a community of practice in rural health professions education and training. He practiced comprehensive family medicine in Logan County, OH, for 30 years including maternity care, and 15 years as Program Director of a rural training track program in family medicine. In the past 20 years, he has designed and established more than a dozen programs in undergraduate and graduate medical education and in continuing professional development. He has consulted in the design and implementation of many others.
He is now Assistant Dean Emeritus for Rural and Underserved Programs and Professor of Family Medicine at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Athens, Ohio, where he initiated the Rural and Urban Scholars Pathways program among other programs in preparing students and residents for work in rural and urban underserved communities. In retirement, he and his wife moved to Bridgewater, Virginia. Having founded the organization in 2012 and served as executive director for 10 years, he is now Senior Advisor and Consultant for The RTT Collaborative, a national non-profit board-directed cooperative of rural programs devoted to sustaining health professions education in rural places, providing technical assistance to developing and existing programs and pursuing research in rural health professions education and training.
Rural hospitals constantly face the difficult task of staying financially stable while offering a wide range of services. Our next guest comes from a finance background and never imagined working in healthcare. Luke Senden witnessed the impact of rural hospitals on saving lives and supporting communities, leading him to his current role as CEO of Johnson County Health Center in Buffalo, Wyoming. In our conversation with Luke, we discuss the crucial role of relationships and continuous learning in rural healthcare.
“In critical access hospitals, you have to wear a lot of hats and you have to be a learner.”
-Luke Senden
Luke has been the Chief Executive Officer of Johnson County Healthcare Center in Buffalo Wyoming since 2021. Luke’s journey in healthcare began as CFO for two health systems before making the switch to the CEO role, where he witnessed firsthand the unique challenges faced by rural hospitals. Luke has a passion for seeing rural healthcare succeed in an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Research has shown that a key indicator of whether a physician works in a rural healthcare setting is the location of their residency. While these opportunities can be scarce in rural facilities, one physician is working to expand physician residency opportunities in rural areas. This week we’re talking to Dr. Jack Michel, Strategic Advisor at RuralGME.
“We want to expand these opportunities because it’s such an incredible opportunity for people to be able to work on their skills, while not incurring huge debt and serving the public.”
-Dr. Jack Michel
Dr. Jack Michel is a physician specializing in Internal Medicine. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Miami in 1984, earning Summa Cum Laude. He received his Medical Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1989 and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Jackson Memorial Hospital in 1993. He served as Chief Medical Resident at the VA Medical Center for the University of Miami in 1994. His determination in having a successful impact on the community led him to acquire Larkin Community Hospital in 1998. In 2011, Larkin Community Hospital instituted its first Graduate Medical Education programs and has now grown to offer residencies in 30 different specialties and is the sixth largest Statutory Teaching Hospital in Florida (by the number of physicians in training) and the fourth largest by specialties in supply/demand deficit in Florida.
The nurse staffing shortage has left many hospitals nationwide struggling to fill staffing gaps. This absence of essential workers has left many rural hospitals in desperate need of nurses. Our next guest is looking towards the next generation of nurse leaders and prioritizing rural healthcare in the classroom.
This week, we are talking with Jaimee Gerrie, an Associate Professor of Nursing for Lake Superior State University School of Nursing. Jaimee will discuss how her program is merging leadership and Metaverse technology to not only get nurses in rural but keep them there.
“We're working hard so that we can offer nurses a greater opportunity to really grow, develop, and stay with the profession.”
-Jaimee Gerrie
Jaimee Gerrie is an Assistant Professor of Nursing for Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. With over 25 years of nursing experience, Jaimee brings a wealth of knowledge related to professional nursing practice in clinical nursing, nursing management and leadership, nursing education, and legal nurse consulting. Jaimee holds national certification from the Institute of Health Care Improvement as a Certified Professional in Patient Safety.
She completed a Certificate in Legal Nurse Consulting from Brighton College in 2017. She is a 2011 graduate of Walden University with a Master's in Nursing with a specialized focus on Nursing Management and Leadership. She earned her Baccalaureate in Nursing from Lake Superior State University in 1994. During this time, she has committed her practice to service in rural health.
The circumstances of the tragic incident in Uvalde, Texas was a heartbreaking experience for all those involved. While situations like this may be challenging to manage, they can also be used as learning opportunities to improve crisis preparedness processes. This week we are talking with Adam Apolinar, the Chief Executive Officer for Uvalde Memorial Hospital. Adam will discuss how his community rallied together to help support each other during that time and the lessons learned because of the incident.
“The lessons learned are things that you just don't count on and things you don't know.”
-Adam Apolinar
Adam Apolinar first received his bachelor’s degree in nursing from Incarnate Word University. He is also a graduate of the Baptist Memorial School of Nursing. Adam then returned back to school and received his master’s degree in Hospital Administration from Webster University. He has held many titles over the years such as Director of Surgical Services, Director of Cardiovascular Services, District Sales Manager, and Chief Nursing Officer/Chief Operating Officer. Adam is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Uvalde Memorial Hospital.
Physician Associates have been utilized in rural healthcare for years because of their ability to provide a wide range of services to patients in areas where healthcare might be scarce. But what happens when their capabilities become limited due to policies and regulations? This week we are talking with Dr. Susanna Storeng, A Physician Associate who made the switch from Colorado to rural Michigan. Susanna will discuss the differences between Physician Associates and Nurse Practitioners and her efforts to advocate for professional autonomy in Colorado.
I've been trained, I've been vetted, and I've proven that I can provide these services. Not only in a high-quality way, but also in a safe way that is done with high patient satisfaction.
-Dr. Susanna Storeng
Susanna is a Physician Associate with a special interest and training in pediatrics, diabetes, and weight management. She has worked at the state and national levels to advocate for rural health access and quality. Her dedication to rural health earned her a Distinguished Fellow title with the American Academy of Physician Associates. She earned a Doctor of Medical Science degree with post-doctoral certification in Healthcare Administration
Patient safety and experience are crucial to a hospital’s success. Rural hospitals sometimes find it difficult to meaningfully track quality metrics. Caryn Bommersbach, Director of Quality Assurance & Medical Staff Compliance with CentraCare Health, works diligently to standardize the tracking process of these quality metrics through the use of a quality warehouse. In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Caryn will discuss her organization’s transition to a virtual data warehouse and some lessons learned along the way.
“We wanted to support them so they knew they were not alone in their quest for quality.”
-Caryn Bommersbach
Caryn has been in the role of Director of Quality Assurance & Medical Staff Compliance since 2020 and with the CentraCare System for 21 years, starting first as the home care manager and then the quality risk manager for Redwood Area Hospital (CentraCare’s most southern Minnesota Critical Access Hospital). She leads multiple departments through understanding the role of Quality Assurance and Improvement as not only about meeting regulatory requirements but promoting patient safety and enhancing the patient experience.
Caryn lives in Redwood Falls and is active in the rural community. She and her husband, Jeff, are parents to two sons: Eric, age 23, and Adam, age 21.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America and notoriously goes undiagnosed in rural settings. Our next guest is utilizing AI technology to help provide life-saving early detection efforts to rural communities. This week we are talking with Chuck Vivian, the Vice President of Sales with Caption Health a part of GE Healthcare. Chuck will discuss why he went into rural healthcare and the exciting advancements in AI he and his team are making to address heart failure. “I'm not naïve enough to think that we can make heart failure go away, but I'll be darned if we can't bend this curve with technology.”
“I'm not naïve enough to think that we can make heart failure go away, but I'll be darned if we can't bend this curve with technology.”
-Chuck Vivian
Chuck has had the privilege of building an extraordinary track record in senior commercial executive roles with U.S. Surgical and Computer Motion Surgical Robotics. As a consultant, Chuck leveraged his experience to serve the needs of companies such as St. Jude Medical, Zimmer, Boston Scientific, Otsuka America, Novo Nordisk, Rita Medical, Virtual Radiologic, and Abbott Vascular among others. While he was fortunate to work on critical projects for these great companies, he is grateful for the exponential growth that they provided him. Chuck could not have learned so much, from so many, without the unique and challenging engagements that he was entrusted to address.
If you are interested in learning more about Caption Health's AI technology, follow the link: Caption AI Product Demo | AI-Guided Ultrasound System - YouTube
Rural hospitals often face the delicate balance of providing various services and remaining financially viable. Through the power of rural collaboration and innovation, our next guest has been able to offer many uncommon services to their rural communities while thriving financially. This week we are talking with Rob Schmitt, the Chief Executive Officer of Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services. Rob will discuss the community he serves along with the success his organization has seen by investing in innovative services.
“We’ve made these investments on purpose, knowing that it’s what is in the best interest of our community.”
-Rob Schmitt
With over 35 years in healthcare leadership, Rob joined GAHHS as the Chief Financial Officer in 2002. Rob was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2007. He’s a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Rob received his Master in Business Administration from Webster University on their Fayetteville, Arkansas campus in 2001. Rob received his B.S. in Accounting from Eastern Illinois University in 1988. Rob is also a Certified Public Accountant. Rob serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Provider Trust, Illinois Compensation Trust, IPT Cayman Board, and the Illinois Rural Community Care Organization.
The use of telehealth services in rural America has become a popular practice since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But what else can telehealth address in rural healthcare? Long before the pandemic, one cardiologist sought to see what impact telehealth could have on those suffering from undiagnosed cardiac illnesses in rural areas. This week we are talking with Dr. Ami Bhatt, the Chief Innovation Officer of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Bhatt will discuss the challenges of providing cardiac care in rural areas along with her pioneering efforts in Telehealth.
“We do thought leadership in getting people to understand that digital health is here, it is helpful and it's necessary.”
-Dr. Ami Bhatt
Ami B. Bhatt, MD, FACC, is the chief innovation officer (CIO) at the American College of Cardiology and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Her interest in digital health strategy and the digital transformation of the cardiovascular field stems from the belief that state-of-the-art, personalized care can be delivered to individuals in the community, empowering patients and creating stronger clinician-patient partnerships for sustainable health outcomes. The ACC Innovation Program has a robust platform to transform digital patient care and advance technologies that are reshaping medicine.
Dr. Bhatt has 20 years of experience as a clinician, investigator, and educator with nearly 10 years of experience in telemedicine and digital health. She founded her first program in cardiovascular virtual care in 2013 and continues to work on creating culturally relevant personalized virtual cardiovascular care delivery models. Her research has centered on identifying and implementing solutions to overcoming access barriers to cardiovascular and telemedicine care.
A graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Medicine, Bhatt completed her medicine and pediatrics residency at Harvard, her adult cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and her adult congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension fellowship at the Boston Children's Hospital. She was the inaugural Richard Liberthson Endowed Scholar in Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) at the Massachusetts General Hospital while Director of their ACHD program. She most recently served as the director of Outpatient and Telecardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Corrigan-Minehan Heart Center. Dr. Bhatt is now co-leading the inaugural year of the MGH Elevate Leadership Program aimed at transforming leaders for tomorrow’s healthcare challenges. As part of MGH Elevate, Dr. Bhatt is focused on fostering agility, communication, and creativity to develop the next generation of impactful leaders in medicine.
Nephrology services can be hard to come by in rural areas, despite the great need for them. However, through the innovative use of telehealth, our next guest has been able to keep nephrology local for many rural communities. This week we are talking with Ron Kubit, the Chief Executive Officer of TeleNeph. Ron will discuss the benefits of keeping care local along with some of the success TeleNeph has experienced.
“Let’s stop people from getting to end-stage renal disease and get people healthy – people get healthy when they get care at home.”
-Ron Kubit
Ron serves as Chief Executive Officer for TeleNeph and has a long-standing legacy of creating innovative healthcare solutions in the U.S. and Canada. Under his leadership, he and his team developed Tele-radiology, over four disease/wellness management solutions, ER-pen based solutions, ICU applications, and pharmacogenomics decision support applications.
An entrepreneur and businessman, Ron was involved in a startup that created a fully automated digital assistant for healthcare documentation. He held executive leadership positions with other healthcare organizations, serving as CEO of MedTech Global (New Zealand/Australia) and Consova Corporations. Ron has also lived in Europe, Asia, and Australia, working for multinational companies such as Optum, EY, and EDS.
To learn more about TeleNeph LLC. visit their website: Keeping Care Local - Teleneph (telenephllc.com)
Hospital boards work behind the scenes to help drive the organization forward. But what does it take to make it on a board? This week we are talking with Tracy Warner, the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Board Business, LLC. Tracy will discuss what it takes to make it on a hospital board along with the characteristics of a good leader.
“Many people that serve on those boards are doing that because they want to see that organization continue to not only survive, but to thrive.”
-Tracy Warner
Tracy Warner is an experienced healthcare executive and governance subject matter expert with knowledge gained from over 30 years in association and hospital leadership roles. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Board Business LLC, a consulting firm that guides rural hospital Board leadership to create efficient and effective governance processes resulting in more time for focused strategy discussions and optimal decision-making to impact organizational sustainability.
In the last 20 years, she’s participated in over 1000 hospital board meetings. Tracy has been on a board, reported to a board, and supported multiple boards. She learned about non-profit governance from the ground up and has seen and experienced practices that work well and some inefficient and unproductive processes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had drastic effects on the healthcare world including staffing, medical mistrust, and patient care. This era also introduced a less recognizable clinical issue known as medical misinformation. This week we are talking with Wendy Welch, the Executive Director of the Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium. Wendy will discuss her new book, Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do: Appalachian Health-Care Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic, and how healthcare leaders can address misinformation and mistrust in their communities.
“The time to combat misinformation is when it doesn't matter. The time to build alliances and trust is before you need them.”
-Wendy Welch
In addition to directing the Graduate Medical Education Consortium of SWVA, Welch is the author of six books about Appalachia, including culture, healthcare, and education. She blogs at wendy-welch.com and is a passionate advocate for helping people understand Appalachia’s nuances and hidden depths.If you are interested in learning more about Wendy's book Masks, Misinformation, & Making Do follow this link: Masks, Misinformation, and Making Do: Appalachian Health-Care Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic · Ohio University Press / Swallow Press (ohioswallow.com)
Recruitment in rural healthcare has always been challenging, made even more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic. But what happens when the focus is moved to developing and retaining the talent that is already in-house? This week we are talking with Kim Bourne, the Chief Executive Officer at Taylorville Memorial Hospital. Kim will discuss her transition into rural health and how she was able to decrease employee turnover by almost half within a year.
“The focus really has to be on retention and servant leadership.”
-Kim Bourne
Kim Bourne has been in leadership positions with Memorial Health for over 30 years. Starting with clinical nutrition and food service roles, Kim has also had opportunities to lead in patient transport and entrance attendants, patient safety, and regulatory compliance prior to her current role as hospital Chief Executive Officer at Taylorville Memorial Hospital.Kim has been trained as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt within her organization. She recently completed a several-phase project to replace an aging hospital with a newly constructed facility. She is married with 3 adult children and one grandchild.
In rural communities keeping care local can be a challenge. Many rural hospitals have begun to contemplate integrating into larger health systems to address this longstanding battle. This week we are talking with Bernie Jore, the Chief Operating Officer for Corewell Health Pennock & Zeeland. Bernie will discuss the impact integration has had on his organization and how they could keep care local for the community.
“If you have a great team, there’s not a whole lot you can’t accomplish in rural healthcare. We can keep healthcare local. We just have to work at it.”
-Bernie Jore
Bernie Jore is the Chief Operating Officer of Spectrum Health Pennock a critical access hospital in Southwest Michigan. Prior to coming to Pennock, he worked 28 years for Ascension Health in Saginaw Michigan serving in many different leadership roles. The positions he held there included, Vice President of Business Development and Joint Ventures, Chief Nursing Officer, Director of Nursing, Manager of Human Resources, and associate health and wellness, Manager of Nursing and nursing supervisor for off shifts.Before health care, Bernie was in the Army where he served in the first Gulf War and was assigned to a Saudi Air Force hospital and then as an NCO in an infantry unit as an aid evac medic. Life with his family includes a wife of 25 years, a 15-year-old son, 14-year-old and 12-year-old daughters who believe they run the place but in truth, their house is ruled by a 12-pound tyrant of a dog.
Many rural hospitals are facing struggles when it comes to maintaining their independence and financial stability. How did this pharmacist-turned-administrator manage to become one of the top revenues generating critical access hospitals and maintain their independent status? Find out this week when we talk to Chris Laman, the Vice President of Strategy with Columbia Memorial Hospital. Chris will discuss the rural collaborative advantage and how his organization increased its total operating revenue.
“It's a real focus on strategic growth, and not just growing to grow but growing service lines, one that can generate revenue that has some profitability, but also that the community needs.”
-Chris Laman
Over the last 16 years at Columbia Memorial, a CAH in Oregon, Chris has served many roles. Starting as a staff pharmacist and working his way to VP of Strategy. Over this time, he has led several major projects including the construction of a new cancer center and leading the county vaccination program during COVID. Chris has just completed the NHRA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program. He is a very passionate leader committed to meeting the unique needs of this rural community.
Remain independent or integrate with a large system? This has been a hot topic in rural healthcare, especially when considering its impact on reimbursement, organizational culture, community engagement, and more. This week we are talking with Jose Alba, the President for CentraCare–long prairie in central Minnesota. Jose will discuss the care structure his facility is transitioning to and share his perspective on hospital systems.
“We've really worked together to try to not only leverage the resources of our large healthcare system but how do we do things right in rural health and partner and work together and collaborate and innovate.”
-Jose Alba
Jose has more than nine years of healthcare leadership experience. He has spent his whole career in rural care delivery and for the past six months, he has been the President of CentraCare Long Prairie. He has also held leadership roles with Astera Health, Sanford Health, and Catholic Health Initiatives.
He received his Bachelor of Science in Health Services Administration from Minnesota State University Moorhead and earned his healthcare MBA from the University of Mary, Bismarck, ND. He currently holds Fellow status through the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on the boards of two local non-profits. Jose is also certified as a rural hospital CEO through the National Rural Health Association.
Jose and his family currently reside in Wadena with his wife Katie (10 years), Kids (Mia 6, Andre 4, Sofia 4 months), and his mom. He enjoys being competitive when he can and traveling with his friends and family. Originally from the Staples-Motley area, he considers central Minnesota home.
In rural communities, there are often barriers that can stymie the collaboration between healthcare stakeholders in enhancing healthcare for rural Americans. Our next guest seeks to break down those barriers by integrating clinical care and public health. This week we welcome back Dr. Phil Polakoff, the Chief Executive Officer for A Healthier WE. Dr. Polakoff will be discussing the work he was done through A Healthier WE to create healthier rural communities.
“Step up, be committed, do something with your passion and purpose, and make sure that your words are put to action and become reality for a better rural America.”
-Dr. Phil Polakoff
Phil Polakoff, M.D., M.P.H., M.Env.Sc. is the Founder and CEO of A Healthier We. He is a consulting professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and an affiliated scholar at Stanford University Bill Lane Center for the American West.
He has been in the healthcare industry for forty-five years. He has a wide range of experience in clinical services, product innovation, network development, care management, organizational and business enhancement, policy formulation, communications, and financing.
In his first years of practice, he was short-listed as US Surgeon General. He has experience working with various industries as well which includes being a Senior Managing Director for publicly traded consulting firms, and an advisor to numerous payers, providers, investors, employers, labor organizations and public entities. He was the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Total Health Advocacy Partners (Thap!).
Dr. Polakoff holds degrees in Medicine/Healthcare Policy Study from Oxford University, an M.P.H in Epidemiology from UC Berkeley, a Medical Degree from Wayne State University, an M.S. in Environmental Sciences from The State University of New Jersey, and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.
He has published five books, over two hundred articles, and has written a weekly nationally syndicated health column.
Rural hospitals have traditionally had less access to independent system review solutions than their urban counterparts. Dr. Pahuja and his team are changing that by offering affordable clinical advisory services geared toward rural hospitals. Our guests for this episode are Dr. Deepak Pahuja, Chief Medical Officer, and Dr. John Hall, Chief Regulatory Officer, at Aerolib Healthcare Solutions. They will discuss the future trends of rural healthcare and how the community can positively impact the viability of a hospital.
“The survivability of rural hospitals depends upon the survivability of their communities.”
-Dr. John Hall
“It's a combination of what your community needs, what your system can afford, the quality of the service being provided, and the back end.”
-Dr. Deepak Pahuja
In addition to being the Chief Regulatory Officer at Aerolib, Dr. Hall joined the Executive Team at Knox Community Hospital as the Chief Medical Officer in September 2021. Before joining Knox Community Hospital, Dr. Hall served in a wide range of hospital and university executive physician roles as well as general counsel for a compliance firm, Chief Clinical Officer for a nationally recognized compliance and revenue cycle firm, and CEO of a state medical board. In his role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hall oversees the activities of the medical staff office, anesthesia services, and hospitalist services.
Dr. Hall received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati, business degrees from Texas Tech University and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and a law degree from Concord Law School. He is certified in anesthesiology, pediatric anesthesiology, legal medicine, and medical management. He is a member of the American College of Legal Medicine, the American Health Law Association, and the California Bar.
Dr. Deepak Pahuja is the Chief Medical Officer of Aerolib Healthcare Solutions LLC. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine and has a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst-Isenberg School of Management. Dr. Pahuja specializes in innovations in healthcare and serves as the Founder of the Empowering Physician Advisor Show https://physicianonline.org.
Dr. Pahuja is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine.
His company Aerolib Healthcare Solutions is a Physician owned physician-led consulting firm providing Physician Advisor Gap Coverage for hospitals, Clinical and Regulatory Education for providers, Healthcare Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence for healthcare organizations.
To learn more about Aerolib Healthcare Solutions visit their website: Aerolib Healthcare Solutions – Home
Traveling outside of their community is necessary for many rural residents to receive appropriate healthcare. Our next guest was able to find innovative ways to connect with the community and expand services right in his own backyard. This week we are talking with Scott Blixt, the Chief Nursing Officer for Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital. Scott will discuss the community he serves and how he expanded the service line at his hospital through rural collaboration.
“I think if we work together, we will all make healthcare successful, but it's going to take all of us, not just one.”
-Scott Blixt
Scott started his career in healthcare in the US Navy as a Corpsman. After 5 years of service, he attended Northern Michigan University to obtain his BSN while working at Marquette General Hospital. After 17 years of working in various locations within MGH, Scott began working for Upper Great Lakes Family Health Center (FQHC). The mission was to increase access to healthcare for the underprivileged. During this time, he completed his MHA degree from Walden University. Shortly after completing his degree, Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital reached out to see if he would be interested in the Chief Nursing Officer position. Scott has now been with SCMH for 5 years and loves rural healthcare. Recently he completed the NRHA’s CEO Certification Program to increase his knowledge and hone his skills in Rural Healthcare.
Recruitment and retention have been notorious sore spots for rural hospitals, particularly through the pandemic. But what innovative solutions are available to combat this problem? This week we are talking with Laura Pemble, a Master of Health Administration candidate at University of South Florida and the Resident for the Center for Rural Health Leadership. Laura will discuss new research on staff retention and the benefits of executive coaching.
“The thing I'm most excited about is innovation and efforts on what we're going to do to improve recruiting and retention.”
-Laura Pemble
Laura Pemble is currently pursuing her master’s in health administration at the University of South Florida. She has been working with the Center for Rural Health Leadership as a resident since May 2022. She also works for the ACHE WFC as a Programs intern. Following her graduation, she hopes to remain in the Tampa Bay Area and grow her career in healthcare management continuing to learn along the way.
Hospital CEO turnover has long been tracked by the American College of Healthcare Executives. But what about rural hospital-specific CEO turnover. This week we are talking with Raven Muse, a Master of Health Administration Student and intern for Rural Health Leadership Radio. Raven will discuss her research on rural hospital CEO turnover and the implications of this data.
“The need to have rural health-specific CEO turnover data is really important because of the implications it has on the community.”
-Raven Muse
Raven Muse is currently a candidate for the Master of Health Administration degree at the University of South Florida. She completed her undergraduate degree at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee Florida. While still being a new careerist, Raven has already developed a desire to better understand the avenue of rural healthcare and its leadership.
She has experience in monitoring and observing rural healthcare leaders through her internship involvement with The Villages Regional Hospital. Exposure to this kind of health system along with her upbringing in the small rural city of Wildwood, Florida gave Raven the ambition to pursue further knowledge in all things rural healthcare-related. Moving forward, she hopes to be a vital part of the upstart of additional rural healthcare centers within Florida.
Gaps in collaboration exist between healthcare organizations and the communities they serve. How do we bridge that gap? With a Community Champion! This week we are talking with Selena McCord, the Community Program Manager for the National Rural Health Resource Center. Selena will be discussing how she incorporated community champions into rural communities through the delta program and how other leaders can implement similar programs.
“You may not have a community champion that's funded, but I can guarantee that there is somebody or someone in your community that's already doing a lot of the work of a community champion.”
-Selena McCord
Selena McCord joined the National Rural Health Resource Center in June 2018. As a Community Program Manager with the Center’s Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program, Selena is responsible for providing leadership and directing community care coordination program goals. This involves managing the delivery of technical assistance (TA) services to support participating healthcare organizations (HCOs) and their communities in adopting best practices to improve health outcomes.
One critical TA service encompasses the identification, onboarding, and training of the facilities’ Community Champion. The Champion is trained to serve as a community liaison and is essential to the foundation of care coordination planning and capacity building to sustain post-project gains.
Prior to joining The Center, Selena worked with local and nationally recognized organizations to identify and address the needs of underserved and disaster-affected populations, to develop and implement training curricula and professional development workshops, and to recruit over 200 health workers from the Northern Gulf Coast region to serve as program participants.
Selena has a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Alabama with a concentration in Healthcare Management.
Selena enjoys spending time with her husband and two boys.
A rural hospital’s closure dramatically affects the overall health of the community it serves. Our next guest has first-hand experience with how detrimental these closures are, and a strong ambition to keep rural hospitals open. This week we are talking with Kyle Kopec, the Chief Medical Compliance Officer for Braden Health. Kyle will discuss his work to restore rural hospitals and the lessons learned along the way.
“The fewer hospitals that closed, the more likely we are going to be able to help preserve the system and then build it into something that we would be proud of for future generations.”
-Kyle Kopec
Kyle Kopec has established himself as a healthcare innovator. Currently, the Chief Medical Compliance Officer and Vice President of Government Affairs for Braden Health, his prior experience includes an internship through the White House Internship Program in addition to holding a Branch Chief position in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. He worked through college at Braden Health clinic in Ave Maria, Florida, and became a protégé of Dr. Beau Braden, the company founder.
The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model was created as an innovative structure to improve outcomes and maintain access to healthcare for rural residents in Pennsylvania. This model is supported by the Rural Health Redesign Center which seeks to support the expansion of this vision to other areas in rural America. This week we are talking with Janice Walters, the Chief Operating Officer for the Rural Health Redesign Center. Janice will discuss the impact of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model and how the dedicated work from her, and her team have led to continued growth within the Rural Health Redesign Center.
“I always say to my team, our job is not to tell a hospital that is what they should do but help facilitate it.”
-Janice Walters
Janice has been leading rural health transformation efforts at the Rural Health Redesign Center since May of 2020. She has been leading the efforts of the PA Rural Health Models since 2018. In this role, she is responsible for its overall implementation including recruitment of stakeholders, methodology development, transformation planning, and oversight of technical partners. Janice is now serving as a project officer to the Rural Emergency Hospital Technical Assistance work awarded to the Rural Health Redesign Center.
Prior to leading rural health transformation in Pennsylvania, she spent twelve years in healthcare leadership positions primarily in rural Pennsylvania. Her experience includes financial oversight of the rural health system’s business activities as well as its population health activities. Prior to healthcare, her experience includes the communication industry as well as manufacturing. Her formal education includes an MS in Healthcare Administration and two undergraduate degrees.
Rural health clinics and critical access hospitals seek to provide care for those living in underserved areas. With the increase in public health concerns, sometimes these organizations require help to meet their community’s needs. This week we welcome back Kate Hill, the Vice President of the Clinical Division with the Compliance Team. Kate will update us on her work with rural health clinics and critical access hospitals along with how the Compliance Team continues to help these organizations navigate their changing environment.
“We put a certification together to verify and validate the good work that our critical access hospitals do in swing beds in their hospital”
-Kate Hill
Kate Hill, RN, is a graduate of Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing in Philadelphia, PA. As an Army Nurse, Kate served in Viet Nam (27th Surgical Hospital in Chu Lai) where she was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. Kate has worked with orthopedic patients in several capacities including Head Nurse of Orthopedics in Newark, NJ., followed by Biomet working in various capacities.
Kate joined The Compliance Team (TCT) in early 2012 to direct TCT’s rural health clinic accreditation program and has fallen in love with Rural. As VP of Clinical Services, she has spearheaded the TCT Rural Health Clinic Accreditation program combining her clinical expertise, business acumen, and passion for delivery of the best care possible to every patient. She presently serves on the Board of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics. Kate also works with clinics in TCT’s PCMH program and is ensuring that a PCMH accreditation is being increasingly rewarded by payers.
The disease of addiction and the devastation of homelessness have disproportionately affected vulnerable populations for many years, not excluding rural communities. However, with the help of a “Recovery Ecosystem” and dedicated advocates, things are changing! This week we're talking to Dr. Ernie Fletcher, Founder of the Fletcher Group. Dr. Fletcher will be discussing what a “Recovery Ecosystem” is and how rural communities can use it to their advantage.
“Communities have to realize that they can build recovery housing and recovery support services and it actually will improve public safety”.
-Dr. Ernie Fletcher
Fighter pilot, board-certified physician, statesman, and healthcare visionary, Ernie Fletcher was elected in 1998 to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives. In 2003 he was elected the 60th Governor of Kentucky. As Founder of the Fletcher Group, Ernie continues a legacy of innovative public service that promises to extend the company's unique model of "Recovery Ecosystems" to states across the country.
Oral health has become an increasingly relevant topic in whole-body health care. While oral healthcare services can often be difficult to obtain in rural communities, one CEO is taking innovative steps to overcome that barrier. Today we are talking with Dr. Lesley Ogden a physician and CEO of Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital and Pacific Communities Hospital in Lincoln City, Oregon. Dr. Ogden will discuss her successes in implementing oral care into emergency medicine and her desires for the future of rural healthcare.
“They can also teach us, especially on the inpatient side, how to better take care of oral health.”
-Dr. Leslie Ogden
Dr. Lesley Ogden serves as Chief Executive Officer for the two Samaritan critical access hospitals in Lincoln County, located on the central Oregon coast. Before taking this top position, she served as Chief Operations Officer at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City and as interim CEO at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport. Also, she worked clinically as an emergency and urgent care physician. Dr. Ogden is residency-trained and board certified in emergency medicine and has more than 10 years of clinical and leadership experience. She received her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed her emergency medicine residency at Oregon Health and Science University.
In addition, Dr. Ogden received a master’s degree in business administration from The Citadel and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Troy State University. A native of Florida, Dr. Ogden has made the rural Oregon coastal community her home since 2006. She is an active Rotarian in Lincoln City and served as club president from 2016-2017. She is also on the board of directors of the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County and the Oregon Coast Community College Foundation. Under Dr. Ogden’s leadership, both hospitals were entirely transformed recently, with a new hospital building in Lincoln City, new and renovated buildings, and a hospital campus in Newport. Both hospitals are part of Samaritan Health Services, a not-for-profit network of hospitals, clinics, and health services caring for more than 250,000 residents in the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon Coast.
Program implementation especially in rural health is tailored to meet community needs. However, supplying the funding for these programs can be a daunting task. Today we are talking with Heather Whetsell the Administrative Director in the Department of Population Science and Policy and Dr. Nicole Summer-Gabr the Director of Social Innovation and Assistant Professor at SIU School of Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy. They will discuss program implementation and the unique funding sources they were able to acquire from the community.
“So many people desire for their community to do better, but they might not necessarily know how to actually do that from start to finish.”
-Dr. Nicole Summers-Gabr
“I think in order to impact change, you really do have to work with the entire community as opposed to just one entity.”
-Heather Whetsell
Heather Whetsell is the Administrative Director of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s Department of Population Science and Policy (PSP), a research and policy academic department dedicated to improving health outcomes in 66 counties, mostly rural regions in central and southern Illinois. Ms. Whetsell graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, and Master of Science in Healthcare Informatics. Ms. Whetsell is devoted to improving population health outcomes, is a 2021 National Rural Health Association Rural Health Fellow, serves on the NRHA Rural Health Congress and Health Equity Council, is Co-Chair of United Way of Central Illinois’ Education Vision Council, a member of the IL Critical Access Hospital Network Rural Health Fellowship Advisory Committee, and has presented PSP’s efforts at the state and national level at events including NRHA and American Public Health Association annual conferences.
Dr. Nicole Summers-Gabr is the Director of Social Innovation and an Assistant Professor in the Population Science and Policy Department at Southern Illinois School of Medicine. Summers-Gabr received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Saint Louis University. She is on the Board of Directors for The Knowledge Center at Chaddock. She recently served on a technical expert panel for SAMHSA. Her current work is divided between two tracks: mental health and hospitals’ community health needs assessments. Her passion has driven her to transform rural communities to use evidence-based solutions to propel youths’ lives in a positive direction. To support this work over the past four years, she obtained over $1.2 million in grants and contracts from places like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation, and local rural hospitals.
In the past 30 years, the 340B program has become a vital cost-savings program for many rural healthcare centers. Now with contract manufacturers cutting ties, what are healthcare leaders expected to do? Today we are talking with Olivia Little, the 340B director at Johnson County Hospital in Tecumseh Nebraska. Olivia will discuss her role as the 340B director, and her hopes for overcoming the challenges following the 340B program.
“The scariest thing to me is that there is no rural health.”
-Olivia Little
Olivia holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration and B.S. in Clinical Laboratory Science. Olivia started Johnson County Hospital’s 340B program in 2012 and is the 340B Director. She serves on several hospital committees. Olivia has spoken at several 340B conferences, sits on340B Health’s Pharmacy Services Committee, previously sat on Macro Helix’s Customer Advisory Board, and was named a 340B Health Champion All-Star in 2017, the 340B Health Champion MVP in 2018, the 340B Health Champion First Runner Up in 2019, the 340B Health Champion MVP in 2020, the 340B Health Champion Second Runner Up in 2021 and awarded the Nebraska and American Hospital Association 2022 Grassroots Award.
Rural healthcare centers have traditionally been the source of advocacy and education for their communities. This makes them primary sources for population health management. Today we are talking with Jennifer Barbour, the Director of Relations and a Community Champion. Jennifer will discuss the complex community she serves and why understanding your communities’ needs is essential.
“Listen to your community. Do what your community says. Learn from it and repeat”
-Jennifer Barbour
Jennifer Barbour is the Director of Relations at Sparta Community Hospital in Sparta, Illinois, where she has spent the last three years serving as the Community Champion for the Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience in healthcare and social services marketing, public relations, and outreach. In addition to working with the community to help identify and address community health needs, Jennifer leads employee engagement and medical student recruitment efforts at Sparta Community Hospital.
Happy National Rural Health Day! Established in 2010 as an opportunity to celebrate the “power of rural,” today we are honoring the selfless spirit found in rural healthcare. In this episode, we are talking with Matt Bancroft, a Program Specialist at the National Rural Health Resource Center. Matt discusses health equity and his hopes for the future of rural health.
“I would say when it comes to rural healthcare or health equity the thing that you should take away is don't be scared and do your best”
-Matt Bancroft
Raised in Arkansas, Matt has a passion for working in rural communities. He brings over six years of healthcare experience with him and an abundance of communication knowledge. His career path has found him living in Washington, D.C., Tampa, and Abilene, Texas before returning home to Arkansas.
He obtained his Master’s in Health Communication from Boston University in December of 2021. As a Program Specialist, Matt provides technical assistance with the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) to the state Flex Program grantees including resource creation, identification of best practices, conference planning, etc. He also provides technical assistance to the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP).
Don't forget to check out the Stepping Up: Health Equity in Rural Hospitals Podcast Series! Hear the stories and experiences of different rural health leaders leading their rural communities toward greater health equity.
This week, we’re celebrating Veteran’s Day and all those who have served! To honor our Veterans across the country, we’re having a conversation with commander (CDR) Jeanette Arencibia, a Plans, Operations, and Medical Intelligence officer for the Marine Corps Forces Reserve Command and the Marine Corps Forces Southern Command. Today CDR Arencibia will discuss her definition of leadership and the dynamic relationship that exists between the military and rural healthcare.
“I really look forward to a time when I can dedicate myself to what's going on in the civilian sector and utilizing some of my military experience to practice that in our own country”
-CDR Janette Arencibia
CDR Arencibia is an accomplished Plans, Operations, and Medical Intelligence (POMI) officer. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, she graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 1995 with a Bachelor's degree in Health Science Education and a Master’s in Public Administration–Public Health as a Patricia Roberts Harris Fellow Awardee in 1996. Upon a direct commission to Lieutenant Junior Grade in 2003, CDR Arencibia earned a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Navy War College and is a graduate of the Marine Corps University. CDR Arencibia is as well a graduate of the Global Health Strategies for Security program at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland.
Commander Arencibia’s initial assignment at the Naval School of Health Sciences(NSHS)was as Officer in Charge of Healthcare Facilities. Upon transfer, she completed her first of several Individual Augmentee tours in support of the Oregon Army National Guard 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team; Operation Enduring Freedom and was assigned Chief, Joint Visitor’s Bureau (JVB) for Task Force Phoenix V-Afghanistan. She served as Officer in Charge of the first Female Afghan National Army Security Unit. In September 2006, she reported to NRD New England and then to the National Naval Medical Center as Department Head for Contingency Operations. CDR Arencibia assumed lead medical planning roles in support of Operation Unified Response (USNS COMFORT) and Continuing Promise 2010 (USS IWOJIMA).
She was selected as a Plans, Operations, and Medical Intelligence Officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Joint Staff Surgeon Internship program at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. During her Joint Staff tenure, she completed Verification, Validation, and Accreditation of the Joint Medical Planning Tool, now a required casualty estimation tool per the Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan. CDR Arencibia was subsequently assigned as the Lead Medical Planner for NORAD/NORTHCOM followed by her assignment to Marine Forces Central Command whereby she instituted Global Health Engagements resulting in noted capability improvements to international bilateral agreements between the United States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Follow-on assignments include U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet (USNAVSO/FOURTHFLT) and USNS COMFORT GlobalHealth Advisor in response to the 2019 Venezuelan Crisis.
As Deputy Medical Director and interim Medical Director, she completed her assignment at Naval Amphibious Force, TF 51/5thMarine Expeditionary Brigade, Crisis Response having instituted the R2LMERSS Playbook for continuity of operations during COVID-19. A Joint Qualified Officer, CDR Arencibia is recently returned as Deputy Surgeon, United Forces South Korea.
Commander Janette Arencibia’s personal decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Navy-Marine Commendation Medal (two awards) along with various individual and unit decorations.
Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, seek to offer quality care to patients while keeping healthcare costs low. What does this model look like for rural hospitals? Today we are talking with Michelle Franklin the CEO of Sullivan County Community Hospital in Sullivan, Indiana. Michelle will discuss her organization's move into an ACO network and how it has reshaped her thoughts toward the community she serves.
“I'm most optimistic about the role that rural healthcare should always be playing towards health care in America.”
-Michelle Franklin
Michelle Franklin is the CEO of Sullivan County Community Hospital, a critical access hospital in rural central southwestern Indiana. Michelle has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare field. As a Registered Nurse, her clinical experience has included medical-surgical nursing, nursing management, staff education and development, home health care, and hospice management.
In addition to these roles, Michelle has had the honor of serving in senior leadership positions at her hospital in both the Chief Nursing and Chief Executive Officer roles; careers that have spanned over 20 years.
Michelle is married with two teenage children and two fur babies. Her hobbies include reading, gardening, cooking, state-side, and international travel.
Healthcare centers, both rural and urban, have benefited from financial relief efforts given out during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now with the state of emergency being lifted but the effects still lingering, what can rural facilities count on? Today we are talking with Alexa McKinley, Government Affairs & Policy Coordinator for the National Rural Health Association. Alexia will be discussing the Rural Emergency Hospital model and how it can be a beneficial tool for rural health providers.
“…I’m excited to see what innovations and policies will come out of this administration, the next administration, and the 118th Congress.”
- Alexa McKinley
Alexa earned a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. During law school, she interned with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a Pittsburgh-based corporation, and served clients at the Pitt Environmental Law Clinic. Previously, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Michigan State University where she interned with the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the Department of Education and served as a fellow at MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.
Public health may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about rural healthcare. However public health officials have worked alongside rural health professionals to engage rural communities for years. Today we are talking with Gina Gulley, Health Program Specialist for the Arkansas Office of Rural Health, and Primary Care within the Arkansas Department of Health. Gina will discuss her transition into public health and how her work impacts rural hospitals.
“Allow yourself to be uncomfortable because that uncomfortable place is where growth happens.”
-Gina Gulley
Gina Gulley is a Malvern, Arkansas native who currently works as a rural health program coordinator at the Arkansas Department of Health’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. In this role, she is responsible for the overall direction of three federal rural health grants that are used to serve Arkansas’ small rural hospitals.
Before entering the public health field, Gina was a middle school science teacher who empowered children, exposing them to STEM and healthcare careers. She obtained her Master of Public Health from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, as well as her Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Arkansas State University. Because of her commitment to public health, she is always looking for opportunities to expand her knowledge. She is passionate about strengthening rural health infrastructure and improving patient care in Arkansas.
In our first episode with Dr. Emma Watson, the 2021–22 U.K. Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Executive Medical Director of NHS Education for Scotland, we talked about the research she started on the challenges faced in rural Scotland and Rural America. This week, Emma is back to tell us about the results of her research into why effective leadership is so important.
“Be super proud of being a rural leader, or rural healthcare provider, or a rural community member because it’s an amazingly special thing to be.”
-Dr. Emma Watson
Professor Emma Watson MSc, FRCPath, FRCPEdis a 20/22UK Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy and Practice. A Consultant Medical Microbiologist by background and a senior clinical systems leader in Scotland, she is an expert in quality improvement and in medical education, and workforce planning.
Emma is now the Executive Medical Director of NHS Education for Scotland, the organization charged with commissioning and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Scotland. Prior to her fellowship Emma was Deputy Medical Director at NHS Highland and held the clinical leadership for4 acute hospitals (3 of which are small rural hospitals) she was also a senior medical adviser in the Scottish Government. In both these roles, her focus was on developing innovative approaches to ensuring equitable access to high-quality healthcare services with a sustainable health and care workforce, particularly in remote and rural areas.
Emma has led a number of major change programs including the development of Scotland’s first graduate-entry medical school. Emma previously held a post in the Scottish Government as Clinical Lead for the Scottish Patient Safety Program during which time she ensured quality improvement methodology translated from the development of health policy and strategy through to implementation across the entirety of the Scottish healthcare system. Scotland was the first country in the world to implement a patient safety program on a whole system basis at a national level. As Director of Medical Education in NHS Highland, she focused on delivering high-quality medical education as a tool to increase recruitment and attract young doctors to the region and ensuring there is now an established program to encourage young people from the area to go to medical school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the clinical response in her region and ensured there was a whole system approach to manage the impact of the virus.
Organizational culture is vital to the well-being of not only the organization but the community as well. Today we are talking with Dr. Bill Auxier, President, and CEO of the Dynamic Leadership Academy and Executive Director of Rural Health Leadership Radio. Bill will discuss organizational culture and the necessity for leadership to value their cultural identity.
“By improving the culture of your organization, you can improve the culture of your community as well.”
- Dr. Bill Auxier
Bill Auxier, Ph.D. is the Program Director of NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs and an expert in rural health leadership development. Dr. Auxier has worked with rural health leaders across the country to improve their organizations through more effective leadership, cultural transformation, and strategic plan development. Bill is President, and CEO of the Dynamic Leadership Academy™ and the Center for Rural Health Leadership, and Executive Director of Rural Health Leadership Radio™, a 501(c)3 non-profit that produces the podcast Rural Health Leadership Radio.
Bill started his career in healthcare as a nurse’s aide at Hamilton Memorial Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, in his boyhood hometown, McLeansboro, Illinois. From there, he worked his way up to become the CEO of a surgical device manufacturer with global distribution. He is an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and recipient of the 2019 National Rural Health Association President’s Award.
You know the saying two is always better than one; How true is that when it comes to CEOs? Today we are talking with Jayd Keener and Mat Slaybaugh, Co-CEOs of Garfield County Hospital District. They will discuss how they acquired the Co-CEO role and what it takes to make Co-leadership successful.
“We're both here for the good of the facility, the good of the patients, the good of the Community, and the good of the staff.”
-Jayd Keener
"It's not about me, it's not about Jayd, it's about what's best for the organization and the patients.”
-Mat Slaybaugh
Jayd obtained her Associate's degree in Nursing from Walla Walla Community College in 2006 and has been blessed to have her talent for leadership be seen. She was hired in 2017 at Garfield County Hospital as the Director of Nursing and became the Co-CEO in the Spring of 2019. She is on the local Recovery Navigator Program and Southeast Washington Alliance for Healthcare board and participates in several county healthcare coalition meetings. Jayd is a wife and mom to four boys aged 8 to 21 who keep her on her toes. In her free time, she enjoys watching her boys play baseball and as a family, they enjoy prospecting for Gold, camping, and attending concerts together.
Mat has a BS in biology from Lewis-Clark State College and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Idaho State University. He has been working at Garfield County hospital since 2017. Started initially as a staff therapist, then as director of rehabilitation, and now as Co-CEO since the Spring of 2019. He works with the local high school offering free PT evaluations to injured athletes, volunteering as a weight room supervisor, and working as the assistant wrestling coach. Mat enjoys most of all, spending time with his wife and children. With the little free time he has, he enjoys camping, hunting, and woodworking.
You know the saying two is always better than one; How true is that when it comes to CEOs? Today we are talking with Jayd Keener and Mat Slaybaugh, Co-CEOs of Garfield County Hospital District. They will discuss how they acquired the Co-CEO role and what it takes to make Co-leadership successful.
“We're both here for the good of the facility, the good of the patients, the good of the Community, and the good of the staff.”
-Jayd Keener
"It's not about me, it's not about Jayd, it's about what's best for the organization and the patients.”
-Mat Slaybaugh
Jayd obtained her Associate's degree in Nursing from Walla Walla Community College in 2006 and has been blessed to have her talent for leadership be seen. She was hired in 2017 at Garfield County Hospital as the Director of Nursing and became the Co-CEO in the Spring of 2019. She is on the local Recovery Navigator Program and Southeast Washington Alliance for Healthcare board and participates in several county healthcare coalition meetings. Jayd is a wife and mom to four boys aged 8 to 21 who keep her on her toes. In her free time, she enjoys watching her boys play baseball and as a family, they enjoy prospecting for Gold, camping, and attending concerts together.
Mat has a BS in biology from Lewis-Clark State College and a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Idaho State University. He has been working at Garfield County hospital since 2017. Started initially as a staff therapist, then as director of rehabilitation, and now as Co-CEO since the Spring of 2019. He works with the local high school offering free PT evaluations to injured athletes, volunteering as a weight room supervisor, and working as the assistant wrestling coach. Mat enjoys most of all, spending time with his wife and children. With the little free time he has, he enjoys camping, hunting, and woodworking.
Once a farmer’s daughter now a fiercely passionate rural health advocate. This week, we are talking with Dr. SuLynn Mester, an advisory board member for the NRHA CNO certification program. SuLynn talks with us about her passion for rural healthcare and her interesting background in nursing.
“I think we have an opportunity to make a change to reset the trajectory of how rural health is shaping up…”
-Dr. SuLynn Mester
SuLynn Mester has been in nursing since 1987, specializing in critical care, cardiovascular surgical care, and trauma care, prior to moving into management and administration. She is committed to education, not only for herself but for others. She is a lifelong learner, receiving her Associate Degree in Science from Clarendon College in 1984, Associate in Nursing from Amarillo College in 1987, Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2016, Master of Science in Nursing in 2018, and Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2020, all from the University of Texas at Arlington. She sits on the board of Clarendon College School of Nursing, as well as the Area for Health Education Center (AHEC).
Succession leadership for rural healthcare is of utmost importance to her. Thus, she helped develop and is now serving as an Advisory Board Member on the NRHA Rural Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Certification Program. She is passionate about rural healthcare advocacy issues and is actively involved in efforts in Austin and Washington, DC to ensure and preserve rural healthcare access. She is heavily involved in rural health policy, serving on the Texas Nurses Association as the Governmental Advising Committee liaison, as well as serving as a Hospital and Community Health Systems Constituency Group Representative for NRHA Rural Health Congress.
She is a recipient of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH), National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and Texas Hospital Association Leadership yearlong leadership fellowship programs. She is currently an active fellow in the Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship. In her final year of doctoral studies, she was chosen for the John and Louise Shira Fellowship Scholarship. Her rural-focused work and research have been published in Nursing Management Magazine and have an upcoming publication in the Emergency Nursing Journal.
She grew up a farm girl and currently resides in the remote rural area of Childress, Texas with her husband Randy. Her inner circle includes many four-legged family members; three of her favorites being Fred the Red Head, a Murray Gray steer and Ruby, a Texas Longhorn, and Harper, a Black Angus bottle baby.
Once a farmer’s daughter now a fiercely passionate rural health advocate. This week, we are talking with Dr. SuLynn Mester, an advisory board member for the NRHA CNO certification program. SuLynn talks with us about her passion for rural healthcare and her interesting background in nursing.
“I think we have an opportunity to make a change to reset the trajectory of how rural health is shaping up…”
-Dr. SuLynn Mester
SuLynn Mester has been in nursing since 1987, specializing in critical care, cardiovascular surgical care, and trauma care, prior to moving into management and administration. She is committed to education, not only for herself but for others. She is a lifelong learner, receiving her Associate Degree in Science from Clarendon College in 1984, Associate in Nursing from Amarillo College in 1987, Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2016, Master of Science in Nursing in 2018, and Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2020, all from the University of Texas at Arlington. She sits on the board of Clarendon College School of Nursing, as well as the Area for Health Education Center (AHEC).
Succession leadership for rural healthcare is of utmost importance to her. Thus, she helped develop and is now serving as an Advisory Board Member on the NRHA Rural Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Certification Program. She is passionate about rural healthcare advocacy issues and is actively involved in efforts in Austin and Washington, DC to ensure and preserve rural healthcare access. She is heavily involved in rural health policy, serving on the Texas Nurses Association as the Governmental Advising Committee liaison, as well as serving as a Hospital and Community Health Systems Constituency Group Representative for NRHA Rural Health Congress.
She is a recipient of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals (TORCH), National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and Texas Hospital Association Leadership yearlong leadership fellowship programs. She is currently an active fellow in the Coldiron Senior Nurse Executive Fellowship. In her final year of doctoral studies, she was chosen for the John and Louise Shira Fellowship Scholarship. Her rural-focused work and research have been published in Nursing Management Magazine and have an upcoming publication in the Emergency Nursing Journal.
She grew up a farm girl and currently resides in the remote rural area of Childress, Texas with her husband Randy. Her inner circle includes many four-legged family members; three of her favorites being Fred the Red Head, a Murray Gray steer and Ruby, a Texas Longhorn, and Harper, a Black Angus bottle baby.
Think about overseeing the same halls you once used as your personal Hot Wheels track. This week we are talking with Eric Swanson, the president and CEO of Adventist Health Tillamook. A true homegrown kid, Eric shares his experience managing the hospital he grew up in as a child.
“What excites me is, is how we can be collaborative and creative to serve our unique community”
34:45-34:54
Eric Swanson is President of Adventist Health Tillamook. He has been with Adventist Health for 30 years and has served in a variety of leadership roles, both clinical and non-clinical. Eric holds an MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare CareExecutives. He is also an Oregon licensed, and Nationally Registered Paramedic.
Think about overseeing the same halls you once used as your personal Hot Wheels track. This week we are talking with Eric Swanson, the president and CEO of Adventist Health Tillamook. A true homegrown kid, Eric shares his experience managing the hospital he grew up in as a child.
“What excites me is, is how we can be collaborative and creative to serve our unique community”
34:45-34:54
Eric Swanson is President of Adventist Health Tillamook. He has been with Adventist Health for 30 years and has served in a variety of leadership roles, both clinical and non-clinical. Eric holds an MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare CareExecutives. He is also an Oregon licensed, and Nationally Registered Paramedic.
Rural healthcare is full of innovative solutions to the unique obstacles they face, including access to care. What happens when technology is introduced to bridge the access gap? This week we are talking with Dr. Jenny Schneider the CEO of Homeward Health about collaborating in the competitive world of rural healthcare to increase access to care.
“At the end of the day, we're caring for people, not patients”
-Jenny Schneider
Dr. Jennifer Schneider is the chief executive officer of Homeward, a company focused on improving access to high-quality, affordable comprehensive care in rural communities. Having grown up in the small town of Winona, Minnesota, and being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age, she experienced first-hand the lack of primary and specialty care that millions of families across rural America deal with every day. This fueled her passion to create a new approach to comprehensive, value-based care in rural America.
Previously, Dr. Schneider served as the chief medical officer and president of Livongo. While there, her team led the company through the largest consumer digital health Initial Public Offering in history and the industry’s largest merger ever between Livongo and Teladoc Health, valuing Livongo at $18.5billion and beginning a new era of consumer-centric virtual care. She also served as chief medical officer of Castlight Health
Rural healthcare is full of innovative solutions to the unique obstacles they face, including access to care. What happens when technology is introduced to bridge the access gap? This week we are talking with Dr. Jenny Schneider the CEO of Homeward Health about collaborating in the competitive world of rural healthcare to increase access to care.
“At the end of the day, we're caring for people, not patients”
-Jenny Schneider
Dr. Jennifer Schneider is the chief executive officer of Homeward, a company focused on improving access to high-quality, affordable comprehensive care in rural communities. Having grown up in the small town of Winona, Minnesota, and being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age, she experienced first-hand the lack of primary and specialty care that millions of families across rural America deal with every day. This fueled her passion to create a new approach to comprehensive, value-based care in rural America.
Previously, Dr. Schneider served as the chief medical officer and president of Livongo. While there, her team led the company through the largest consumer digital health Initial Public Offering in history and the industry’s largest merger ever between Livongo and Teladoc Health, valuing Livongo at $18.5billion and beginning a new era of consumer-centric virtual care. She also served as chief medical officer of Castlight Health
Can a four-day work week work in rural healthcare? This week, we are having a conversation with Monica Bourgeau, a futurist and CEO of New Phase Partners. Monica shares her experiences as a futurist and the changes that rural health leaders should expect.
“When I look at leadership, the most important thing to me is being able to create a vision for the future and then being able to share that vision”
-Monica Bourgeau
Monica Bourgeau, MS is a futurist, award-winning author, and CEO of New Phase Partners, a consulting firm specializing in Future of Work strategies, planning, leadership coaching, and training. Monica has nearly twenty-five years of experience in healthcare leadership positions, including nearly ten years leading national rural healthcare transformation programs, business development, and strategy.
She has a master’s degree in Management with an emphasis on Organizational Leadership from Warner Pacific University, a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Colorado State University, and completed the MBA Foundations program at the University of Montana. She has studied futures thinking at MIT, Future I/O, and the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. When she’s not working, you’ll find Monica walking on the Oregon coast, snuggling her rescue dogs, and spending time with her family. Monica believes we each have a duty to leave the world a little better than we found it.
You can learn more at www.NewPhasePartners.com or www.LinkedIn.com/In/MonicaBourgeau.
Can a four-day work week work in rural healthcare? This week, we are having a conversation with Monica Bourgeau, a futurist and CEO of New Phase Partners. Monica shares her experiences as a futurist and the changes that rural health leaders should expect.
“When I look at leadership, the most important thing to me is being able to create a vision for the future and then being able to share that vision”
-Monica Bourgeau
Monica Bourgeau, MS is a futurist, award-winning author, and CEO of New Phase Partners, a consulting firm specializing in Future of Work strategies, planning, leadership coaching, and training. Monica has nearly twenty-five years of experience in healthcare leadership positions, including nearly ten years leading national rural healthcare transformation programs, business development, and strategy.
She has a master’s degree in Management with an emphasis on Organizational Leadership from Warner Pacific University, a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Colorado State University, and completed the MBA Foundations program at the University of Montana. She has studied futures thinking at MIT, Future I/O, and the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. When she’s not working, you’ll find Monica walking on the Oregon coast, snuggling her rescue dogs, and spending time with her family. Monica believes we each have a duty to leave the world a little better than we found it.
You can learn more at www.NewPhasePartners.com or www.LinkedIn.com/In/MonicaBourgeau.
Financial viability has become a hot topic for health leaders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, we're talking with Rich Scheinblum Vice president and CFO of Monadnock Community Hospital.
"Cash provides you flexibility in both good and bad times"
~Rich Scheinblum
Executive Vice President-Administration & Chief Financial Officer Rich has been with MCH for 24 years, as Controller, Director of Peri-operative Services, and now as Chief Financial Officer. He obtained his BS in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut, and his MBA from Plymouth State College. Rich’s work experience includes a mental health facility, a children’s hospital, an insurance company, and a rehabilitation facility.
He is a member of HFMA, ACHE, served as treasurer of the New Hampshire Rural ACO, and serves as treasurer of New Hampshire Value-Care. In addition, he has served on the town of Dublin Budget Committee for 12 years and 9 years as a trustee of trust funds. In his spare time, he was active on the local Cal Ripken League board as a Board member and coach and served on the Monadnock United Way Finance Committee and CONVAL School District COVID Reopening Committee. He resides in Peterborough with his two sons.
What can a home-grown lawyer offer to rural healthcare? This week we are having a conversation with Elizabeth Burrows, the owner of Burrows Consulting Inc. A lawyer turned health consultant, she provides a unique perspective on rural health and policy.
What scares me the most about our future is finding providers or signing providers that are going to embrace living in rural areas
-Elizabeth Burrows
Elizabeth is an alumnus of North Vermillion High School and graduated magna cum laude from DePauw University with a degree in Political Science and Communications where she studied abroad at Oxford University. She went on to receive her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Elizabeth worked at the Indiana State Department of Health as the Director of the State Office of Rural Health, where she more than tripled the amount of federal funding for critical access hospitals.
Elizabeth then returned to Cayuga, her hometown, to start up and serve as the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Valley Professionals Community Health Center (previously the Vermillion-Parke Community Health Center), which grew over 1000% in the eight years she served as CEO. During that time, Elizabeth started the first mobile school-based health center with leadership from Senator Lugar and his staff to serve rural schools. She was selected as a leader in the CMS Practice Transformation project leading her health center to become nationally accredited as a Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home.
In 2014, Elizabeth started her own business, Burrows Consulting, Inc. where she has assisted numerous rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, institutions of higher education, critical access hospitals, rural health associations, and other non-profits attain over $92,000,000 in grant funding and over $100,000,000 in enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and 340B Shared Savings. She has worked with health care facilities in 28 states and created over fifteen new federally qualified health center entities. Through her consulting business, she has also served as an Interim CEO for entities seeking FQHC designation.
She graduated from the Lugar Series for Excellence in Public Service, received the Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders, is a 2011 National Rural Health Association Rural Health Fellow, and was given the DePauw University Alumni Community Leadership Award. Elizabeth was named a Fellow for the National Leadership Academy of Public Health and is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association. Elizabeth resides near her family farm in Vermillion County, Indiana, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Steve, and daughters, Eleanor age 12, and Amelia age 10. Together, the four enjoy traveling, visiting Indiana and national historic sites, and competing at sheep shows.
Two weeks ago, we shared the top ten most listened to RHLR episodes ever! Number two on that list was Episode #103 a Conversation with Kate Hill. This week we’re highlighting that episode with Kate Hill and listening back to her story.
“Our motto is actually safety, honesty and caring.”
~Kate Hill
Kate Hill, RN, is a graduate of Albert Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing in Philadelphia, PA. As an Army Nurse, Kate served in Viet Nam (27th Surgical Hospital in Chu Lai) where she was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. Kate has worked with orthopedic patients in several capacities including Head Nurse of Orthopedics in Newark, NJ., followed by Biomet working in various capacities.
Kate joined The Compliance Team (TCT) in early 2012 to direct TCT’s rural health clinic accreditation program and has fallen in love with Rural. As VP of Clinical Services, she has spearheaded the TCT Rural Health Clinic Accreditation program combining her clinical expertise, business acumen and passion for delivery of the best care possible to every patient. She presently serves on the Board of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics. Kate also works with clinics in TCT’s PCMH program and is ensuring that a PCMH accreditation is being increasingly rewarded by payers.
This week we’re having a special conversation, celebrating the memory of one our hosts’ longtime friends and a dedicated rural health leader Walter Anthony Mock Junior, DDS, also known as “Junior.” Junior was the “homegrown kid” who came back to serve his rural community after becoming a dentist.
“We're dedicating this episode to my lifelong friend, Walter Anthony Mock Junior, DDS.”
~Dr. Bill Auxier
Junior was a Dentist for 38 years and practiced in McLeansboro, IL and Dayton, OH. He was honored to once serve as the President of the Wabash River Dental Society and enjoyed the fellowship of his colleagues throughout his career. He was an avid golfer, and his favorite pastime was playing golf with his dear friends he made during dental school. Junior was a marathon runner, having completed thirteen full marathons and countless half marathons. He served others through the Catholic Society Service of Dayton, was a lector, taught religion classes, and was a devoted member of the Catholic Church.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re celebrating our 6-year anniversary! We’re thrilled to have shared these wonderful conversations with our listeners over the years, and in this week’s episode, we’ll be counting down the top 10 most listened to episodes in RHLR history.
“It’s hard to believe that rural health leadership radio is 6 years old!”
~Sydney Grant
Dr. Bill Auxier founded Rural Health Leadership Radio 6 years ago with the mission of impacting rural healthcare at a very fundamental level. Rural Health Leadership Radio provides a forum for conversations, learning, and research, to assist rural health leaders in becoming more effective leaders. We provide a space for rural health leaders to discuss and share what ideas are working, what is not, lessons learned, success stories, strategies, things to avoid, and anything else relating to rural health leadership.
Thank you for joining us on RHLR’s journey!
Community engagement has become a focus of many rural communities in addressing population health needs. Jonathan Dayton, Executive Director of the Maryland Rural Health Association, is our guest this week sharing his passion and insights on engaging rural communities in whole health.
“There's a lot of good, innovative things that not only Maryland is working on, but the nation is working on, and they're really going to address a lot of these issues that we're talking about.”
~Jonathan Dayton
Jonathan Dayton is a Western Maryland native and Resident living with his wife, Addison. Jonathan comes to the Maryland Rural Health Association (MRHA) with an extensive background in healthcare delivery systems, value-based care models, rural community health care development, program development, and administration, rural under-served community enhancement, and non-profit marketing. He has previous experience with the MRHA serving on the Conference Committee for several years.
Before joining MRHA, Jonathan served as the Community Relations and Population Health Manager for Mountain Laurel Medical Center, a federally qualified health center located in Oakland, MD. Previously, Jonathan served on the Mountain Laurel Medical Center Board of Directors and worked at UPMC-Western Maryland in physical therapy.
Jonathan serves his community in various roles, including a volunteer firefighter/EMT with Potomac Volunteer Fire Company and Baltimore Pike Volunteer Fire Company. Jonathan brings legislative experience and formerly served two terms on the Maryland Youth Advisory Council.
On our last episode, we talked about the innovative program connecting libraries and health liaisons in South Carolina to make a difference in rural healthcare. This week we’re talking with one of the librarians who has successfully implemented this program! Amy Schofield is the Director of the Kershaw County Library in Camden, South Carolina.
“We’re not just rooms with books, we’re also places that are trying to connect very deeply to people who have issues that we want to address and that we want to connect with the community.”
~Amy Schofield
Amy’s professional story begins in 1994 when she graduated from library school and moved to New York City where she worked as a public librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. She began her first stint as a Library Director in Kershaw in 2008. After a five-year hiatus working for Richland County Public Library, she returned to Kershaw in 2020. Amy sees public libraries as catalysts for individual and societal change. Her work is geared toward creating an environment that centers on respect, with the belief that a space conducive to work can create self-sufficiency, that the joy of reading is contagious, and that fulfillment comes from understanding and exploration of our larger world. Also, working in libraries is fun!
Have you ever heard of libraries working with healthcare organizations to better serve their rural communities? This week, we’re talking to Dr. Megan Weis and Alanti Price about how they have innovatively connected local libraries with social workers to better meet the needs of their rural communities in South Carolina.
“There’s so much opportunity and so much moving forward with more nontraditional access points because it’s not just libraries. There are other community areas. And I think that there’s really a movement we’ve seen in South Carolina but also, nationally.”
~Dr. Megan Weis
Dr. Megan Weis is the Director of Community Engagement for the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist with over 20 years of experience in public health education, promotion, research, and policy. Her work bridges practice and academia to unite non-traditional partners from various disciplines and organizations to jointly address public health and healthcare challenges at the community and state levels. She is a graduate of Furman University and received her graduate degrees from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
Alanti Price is a Program Manager for the SC Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare. She has worked in the public and non-profit sectors on several public and community health initiatives. Alanti holds a Master of Public Health from Georgia State University and a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Clemson University.
Cancer care can be a rare sight in rural healthcare, however, there are an increasing amount of opportunities to bring cancer care back to rural communities. This week, we’re talking about the Rural America Cancer Patient experience with Dr. Wade Swenson, Medical Director, and Medical Oncologist at Lake Region Healthcare.
“Decentralizing cancer care in the United States and in rural areas can make economic sense and practical sense, both for patients, families, communities, and health systems”
~Dr. Wade Swenson
Wade Swenson, MD, is a rural oncologist who has practiced at Lake Region Healthcare in Fergus Falls, Minnesota for 17 years. He is originally from Moorhead, Minnesota. He attended Medical School at the University of North Dakota and residency and fellowship at the University of Iowa. He is a father to a high school senior and recent college graduate. His professional interests include rural cancer delivery, leadership, and health policy. He recently completed an MBA in Healthcare at the University of St Thomas in Minneapolis. He also was a Rural Health Fellow at the National Rural Health Association from 2021-2022.
This week, we’re introducing you to another new member of our team! Say hello to Laura Pemble, the first resident of the Center for Rural Health Leadership (CRHL). Laura will be assisting CRHL with their work with NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs.
“This is really meaningful work and one of the reasons I went into healthcare in the first place is to help people and I believe the work here is doing just that.”
~Laura Pemble
Laura Pemble is currently pursuing her master’s in health administration at the University of South Florida. She has been interested in healthcare since childhood and has enjoyed her first year as an MHA candidate. Her main experience has been in healthcare talent acquisition, but now she joins the Center for Rural Health Leadership for a year-long residency.
Rural Health Leadership Radio is growing by an extra member – we’re excited to introduce our new Intern, Raven Muse! Raven is a current Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) student in Tampa, Florida who has a unique perspective having grown up in a rural Florida town.
“I wanted to be a part of rural health so that I can make sure I bring everything that I know back to my city.”
~Raven Muse
Raven Muse is currently a candidate for the Master of Health Administration degree at the University of South Florida. She completed her undergraduate degree at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee Florida. While still being a new careerist, Raven has already developed a desire to better understand the avenue of rural healthcare and its leadership.
She has experience in monitoring and observing rural healthcare leaders through her internship involvement with The Villages Regional Hospital. Exposure to this kind of health system along with her upbringing in the small rural city of Wildwood, Florida gave Raven the ambition to pursue further knowledge in all things rural healthcare-related. Moving forward, she hopes to be a vital part of the upstart of additional rural healthcare centers within Florida.
Have you ever heard of a rural hospital CFO working remotely? This week you will! We’re having a conversation with Rhonda Wild, a rural hospital CFO who is working remotely in Idaho for her hospital in Kansas.
“What excites me most about the future of our rural health is that we have the capacity to provide patients with the best of both worlds. We're large enough to offer top technology and small enough to still be personal.”
~Rhonda Wild
Rhonda works remotely from Idaho as the CFO of Stanton County Hospital in Johnson, Kansas. She has a 29-year tenure in the healthcare field. She started out wanting to become an RN and attended the University of South Dakota and North Idaho College.
After completing her prerequisites and pre-nursing, she faced the issue of applying for the program, and due to the program only accepting a certain number of candidates it became apparent, that she had to move on to something different in the healthcare field. She then graduated from Shoreline College with a degree in Health Information Technology and became a Registered Health Information Technician. She and her husband live in the great Northwest Idaho, where they enjoy all the outdoor activities beautiful Idaho has to offer.
Interactions between healthcare, law, and policy, and public health can have huge impacts on the rural health landscape. Craig Wilson, Director of Health Policy at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI), tackles this complicated subject in this week’s episode!
“If we can’t improve the health of the lives in our most rural parts of the state, then we can’t do it for those in the urban parts either.”
~Craig Wilson
Craig Wilson is the Director of Health Policy at the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI). He leads efforts to achieve ACHI’s access and quality goals and provides analysis of laws and policies that impact health and health care in Arkansas. His focus is on developing and sustaining initiatives to provide Arkansans with improved access to quality health care by eliminating financial, geographic, cultural, and language barriers.
Craig is a graduate of Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. He is an attorney licensed to practice in Arkansas, having earned his Juris Doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law and a master of public administration from Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies in Atlanta, Georgia.
Physician leaders play an important role in the sustainability of rural healthcare. This week, we’re having a conversation with Dr. Bensson Samuel, who tells us about his experiences as an intensive care physician in rural Michigan.
“The interesting fact about rural health is that small contributions that are made by each individual in that community leads to a bigger impact.”
~Dr. Bensson Samuel
Dr. Samuel is currently based out of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and is currently practicing at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault. He is a graduate of the National Rural Health Association’s CFO and CEO programs. He also completed the University of Oxford Executive Leadership Program and holds a Doctor of Business Administration from the Swiss School of Business and Research with a focus on Situational Leadership and its efficacy on achieving organizational goals.
His other qualifications include board certifications in Internal medicine, UCNS Neuro-critical care, Certified Health Care Financial Professional from HFMA, and Board Certified in Public Health from the National Board of Public Health Examiners.
He spends his free time with his family and four kids. His other passions include economics and human rights.
The financial environment in healthcare is constantly changing and can have even more fluctuation in rural healthcare. This week we’re having a conversation with Patrick Ritter about the financial side of rural healthcare, now and in the future.
"I do think it’s exciting about how the smaller facilities can tailor and move quickly into the needs that they see in the community to provide healthcare."
~Patrick Ritter
Patrick Ritter became the Chief Financial Officer in December 2019. He has over 20 years in healthcare and leadership experience working in several organizations within the Snoqualmie Valley. He joined the District on September 1, 2004, as Clinic Billing Manager and became Revenue Cycle Director in May 2014.
He has a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Operations Management from the University of Washington and an MBA in Healthcare Management from Western Governors University. Patrick resides in North Bend with his wife Tricia and two daughters and enjoys serving in mission work in Honduras, traveling, and spending time with his family. For more than 10 years, he served as a board member for Summit Classical Christian School, Fall City, Wash.
Transitioning to a new facility AND into a new position can be an overwhelming change, particularly in rural healthcare while recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This week, we’re having a conversation with Jennifer Reed, CEO of Ferry County Health, who tells us about how she made those switches and how it’s going!
“We don’t have to do it all. We can be a part of it and be a part of the solution and I see that a lot. So that’s really exciting about rural healthcare.”
~Jennifer Reed
Jennifer is the CEO of Ferry County Public Hospital, a small critical access hospital in North Central Washington state. She came to Ferry County to work as the CFO/COO in January of 2022 from a large critical access hospital in the Western part of Washington State where she was the Director of Finance for almost 10 years. She has been in the accounting field for over twenty years, specializing mainly in non-profit entities from very small to very large organizations.
Jennifer came to healthcare finance 10 years ago finding, what she believes, is the perfect niche and industry for her. She holds a Master’s degree in Accounting, and a certification as a rural CFO from the National Rural Health Association sits on the board of the WA/AK chapter of HFMA and enjoys membership in ACHE. She enjoys the creative challenge of finance in the rural hospital and making that work within the framework of critical access reimbursement and our local government. Jennifer brings her experience in rural community development, budgeting, strategic and organizational planning, reporting, and contract compliance to her position.
Last week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we started discussing leadership solutions available specifically for rural health leaders. We continue that conversation this week by investigating NRHA’s Rural Health Congress, which advocates for rural healthcare at the national level.
“Every rural community is so different and the more we can increase that understanding of all those distinct features in small towns in rural America, the better we can provide a exchange and distribution of ideas that's going to inform health care providers, provide research and look at methods that are going to improve rural health.”
~Dr. Bill Auxier
The Rural Health Congress is the policy-making body of the National Rural Health Association. Elected representatives from each of the association's constituency groups, State Association Council, State Office Council, issue groups and officers serve on the Congress. This gives broad grassroots representation that reflects the concerns of NRHA's membership. The Rural Health Congress determines the association's positions on public policy through a series of policy briefs and issue papers.
To learn more, visit their website: https://www.ruralhealth.us/advocate/rural-health-congress
Are you curious about what leadership solutions are available for rural healthcare leaders who are passionate about making a difference? This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we explore another rural-focused leadership program that’s working to improve health equity, NRHA’s Rural Health Fellows Program.
“It's very exciting things that our rural health fellows are going on to do, and ultimately what the program is trying to do which is to be more representative of what rural communities are really like and what they really need..”
~Sydney Grant
NRHA's Rural Health Fellows program is a yearlong, intensive training program that develops leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America. Each year, NRHA selects 10 to 15 highly motivated individuals who have proven their dedication to improving the health of rural Americans through their educational or professional experience. The goal of the Fellows program is to educate and develop a network of diverse rural leaders that will step forward to serve in key positions in the association, affiliated advocacy groups, and local and state legislative bodies with health equity as the main focus.
For more information, go to https://www.ruralhealth.us/programs/rural-health-fellows
Public health has evolved greatly over time, particularly in rural healthcare over the past few years as the COVID-19 pandemic took place. This week, we’re having a conversation with Samantha Wells who tells us all about her experience with rural healthcare, public health in rural areas, the impact of the pandemic, and how she’s working to make a difference.
“You have way more power and influence than you feel. That’s what I want everybody to remember – just because you come from a small town or small rural area, it doesn’t mean you cannot make a difference.”
~Samantha Wells
Samantha Wells is a 2nd year Doctor of Public Health (DrPH, Health Leadership) student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She currently serves as a Graduate Research Assistant for the Arkansas Department of Health’s Office of Health Equity and HIV Elimination. She has previously served as the Program Manager for Health Help Mississippi, an initiative of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. Ms. Wells graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a Master of Public Health degree in 2017 and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree in 2015, both with a Health Policy/Administration concentration.
At USM, Samantha was recognized for her commitment to Public Health with the 2017 Alton B. Cobb Outstanding Master of Public Health Award. Samantha became Certified in Public Health (CPH) by the National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2019. Driven by her commitment to improving public health in rural, minority communities, Ms. Wells is passionate about her efforts with improving health equity and eliminating health disparities.
If you could hit the reset button on healthcare policy, what would you change? In this week's episode, Dr. Keith Mueller shares his thoughts on what he would improve given the chance to hit the policy reset button, particularly in rural healthcare.
“The pandemic taught us we need flexibility to move resources quickly to where they’re needed. We can’t do that if your payment system is based on volume of predefined services.”
~Dr. Keith Mueller
Keith J. Mueller, Ph.D., is Head of the Department of Health Management and Policy, College of Public Health, and Gerhard Hartman Professor in Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa. He is also the Director of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) and its Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, and Chair of the RUPRI Health Panel. Dr. Mueller currently serves on the Rural Health Advisory Committee in the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has served as President of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.
He has also served on national advisory committees to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He has published more than 240 scholarly articles and policy papers, and received awards recognizing his research contributions from NRHA, RUPRI, and the University of Nebraska. In 2016, he received the University of Iowa Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. His PhD is in Political Science from The University of Arizona, and he completed a Robert Wood Johnson Faculty Fellowship with Johns Hopkins University.
More and more women are taking on leadership roles in rural healthcare, and Samantha Louise is here to guide them on their journey! Having grown up in rural Minnesota, Samantha knew that there were others just like her in rural areas around the world who wanted to be and cultivate, leaders. Today, Samantha does just that! Founder of Samantha Louise Inc., Samantha guides women of all ages on their natural-born leadership journey.
“Women don’t have to be so hard. They don’t have to get so jaded and so tough. They can own the essence of womanhood and still be compassionate, still be powerful in that, still be a great leader.”
~Samantha Louise
Samantha’s passion is women's empowerment and organizational cultural branding. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College studying leadership and learning in organizations which complements her Master's degree in Educational Leadership specializing in organizational systems change. She holds a Diplomate and Instructorship in Biocognitive Science as well as a Diplomate in Biocognitive Organizational Science with a specialty in mission and vision development to inform experiential employee training, workplace wellbeing, and business innovation. With experience in curriculum design, Samantha ensures a humanistic approach to each framework she develops for personal and career development and vocational empowerment.
Sydney Grant, who recently became the co-host of Rural Health Leadership Radio, takes the other side of the mic in this week’s interview! Once an intern for RHLR, and now a co-host, Sydney tells us about her experiences and journey in rural healthcare leadership and how NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs are making an impact.
“The more people we’re able to connect, especially with rural hospitals – sharing knowledge, perspectives, best practices…it’s only going to get better from here.”
~Sydney Grant, MHA
Sydney Grant is the Director of Programming for NRHA’s Rural Hospital Certification Programs. She graduated from Florida State University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science and graduated with her Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of South Florida in 2020. Sydney was an intern with Rural Health Leadership Radio in 2019 and is now a co-host as well as serving as the Communication Director for her local ACHE Chapter.
To learn more about the Certification Programs, visit www.crhleadership.com
Recruiting and retaining providers is a common topic among rural health leaders. Unfortunately, so is physician burnout. Have you ever wondered if there was a connection between the use of electronic health records and physician burnout in rural America? As it turns out, there is. And that is what we’re talking about with Dr. Danielle Terry, Director of Behavioral Science at Guthrie Family Medicine.
“We might want to think about how we integrate our care in the world and really, in the United States, and how we integrate behavioral health because we are going to have a problem.”
~Danielle Terry, Ph.D.
Dr. Danielle Terry graduated from Syracuse University with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in2012. She is a Board-Certified Health Psychologist and has worked as the Director of Behavioral Science at the Guthrie Family Medicine Residency in Sayre, Pennsylvania since 2017. She developed the clinical psychology training internship at the Bath VA Medical Center and served as the Program Director for several years while concurrently working as an integrated primary care psychologist in rural medicine.
She has special interests in smoking cessation, anxiety disorders, home-based primary care, and resident wellness. She is a recent co-author and editor of the book, Providing Home Care for Older Adults: A Professional Guide for Mental Health Practitioners. Her recent publications relate to technology use among physicians, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersection of technology use and well-being in rural medical providers.
Information on Dr. Terry’s article: ###### Terry, Danielle L. PhD; Mathews, David P. Technology-Assisted Supplemental Work Among Rural Medical Providers: Impact on Burnout, Stress, and Job Satisfaction, Journal of Healthcare Management: November-December 2021 - Volume 66 - Issue 6 - p 451-458 doi: 10.1097/JHM-D-19-00182
Rural healthcare faces many challenges, which become even more complicated when rare disorders are involved. March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month, and Shellye Horowitz, Associate Director of Education for the Hemophilia Federation of America, has experienced first-hand the obstacles that a patient with a rare bleeding disorder faces while living in a rural area.
“We need to make sure that the knowledge and information base is wide enough in our rural communities that we can protect patients with rare bleeding disorders…”
~Shellye Horowitz
Shellye Horowitz is the Associate Director of Education at the Hemophilia Federation of America. Shellye has strong ties to the bleeding disorders community with six traceable generations of hemophilia A in her family, affecting both men and women. Shellye has given presentations and served on numerous committees focused on increasing awareness of diagnosis and treatment for women's disorders. Additionally, Shellye wrote a column for Hemophilia News Today that addressed issues regarding women and bleeding disorders called "The Forgotten Factor". Shellye’s hobbies include International Folk Dance, ham radio, geocaching, knitting, hiking, home improvement projects, and walking her dog Hope on the beach.
To learn more, check out www.hemophelia.org
Many patients living in rural America encounter unique boundaries to receiving the critical healthcare they need, particularly when faced with a rare disorder or disease. March is Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month, and Dr. Len Valentino is working to educate and advocate for upwards of 10,000 rural Americans living with a rare blood or bleeding disorder.
“Understanding rural health is critical to serving the population of the US.”
~Dr. Len Valentino
As CEO of the National Hemophilia Foundation, Dr. Valentino brings more than 35 years of clinical and research experience related to inheritable blood disorders to the organization. Prior to his most recent work with Spark Therapeutics, a biotech startup, he founded and led the Hemophilia and Thrombophilia Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he successfully balanced a $10 million budget to support research grants, research, and clinical teams–keeping the patient and their families as his core focus. He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Creighton University and Creighton University School of Medicine.
He then completed the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Pediatric Medicine Residency before completing a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Valentino remains an active member of multiple professional organizations, including The American Society of Hematology; International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis; Medical Affairs Professional Society; and The Hemophilia and Thrombosis Research Society
To learn more, check out www.hemophelia.org
The needs in a rural community can sometimes be overwhelming, from transportation needs to medical care, dental care, and more. Sabrina Blue’s heart has always been rural because she is a country girl at heart. Her mission is to look at the deficit of the resources in rural Tennessee and figure out how to deliver holistic healthcare to the residents of rural West Tennessee.
“Our mission is to build stronger communities and improve health outcomes for West Tennessee families.’
~Sabrina Blue
Sabrina Blue is the Founder and CEO of Helping Hands of Middle and West Tennessee (HHT). The mission of HHT is to build stronger communities and help improve health outcomes for West Tennessee families. HHT provides dental, medical, and medical insurance assistance to families earning no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Blue is an Associate Pastor with the Historic First Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee.
She had earned over 30 years of corporate management, including sales and marketing strategic planning, for top Fortune 500 companies. Blue had developed and launched businesses such as the first 24-hour childcare center located in Charleston, South Carolina. Blue serves as a board member in nonprofit organizations within her community in the West Tennessee area. Blue currently serves her community in the following areas:
- Vice-Chair, Jackson Madison County Equity Project
- Board Member, Sister with Aspiring Goals (SWAG)
- Board Member, Leadership Jackson Alumni
- Member of the Jackson Rotary Club
- Member of the Jackson Cotillion Club
- Member of the Circle of Red and Red Tie Society
- Member of the 10 Women Who Care of Jackson
- Advisory Committee Member of the Jackson General Hospital
- Chair, Jackson Mission of Mercy
Blue enjoys providing coaching and mentoring services by helping professionals and youths to develop skills in management, sales, marketing, and staffing coaching. She has studied at Trident Technical College, College of Charleston, and the University of Colorado.
Free training? Free tools? Free technical assistance? Yes, that is correct! The Rural Telementoring Training Center (RTTC) accomplishes this through telementoring technology. What is telementoring? You need to listen to our conversation with Trisha Melhado and Suyen Schneegans with RTTC to learn more.
“We provide free training, tools, and technical assistance to support the implementation and evaluation of current and new telementoring programs for rural healthcare workers.’
~Trisha Melhado
Trisha Melhado is the Evaluation Lead for the national Rural Telementoring Training Center. Trisha has experience in various research roles where she provides research guidance to faculty and residents on all aspects of the research process with an emphasis on study methodology and statistical analysis. She has successfully collaborated with faculty from multiple institutions to implement multi-year grant-funded projects and has worked on Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, Department of Defense, and Health Resources & Services Administration funded grants as well as provided analytical and statistical expertise to projects. She has presented research at local and national conferences in addition to co-authoring several publications. At the RTTC, she is the evaluation team lead.
Suyen Schneegans is the Training & Technical Assistance Staff Lead for the national Rural Telementoring Training Center. She has a MA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in Bicultural Bilingual Studies with a concentration in Cultural Studies and is a graduate of the University of the Incarnate Word with a BA in Spanish, Literature, and Language and a minor in Psychology. Suyen has worked on various social science projects pertaining to substance use disorders, community health, screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment (SBIRT). She is also a qualitative researcher and has presented at numerous local and national conferences and co-authored several publications. At the RTTC she is the training and technical assistance team lead.
If you would like to know more, visit www.ruraltelementoring.org.
Nurse staffing shortages is a hot topic, not just in rural America, but everywhere, making nurse education ever more important. Educating nurses and preparing them to take care of the members of their community requires educational leadership. Hear how one nurse educator is making a difference in rural Tennessee as we talk about educational challenges and generational differences. We are having that discussion with Dr. Christie Manasco, Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing.
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.’
~Dr. Christie Manasco
Dr. Christie Manasco is a registered nurse with broad experience and expertise in nursing, education, leadership, and administration. Dr. Manasco is a full-time assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where she teaches in the undergraduate nursing program and is engaged in developing initiatives that promote equity and reduce health disparities for rural and underserved populations. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Manasco served as Assistant Dean of Nursing, Lambuth, where she was responsible for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of an undergraduate nursing program. In this role, she helped develop, grow, and lead the first public baccalaureate nursing program in Jackson, TN.
Additionally, she served as manager for a leading global corporation in the delivery of human patient simulation, learning applications, and training. She began her career in academics at Union University where she served as Assistant Professor/Director of Undergraduate Education for the Center of Excellence in Healthcare. Recently, Dr. Manasco is part of a UTHSC College of Nursing grant team that was awarded a $1.5 million dollar HRSA grant to increase the supply, distribution, and retention of certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners who can provide timely, trauma-informed care for all sexual assault survivors in West Tennessee.
Nurse practitioners can truly make a difference in rural healthcare. When working in rural, you are often on your own, and you never know what healthcare challenges you may face from one day to the next. That is why this conversation today is so important because today we are talking with two nurse leaders who are doing something about helping nurse practitioners grow in confidence to be prepared for whatever walks through their doors.
"We want to make sure they are well prepared for anything that comes into the office."
~Dr. Anne Hirsch
Dr. Anne Hirsch, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at UW School of Nursing, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing and is the UW Premera RNHI Project Director.
A native of Anacortes, WA, Dr. Hirsch is passionate about the health of rural and underserved communities and is dedicated to promoting equitable access to primary care in rural counties of Washington state. Clinically, Dr. Hirsch provides care to homeless families and teens as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She has led statewide innovative programs to improve education access through online programs, co-chaired a design team to formulate a master plan for nursing education in Washington, co-chaired a sub-committee of the Washington Nursing Action Coalition to enact these recommendations, and was recently appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to serve on the coordinating committee to establish core performance measures for healthcare (the only educator or nurse practitioner appointed to this key policy-setting committee).
Through academic leadership roles, she has helped establish a Ph.D. program at Washington State University (WSU) and two Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs at WSU and Seattle University. Dr. Hirsch has successfully brought the WSU and Seattle University Colleges of Nursing and the UW School of Nursing through Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accreditation reviews, and currently co-chairs the CCNE Accreditation Review Committee. Dr. Hirsch is a Fellow in the Academy of Nurse Practitioners and a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.
Dr. Heather Novak, Medical Education Program Director, is a Nurse Practitioner at Valley View Health Center and in charge of the Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program, New Provider onboarding and orientation, and provides family practice services for all ages.
Heather is originally from Virginia Beach, VA. She then traveled the world as a military spouse and saw the global impacts of different types of healthcare systems and the lack of access to care.
As a WA rural healthcare provider in Lewis, Pacific and Thurston counties, Heather sees the difficulty her patients have in accessing specialty care due to distance and cost. Throughout her career in the medical field, she has worked to precept new employees and successfully integrate team philosophies into practice to improve overall outcomes. Heather is a member of AANP, ARNPs United of Washington, NW-Cape, and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Do you remember what the food was like in your school cafeteria? If was anything like mine, you were willing to do whatever was needed to eat something else or somewhere else. Angela Stoltzenburg, Director of Community Health at Lincoln Memorial Hospital, has done something about that. Through a collaborative effort, school cafeterias now create healthy meals from scratch! Not only are students learning about healthy eating habits, but they also see what healthy eating looks like.
We talk to the kids about ‘go’ food and how they need to eat more ‘gos’ than ‘slows’ and more ‘slows’ than ‘whoas.’
~Angela Stoltzenburg
Angela Stoltzenburg has been serving as the Director of Community Health at Lincoln Memorial Hospital (LMH) since 2012 in Lincoln, Illinois. Lincoln is located in central Illinois. LMH serves Logan County and eastern Mason County with a total population of approximately 32,000. In her current role, she oversees a variety of strategies to improve health outside the walls of the critical access hospital.
Stoltzenburg earned a Bachelors in Health Administration and a Master’s of Business Administration from Eastern Illinois University. Prior to her work at LMH she was the CEO of Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois serving six rural Illinois counties, including Logan, to address the needs of low-income and seniors. She uses her experience of the social determinants of health to guide the work of LMH as they work to improve lives and build stronger communities through better health.
When you think about rural healthcare, you may not think about Scotland, but Scotland has some very rural areas that deal with similar issues we deal with in rural America. Hear about what they are doing in rural Scotland to deliver health and wellbeing to their residents, by listening to our conversation with Dr. Emma Watson, 2021-22 U.K. Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice Deputy Medical Director at NHS Highland.
“NHS Highland delivers integrated health and social care, so it is not just about illness.”
~Dr. Emma Watson
Dr. Emma Watson MSc, FRCPath, FRCPEd is a 2020-21 UK Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy and Practice. A Consultant Medical Microbiologist by background and a senior clinical systems leader in Scotland, she is an expert in quality improvement and in medical education and workforce planning.
Emma is Deputy Medical Director in NHS Highland which is, geographically, one of the largest and most sparsely populated combined health and social care systems in the UK. She is also a senior medical adviser in the Scottish Government. In both roles, her focus is on developing innovative approaches to ensuring equitable access to high-quality health care services with a sustainable healthcare workforce, particularly in remote and rural areas.
Emma has led a number of major change programs including the development of Scotland’s first graduate entry medical school. Emma previously held a post in the Scottish Government as Clinical Lead for the Scottish Patient Safety Program during which time she ensured quality improvement methodology translated from the development of health policy and strategy through to implementation across the entirety of the Scottish healthcare system. Scotland was the first country in the world to implement a patient safety program on a whole system basis at the national level. As Director of Medical Education in NHS Highland, she focused on the delivery of high-quality medical education as a tool to increase recruitment and attract young doctors to the region as well as ensuring there is now an established programme to encourage young people from the area to go to medical school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led the clinical response in her region and ensured there was a whole system approach to manage the impact of the virus.
Ted Rogalski considers himself to be in the relationship business. Maximizing outcomes and organizational effectiveness in rural communities with limited resources require a culture of connection, a culture that fosters strong relationships. Hear Ted’s thoughts on this and much more during our conversation with Ted Rogalski, Administrator of Genesis Medical Center in Aledo, IL.
“We must create a culture and work environment that is a draw for caregivers by developing relationships outside the organization.”
~Ted Rogalski
Edward J. (Ted) Rogalski is the Administrator for Genesis Medical Center, Aledo, a 22-bed critical access hospital located in Aledo, Illinois. Rogalski completed his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at St. Ambrose University and received his Master's degree in Health Care Administration from the University of Iowa. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
During his 24 years with Genesis Health System, Rogalski has held a number of leadership positions. Over the past ten years, he has directed operations in Aledo, IL where he joined the organization under a management agreement with Mercer County Hospital (now Genesis Medical Center, Aledo). During his tenure, Rogalski led a $1.6 million dollar turn-around effort and successfully guided the organization through affiliation and ultimately acquisition.
On February 1, 2013, Mercer County Hospital, Medical Associates Clinic (a six provider RHC) and Mercer County Nursing Home (92 bed LTC) joined Genesis Health System. The Hospital immediately embarked on an extensive $12 million renovation plan. Prior to joining Genesis, Rogalski worked for Mercy Hospital, Iowa City, IA; Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, MN; and started his healthcare career at St. Luke’s Hospital, Davenport, IA.
Rogalski currently serves as Chair-Elect for the Illinois Hospital Association Board of Trustees and Treasurer for the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network. He has also served as the Chair for the Small and Rural Hospital Committee of the Illinois Hospital Association and has been an active community volunteer and serves or has served on the boards of the American Hospital Association - Regional Policy Board, Vera French Mental Health Center, St. Ambrose University PA Program, Mercer County Better Together, Mercer County YMCA, St. Paul the Apostle School, Assumption High School Century Club, and Friendship Manor. Rogalski and his wife, Lisa, have five adult married children and one grandson.
Burnett Medical Center set some pretty high goals for wellness visits, complete physicals, annual wellness visits, and welcome-to-Medicare visits. They also initiated a tier management program to follow up with patients to make sure they are doing well. We’re talking about this and more with Tamra White, Burnett Medical Center’s Medical Practice Administrator and Compliance Officer.
“As much as we like to think we’re pretty good at what we do, there’s always room for improvement.”
~Tamra White
Tamra White joined Burnett Medical Center in 2001. Burnett Medical Center is a 17-bed Critical Access Hospital, Rural Health Clinic, and 50-bed nursing home in Tamra’s hometown of Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Throughout that time, Tamra has held various positions including medical transcriptionist, medical staff coordinator, HIM Director, and Compliance Officer. During those years she assisted with two EMR implementations, revenue cycle improvement, and planning for a $15 million building project.
Since 2017 Tamra has served as the Medical Practice Administrator and Compliance Officer in addition to implementing an Emergency Preparedness program. In December 2018 Tamra was asked to co-lead the organization when the hospital’s CEO had an unexpected three-month medical leave.
Tamra is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in healthcare management through Regent University. After that, she plans to obtain a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Tamra also holds a degree in health information management from Rasmussen College.
Tamra’s mission is to serve her community, friends, and family in humility and love while ensuring they have close-to-home access to high-quality healthcare. Her professional interests involve strategic planning, medical staff relations, compliance, and regulatory issues, and goal cycles and action plans. Tamra’s personal interests include spending time with her husband and two daughters, reading, church activities, and Bible study small groups.
Rural Medical Centers has clinics located in mountains where there is no internet or cell service, and in the middle of a tomato field. As you might imagine, they have a few challenges providing healthcare services. I invite you to listen to a very interesting conversation with Jessica Zimmerman and Alexis Andino who are both with Rural Medical Centers in East Tennessee.
“We have a clinic in the mountains where there is no cell or internet service, so the way we access and treat people there is different.”
~Jessica Zimmerman
Jessica Zimmerman is a native of Lima, OH, and is married to Javier. They have one son, Ethan. Jessica is currently transitioning from her role as Corporate Compliance Manager with Rural Medical Services, Inc. to a position working with Auxiliary Services offered through her organization which is a FQHC located in East Tennessee. Jessica is bilingual and uses that ability to not only help her fulfill duties at work but also as a volunteer English teacher for adults one night a week.
Alexis Andino is originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Central America. He is married to Edith, and they have 3 married young adult children, who give them the joy of enjoying 6 grandchildren with one more on the way. Alexis is a bilingual Agricultural Engineer, with a diploma in Church-based community Facilitation, who worked for several years as a church-based community project facilitator for Christian Service Organizations in Honduras, Central America.
Alexis works as a Community Outreach and Transportation worker for Rural Medical Services, Inc.
Alice Hyde Medical Center and Champlain Valley Physicians Hospitals (CVPH) are both in upstate New York, and believe it or not, the closest major metropolitan area is in Montreal, Canada. Collaboration has been an important aspect of delivering quality care to the residents of that area. In our conversation with Michelle LeBeau, CEO of both facilities, Michelle shares her perspective on collaboration and more.
“Collaboration has been really important to understand what each county, each region needs, and how best to deliver care.”
~Michelle LeBeau
With nearly thirty years in health care as a registered nurse and Human Resources executive, today, Michelle leads a dynamic group of health care professionals in Malone and Plattsburgh, New York. She understands the impact individuals bring to their organization when they are engaged and feel valued. She emphasizes the creative inspiration of individual thought processes and strives to ensure all voices are heard.
She believes in the power of a smile, the strength of positivity, and the idea that opportunity is made. Michelle embraces the power of change, thrives on ambiguity, and inspires others with her energy and enthusiasm. Her daily mission is to foster a culture that empowers those around her - ensuring that Alice Hyde Medical Center and CVPH offer a vibrant, engaging experience for its people and patients.
Michelle is an avid learner, holding degrees in nursing, business, and human resources. She believes that learning takes many forms and that each day presents the possibility for growth.
She is most proud of her five children and marvels at watching them grow into incredible people.
The mission of Doing Unto Others (DUO) is to reach people with the love of Christ by practically meeting physical and spiritual needs through providing health resources, service industries, and educational opportunities with the hope of equipping individuals and communities for living an abundant life. We’re talking about this and more with Samuel LaFave, Director of Mobile Missions at Life Church in Cookeville, TN.
“By the time they leave they really do feel like a new person.”
~Samuel LaFave
DUO Wellness is ready to encourage personal health and promote healthy lifestyles by offering wellness screenings and consultations with health professionals, all free of charge! Our team of physicians and health professionals is passionate about putting patients in control of their health by educating and building awareness.
DUO Hair is ready to serve your community by offering haircuts for all ages at no charge! Our Hair Bus is a salon on wheels and will make you feel right at home!
DUO Food is ready to bring meals to your community! Our trailer is fitted with a grill and refrigeration to make for a successful event. The trailer can be used to serve pre-made food or food can be prepared on the trailer!
DUO Outreach is ready to address the crowd with onboard audio and lighting. The stage truck is great for being the central hub of an event!
To learn more about this program, visit their website: DUO Mission (duomobilemission.com)
High-Reliability Organizations are organizations that achieve safety, quality, and efficiency goals. They succeed in avoiding catastrophes in an environment where normal accidents can be expected due to risk factors and complexity. This week’s guest on Rural Health Leadership Radio, Dr. Lesley Ogden, has set a goal for the two hospitals she oversees to become highly reliable organizations.
“You want to assure that every time someone is cared for at your facility, you have the same excellent outcomes every time.”
~Lesley Ogden, M.D.
Dr. Lesley Ogden serves as chief executive officer for the two Samaritan critical access hospitals in Lincoln County, located on the central Oregon coast. Before taking this top position, she served as chief operations officer at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City and as interim CEO at Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, and also worked clinically as an emergency and urgent care physician.
Dr. Ogden is residency trained and board-certified in emergency medicine and has more than 10 years of clinical and leadership experience. She received her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed her emergency medicine residency at Oregon Health and Science University. In addition, Dr. Ogden received a master’s degree in business administration from The Citadel and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Troy State University.
A native of Florida, Dr. Ogden has made the rural Oregon coastal community her home since 2006. She is an active Rotarian in Lincoln City and served as club president in 2016-2017. She is also on the board of directors of the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County and the Oregon Coast Community College Foundation.
Under Dr. Ogden’s leadership, both hospitals were entirely transformed recently, with a new hospital building in Lincoln City and new and renovated buildings, and hospital campus in Newport. Both hospitals are part of Samaritan Health Services, a not-for-profit network of hospitals, clinics, and health services caring for more than 250,000 residents in the mid-Willamette Valley and central Oregon Coast.
COVID vaccination mandates are making an impact in multiple ways. When Lewis County Health System embraced the State of New York’s vaccination mandate, they ended up having resignations, causing them to temporarily suspend obstetrics service. The national news picked up the story, and the next thing you know, Jerry Cayer, CEO of Lewis County Health System, is talking with Lester Holt on the NBC Nightly News.
“One of the things that is important in rural health is that you have to be very transparent with your community.”
~Jerry Cayer
Jerry Cayer was born and raised in Maine, served in the United States Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Maine Farmington with a BS in Community Health Education and a minor in Education, and graduated from Boston University with a Master of Public Health Degree. After a number of years as a high school and college coach, he transitioned to officiating high school basketball and baseball games.
Jerry spent several years as the executive lead in the Health and Human Services Department for the City of Portland, Maine. From there he spent a decade as the Executive Vice President at Franklin Community Health Network and Franklin Memorial Hospital in western Maine. Over three years ago Jerry joined Lewis County Health System and Lewis County General Hospital in Lowville, New York (90 minutes northeast from Syracuse), as its Chief Executive Officer.
After working in various parts of the country, Erica Johnson-Lockett fulfilled her promise to the elders of her community and returned home. That “homegrown kid” is now the Chief Nursing Officer of Bolivar General Hospital in Bolivar, TN.
“I asked the team what they saw as some of the biggest challenges versus asking the leaders of the facility.”
~Erica Johnson-Lockett
Erica Johnson-Lockett began her nursing career in 2007 on a telemetry ward. Later, she transitioned to the ICU. During her career, she has been a Corrections Infirmary Nurse, Adjunct Clinical Nursing Instructor, Home Health Clinical Supervisor, Patient Safety-Risk Management Specialist, Patient Safety Manager & Acting Risk Manager. Currently, she is the CNO for the hospital in her home county.
Erica enjoys community service activities, mentoring adults and high school seniors. Lifelong learning is a passion and she has the ability to teach herself essential functions of career roles. Erica always shares what she has learned with others in addition to learning from them.
Collaboration, communication, listening, and flexibility are the key skills that make Erica an influential, innovative, and dynamic leader. She will never forget where she originated from or the struggles she has faced.
On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking to a nurse trying to make a difference in the Appalachian region. Robyn Seamon has earned advanced degrees, studied, and conducted research to help prepare her to serve Appalachian residents.
“The Appalachian region has the highest number of every chronic disease we look at.”
~Robyn Seamon
Robyn is a Certified Transcultural Nurse who is passionate about seeing the health of people radically transformed in the Appalachian Region. Facilitating improvement in the high rates of health disparities in the Appalachian Region is her heartfelt desire. As a Registered Nurse for over 35 years, she has had many diverse experiences, including hospital nursing, home health and hospice, a startup clinic at a homeless shelter, and various volunteer experiences.
Robyn holds a Master of Arts degree in Appalachian Studies. She is the owner of Appalachian Healthcare Training & Consulting and regularly provides Appalachian-focused professional development workshops and consultation services.
On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the importance of community engagement. Jessica Fisher, CEO of Tri Valley Health System, shares what she and her leadership team have accomplished through community engagement, collaboration and the implementation of a few different change initiatives.
“The community is really what drives the additional services we need to offer.”
~Jessica Fisher
Jessica has a Master of Healthcare Administration from Bellevue University. She earned a Bachelor and Associates Degree from Fort Hays State University. Jessica also has a certification in Leadership, Human Resource Management and is a certified Phlebotomist through the American Society of Clinical Pathology. She comes to Tri Valley with a wealth of health care experience. Most recently she was the Director of Operations at Valley Hope Association, headquartered in her hometown of Norton, Kansas.
Valley Hope is an organization that provides residential and outpatient addiction treatment in seven states and 16 service locations. Prior to that Jessica was the Human Resources and Education Director at Cheyenne County Hospital in St. Francis, Kansas and was the Inpatient Clinical Services Manager at Hays Medical Center, in Hays, Kansas, while providing services to Pawnee Community Hospital in Larned, Kansas and St. Rose Medical Pavilion in Great Bend, Kansas. Jessica strongly believes in effective healthcare systems providing quality patient care with positive patient outcomes along with delivering cost-effective and affordable healthcare services.
This week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio is a special episode to honor all our country’s veterans in honor of Veteran’s Day. Most VA hospitals are in metropolitan areas, making it difficult for veterans living in rural America to receive care there. With around half of our veterans living in rural America, that is just one of the challenges they face, access to care. This week we’re talking about that and more with the CEO of Coal County General Hospital, Trent Bourland. Trent served in the United States Air Force for 10 years and knows first-hand the challenges all rural residents face with it comes to access to care, particularly the challenges veterans are dealing with.
“Be patient with veterans as much as you can. A lot of them are frustrated because they don’t understand how the system works.”
~Trent Bourland
Trent Bourland is the CEO of Coal County Healthcare Authority located in Coalgate, Ok., which operates a 20-bed critical access hospital, three rural health clinics, and a 75-bed long-term care facility. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force and has a master's degree in business from Southern Nazarene University.
If you’re not changing, not trying to look into the future, you’re not moving forward. When Josh Conlee became the CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, he and his team looked at a variety of things: how they were doing, where the market was going, what they did well, and what they didn’t do very well. I hope you’ll listen in to our conversation.
“We are a proud community and we wanted to show people that we were moving forward in many ways.”
~Josh Conlee
Josh Conlee earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Business Administration from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Additionally, he earned a Master of Health Services Administration from the University of Arkansas for Medical Science in Little Rock, Arkansas. Josh is currently the President of Lawrence Healthcare in Walnut Ridge, AR where his duties include the oversight of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Lawrence Hall Health and Rehabilitation.
He previously held positions as the Administrative Director at UAMS North Central, Manager of Strategic Implementation, and Administrative Fellow at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Health Center. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). He was the recipient of the 2019 ACHE Early Career Healthcare Executive Regent’s Award. Josh is married to his wife, Kailey, and they have two daughters, Stella and Avery.
The Rural Health Program is currently being launched in Tennessee, and it has a couple of different components. The first component is focused on the community by looking at ways to promote pharmacy practice in rural areas. The second component is focused on pharmacy students; exposing them to rural healthcare and engaging them in the delivery of quality healthcare in a rural setting. We are having that conversation with Tyler Melton, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Education & Rural Health, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Pharmacy.
“There are rural pharmacies anywhere you go in America and I think they’re underutilized.”
~Tyler Melton
Tyler Melton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), College of Pharmacy. He has nine years of pharmacy practice experience including inpatient and outpatient pharmacy in rural environments. Tyler joined UTHSC in September of 2020, after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship in Community Pharmacy Practice and Prescription Drug Abuse and earning his Master of Public Health from East Tennessee State University. His areas of research expertise include community pharmacy practice, rural health, health disparities, and prescription drug abuse.
Childhood trauma has an impact that lasts a lifetime. Trauma-focused treatment and trauma-informed care is critical, but oftentimes lacking in rural America. Southern Illinois is fortunate to be the home of the Stress and Trauma Treatment Center, where Dr. Matt Buckman and his team provide these services in multiple communities.
“This is the most important work that any of us can do.”
~Dr. Matt Buckman
Dr. Matt Buckman is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of the Stress & Trauma Treatment Center. He also serves in various part-time leadership and consultative roles. Dr. Buckman is the PI of the Southern Illinois Resiliency Project at the Center. He is the Co-PI of the IL HEALS (Helping Everyone Access Linked Systems) Demonstration Site Project and Early Childhood System of Care Project under Egyptian Health Department, the Bullying Prevention/Trauma Responsive Schools initiative and the Trauma Based Behavioral Health Fellowship at the Center for Rural Health & Social Services Development within SIU’s School of Medicine, and the Southern Illinois Violence Prevention Project at the Illinois Association of Juvenile Justice Councils.
Throughout his roles, Dr. Buckman provides supervision, consultation, and training as well as direct services to children, teens, young adults, and families to help improve a variety of emotional and behavioral health issues. He has worked in various schools, medical, and clinical settings with a specialization in childhood trauma and certifications in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Managing & Adapting Practices, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, and Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. He has extensive experience working with victims of abuse and their families as they recover and heal from significant adversities and considers his work in this area to be his calling in life.
Click here to learn more about the Stress & Trauma Treatment Center.
We may not like to talk about it, but sexual assaults happen in rural America, and something needs to be done. In Tennessee, they are doing something! By way of a grant, an initiative is underway to provide funding for education, training, certification, and retention of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE). SANE programs are designed to train nurses to address survivors' needs and provide trauma-informed care.
The 21 counties of West Tennessee have only five certified SANE nurses, four of whom practice in Shelby County. But the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation received nearly 1,600 reports of sexual assault in West Tennessee in 2019, indicating a significant shortage of nurses certified to meet the need for this care.
“The grant was awarded to increase the supply of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in West Tennessee.”
~Linda Beasley, DNP, APRN, NP-C, RN
Lisa Beasley joined the UTHSC CON faculty in September 2020. Prior to joining UT, Lisa was previously at the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing for 10 years, serving as a Clinical Associate Professor and the Director of Clinical Education for the last 6 years of her time there. Lisa’s practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner has been in hospice and palliative care for the last 9 years serving patients in rural and underserved communities. Prior to becoming a nurse, Lisa enjoyed an 18-year career in the radio industry.
Click here to learn more about this program.
A little over 5 years ago, Hanover Hospital was on the brink of closing its doors. Turning things around was going to be a difficult and challenging journey but knowing how much the hospital meant to the community, a dedicated team of rural health workers turned things around.
“We were hanging on by a thread, just trying to figure out how to make payroll and keep the doors open.”
~Brittni Oehmke, CEO
Brittni is the Administrator at Hanover Hospital, located in Hanover, KS, where she has been for 5 years. She is also a Medical Laboratory Scientist and the current Lab Manager. Brittni has three beautiful children: Kaylee, Dalton and Cole. Her family loves animals, being outdoors and playing sports. Brittni also coaches high school girls’ basketball and is a Kentucky basketball fanatic.
Access to care in rural America is a recurring theme, particularly when it comes to cancer care. Transportation is one of the top challenges rural cancer patients must overcome to receive the treatment they need. But there are people trying to do something about that. One of those persons is Dr. Whitney Zahnd, and that’s one of the things we’re talking about in this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio.
“The best way to reduce cancer disparities and improve cancer rates is to prevent cancer or to find it earlier.”
~Whitney Zahnd, Ph.D.
Whitney Zahnd, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. Her research employs health services research, social epidemiological, and spatial methods to address rural cancer disparities across the continuum and to evaluate access to health care services. Dr. Zahnd is a 2021 National Rural Health Association Rural Health Fellow and a board member with the Iowa Rural Health Association.
She is a full member of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center and a member of the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN). Before joining the University of Iowa faculty, Dr. Zahnd completed post-doctoral training and served as research faculty at the Rural & Minority Health Research Center at the University of South Carolina. Prior to earning her doctorate in community health from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2018, she worked for eleven years as a master’s trained researcher at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine supporting rural health and cancer disparities research.
Click here to find out more about the Cancer Prevention & Control Research Network (CPCRN).
Would you like to become a more effective leader if it only took you 5 minutes a day? If that sounds like a winning idea to you, you need to listen to our conversation with Jo Anne Preston, author of Lead the Way in 5 Minutes a Day: Sparking High Performance in Yourself and Your Team.
“Healthcare workers have really been gutted because there has been so much stress, so much pressure.”
~Jo Anne Preston
Jo Anne Preston is the Workforce and Organizational Development Sr. Mgr. at the Rural WI Health Cooperative, where she brings over four decades of her healthcare leadership experience to designing and delivering leadership and employee education for rural healthcare throughout WI and the U.S. She has an M.S. in Educational Psychology/Community Counseling from Eastern Illinois University and is the author of Lead the Way in Five Minutes a Day: Sparking High Performance in Yourself and Your Team. She also writes a monthly leadership blog. Click here to order your copy of Lead the Way in Five Minutes a Day: Sparking High Performance in Yourself and Your Team.
Humble people doing great things is always inspirational. Prepare yourself to be inspired today by listening to our conversation with Walter Panzirer, Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. Having lived and worked in rural America, Walter immediately knew where he could make a difference and improve lives when he found out he had been named as a Trustee.
“We were given a blank slate to see how we can improve lives around the world.”
~Walter Panzirer
Walter Panzirer, is a grandson of Leona Helmsley. Raised in California, he adopted South Dakota as his home. Having worked as a first responder in both states, Walter witnessed personally the significant disparities in quality health care available close to home – disparities that demanded attention. Serving as a paramedic, firefighter, and police officer also made him acutely aware of the range of situations encountered by these professionals – from cardiac and stroke events, to individuals facing a mental health crisis.
Upon the death of his grandmother, Walter was to his great surprise named a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. He realized the opportunity for investing in better healthcare for Americans in rural communities as well as for supporting communities across rural Africa to build resilience. A passionate advocate for telehealth, Walter is committed to shortening the distance between a medical emergency and life-saving treatment, including outfitting first responders with modern equipment for managing emergencies. His curiosity, coupled with a get-it-done acumen, means that he’s always looking for healthcare leapfrog opportunities that can be readily implemented.
Walter studied business and history at Black Hills State University, and pursued pastoral studies at MidAmerica Nazarene University. An inductee to American Telehealth Association’s College of Fellows as well the South Dakota Hall of Fame, Walter has served on a number of nonprofit and educational boards. He, his wife, and their family own and operate a hunting lodge in rural South Dakota.
This week we’re talking about the quality of care in rural America, antibiotic stewardship, taking care of cancer patients and rural hospital turnarounds. We’re having that conversation with Bob Milvet, CEO of Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg, West Virginia.
“What started out as a difficult conversation turned into a very meaningful discussion and dialog.”
~Bob Milvet
Bob Milvet is the Chief Executive Officer at Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg, West Virginia. He has served in multiple, progressive leadership capacities since 1999 in the areas of Academic Medicine, Community Acute Care Hospitals, Physician Group Practices and Critical Access Hospitals. He is most passionate about rural medicine, and has led financial turnarounds, a new hospital construction project and merger transactions. In his new role as CEO, he is leading the development of a Cancer Center and multiple other renovation projects to greatly improve access to care in his 5-county service area.
Once again I ask, where will our future rural health leaders come from? And once again we have found one future rural health leader, this time in the state of New York. Her name is Emma Dening, and Emma is this year’s recipient of the Rural Health Leadership Radio Juanita Bartholomew Scholarship. The Juanita Bartholomew Scholarship was established to assist high school graduates who want to continue their education in a healthcare field with the goal of working in Rural America.
“Leadership is having the courage to speak against the most common opinion.”
~Emma Dening
Growing up in a county with more cows than people, Emma saw the epidemic facing rural youth, especially the population of young girls. Not COVID, rather losing confidence in themselves because of the expectations of their surroundings, many youth in her area surrendered their potential to the opinions of those around them.
Throughout high school, Emma captained her Varsity Basketball and Softball teams, lead her Cleats for Athletes program that provided in-need student-athletes with free sports equipment, co-coached several youth girls basketball teams, began a tutoring program and started a program connecting young athletes to their varsity teams, in hopes of inspiring the youth to take control of their own futures and be their own greatest activists.
This fall, she will be entering Le Moyne College’s 5-year Physician Assistant program, granting her a Master’s in Biology and her PA license. Initially, Emma committed to St. Lawrence University to further her basketball career with the intent of entering medical school before deciding a career as a PA better suited her desired lifestyle.
Where will our future rural health leaders come from? We have found one future rural health leader in Louisiana and we’re having a conversation with her. Her name is Ellyn Kate Boothe, and Ellyn Kate is the recipient of the Rural Health Leadership Radio Earl Bartholomew Scholarship. The Earl Bartholomew Scholarship was established to assist high school graduates who want to continue their education in a healthcare field with the goal of working in Rural America.
“My definition of leadership would be to carry yourself with grace and determination.”
~Elynn Kate Boothe
Elynn Kate Boothe is a recent graduate of Minden High School in Minden, Louisiana. She is an active member of her youth group at First Baptist Minden where she loves to fellowship and serve others in her community. In her free time, you can find her with a book, hanging out with family and friends, and online shopping. She is excited to be starting a new chapter in her life by attending Northwestern State University in the fall to pursue a degree in nursing.
How do you create a healthier rural community? Collaboration is certainly a key ingredient to making that happen, but how do you go about that? Dr. Sameer Vohra and his team of collaborators are trying to make a difference in rural Southern Illinois with the ‘Building a Healthier Rural Illinois’ initiative.
“People in rural areas were more likely before the pandemic to die from the five leading causes of death in America.”
~Dr. Sameer Vohra
Dr. Vohra was born and raised in Chicago and received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Northwestern University. He then went on to receive a dual degree from Southern Illinois University’s Medicine and Law Dual Degree Program, as well as traveling to India on a United States Department of State Fulbright Scholarship.
He has a passion for improving people’s health as well as the one-on-one connection that comes with being a physician, fueled by his desire to understand how he could work to improve society’s health. Dr. Vohra would go on to attend the University of Chicago where he was the first to follow the pediatric public policy track, where he trained as a general pediatrician and received advanced public policy training.
Dr. Sameer Vohra settled back into Southern Illinois University and began his journey into population health and science, taking steps to make a concrete difference in the communities he served. He was able to lead the creation of the Office of Population Science and Policy to determine if there would be support, funding, and interest in the community to launch the office as an academic department. The Department of Population Science and Policy was officially launched in July 2018, and is only one of 25 such departments in the country.
Oftentimes we feel like we cannot make a difference. We say to ourselves, “I’m only one voice. How can I make a difference? I work at a little hospital in the middle of nowhere, who’s going to listen to me” I’ve heard numerous rural health leaders say that or something similar. Yet I know firsthand that one voice can make a big difference.
“Small things make a big difference.”
~Bill Auxier
Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, explains how trends in behavior, marketing, or business have a ‘magic moment’ when they rapidly spread like an epidemic. He calls this moment the ‘tipping point.’ I thought it was appropriate to revisit this book with its epidemic analogy and the idea that little things can make a big impact.
Rural Health Leadership Radio was created to share rural health leadership best practices at no cost. Each week, we have a different rural health leader as a guest sharing what works, what they have tried that didn’t work, and the unique approaches they are implementing.
Thank you for listening!
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation with Dr. Hannah Wenger, a clinical care specialist on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital. Hannah is a physician who is passionate about providing culturally relevant care to the residents of the community she serves.
“What does allopathic medicine have to do with a traditional ceremony like a sweat lodge? I would argue it has a lot to do with it”
~ Hannah Wenger M.D.
Hannah Wenger, MD, is a general internist and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) having just completed MGH’s Fellowship Program in Rural Health Leadership. She obtained her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She then completed an internal medicine residency and a clinical medical ethics fellowship at the University of Chicago. As a rural health fellow at MGH, Dr. Wenger currently provides clinical care to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her interests include Two Spirit and LGBTQ health, hepatitis C, and clinical ethics.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about movement as medicine. We’re having that conversation with Dr. Anthony Fleg, Director of Running Medicine.
“Movement is something we as leaders, as health professionals, need to remember is one of our simplest outlets that life gives us.”
~Anthony Fleg
Dr. Fleg is a family physician who thinks of his work of healing as “occasionally done with a stethoscope, more often done in communities…done with youth and elders, done through art, language, culture, and love, and through listening more than through talking.” Through NHI, Dr. Fleg created the Running Medicine (www.runningmedicine.org) program in 2016, a unique approach to mind, body, and spiritual wellness through walking and running.
“Leadership is more about empowering people around you to see the best in themselves and to see their own ability to lead, to heal, and do for themselves.”
~Anthony Fleg
Dr. Fleg is also a co-founder of the Native Health Initiative (www.lovingservice.us), a partnership to address health inequities through loving service. He is also a faculty member at the University of New Mexico in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and in the College of Population Health. Dr. Fleg considers himself a love activist, grounded in a deep belief that love can serve as a vehicle toward equity, justice and social transformation. For more information about Dr. Fleg’s work, see the links below!
- "What is Running Medicine" video:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_m7L5lP1hs
- Annals of Family Medicine article:
- http://www.annfammed.org/content/17/5/466.full.pdf+html
- NHI Brochure:
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mScFc3EfcLgcCBIxGvVWncmHtGvU74zW/view
- 2018 RM Report:
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/25nvujcdf3tpo4s/2018-Report%20022019.pdf?dl=0
- 2019 Running Medicine Report
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LsupYTCsxoLNGo6DIN_GpwDosxKtAvIY/view?usp=sharing
This week’s guest is Christian Curtis with the Fort Peck Tribes Health Promotion Disease Prevention program (HPDP). Christian is a registered nurse who started working with the Tribes in August 2015. Her plan to continue to work for this program to assist in providing medical services to children on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
“Anytime you work with a cultural group or a native population, it’s important to know their history and what they’ve gone through as a people.”
Christian grew up on the Fort Peck Reservation and is an enrolled member of the Tribe. She graduated from one of the High Schools on the reservation in 2011 and continued her education at the Fort Peck Community College. While a student there, she was given several opportunities to pursue a nursing career. In August 2012, she continued her undergraduate studies at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN, where she graduated in May 2015, with dual degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Christian Studies.
Christian chose to work for the HPDP program because of the unique opportunities to expand in providing services on the reservation. She loves the work and hopes to continue on this path in providing and enhancing healthcare for her community.
First, it was hurricane Elsa. Then it was tropical storm Elsa. Then it became hurricane Elsa once again, and the Rural Health Leadership Radio studio was right in the projected path. Then once again it became tropical storm Elsa. As you might imagine, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride, trying to figure out how to prepare for the situation you might face. Does this type of scenario sound familiar? That’s why we’re talking about leadership resilience today.
“The way you deal with difficult time is so important to leadership.”
~Bill Auxier
Here is a link to the article referenced in this conversation: https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience
Rural Health Leadership Radio was created to share rural health leadership best practices at no cost. Each week we have a different rural health leader as a guest sharing what they are doing that works, what they have tried that didn’t work and unique approaches they are implementing.
Thank you for listening!
Rural Health Leadership Radio has been ‘on the air’ for five years! Starting with 24 downloads of the first episode, we are fast approaching 100,000. Over these last five years, rural health leaders from around the country have shared what is working, what is not working, definitions of leadership, and other best practices in rural healthcare leadership.
“I can’t believe we’ve been on the air for 5 years!”
~Bill Auxier
Bill Auxier, Ph.D. helps successful rural health leaders achieve lasting positive behavioral change. He accomplishes that through rural health leadership development that includes consulting, coaching, training and research. He is experienced working with rural health leaders across the country to improve their organizations through more effective leadership, cultural transformation and strategic plan development.
Bill is the Program Director of the NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program, President and CEO of the Dynamic Leadership Academy™, and Executive Director of Rural Health Leadership Radio™, a 501(c)3 non-profit established to serve healthcare leaders serving the underserved in rural America. He is the creator and host of the Rural Health Leadership Radio podcast, a contributing author to the Wall Street Journal Best-seller Masters of Success, author of the award-winning best-seller To Lead, Follow, author/editor of What Rural Health Leaders are Saying, and 35-year veteran of the healthcare industry.
Dr. Auxier is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Master’s in Business Administration and Master’s in Cybersecurity at the University of Maryland Global Campus teaching Communication, Decision Making and Leadership.
Bill started his career in healthcare as a nurse’s aide at Hamilton Memorial Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, in his boyhood hometown, McLeansboro, Illinois. From there, he worked his way up to become the CEO of a surgical device manufacturer with global distribution.
He is an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School and recipient of the 2019 National Rural Health Association President’s Award.
Electronic Health Records (EHR) were implemented for several reasons, one of them being the reduction of healthcare costs. Have EHRs reduced costs? Have EHRs reduced costs in rural hospitals? If you would like to know the answer to those questions and more, listen to our conversation with Claudia Rhoades, a 3rd Year Doctoral Student and Dr. Brian Whitacre, Professor and Extension Economist in Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University.
“I was surprised to find such a different appreciation between EHR in hospital costs for urban and rural hospitals.”
~ Claudia Rhoades
Claudia Rhoades is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. Claudia has a B.A. in International Relations from Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico and an M.S. in International Studies from Oklahoma State University. Claudia’s main area of interest is economic and rural development. She is passionate about education, and poverty alleviation.
Brian Whitacre is a Professor and Jean & Patsy Neustadt Chair in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. Brian’s main area of interest is rural economic development, with a focus on the role that technology can play. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, with most exploring the relationship between Internet access and rural development. He has developed innovative outreach programs that help small towns benefit from the Internet. Brian has won regional and national awards for his research, teaching, and extension programs.
The new administration created the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and handpicked Dr. Tim Putnam to be a part of that team. Why? Because he has an incredible amount of experience as a healthcare leader, particularly rural health! Tim is not only the CEO of Margaret Mary Health, a Critical Access Hospital in Indiana, he is also Past-President of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), an American College of Healthcare Executive Fellow, and involved in many other healthcare organizations and initiatives. One of those initiatives is the creation of the NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program.
“There’s a lot of things you don’t learn in your master’s program or an academic medical center on how to make it work in a rural community.”
~Tim Putnam
Tim Putnam is President and CEO of Margaret Mary Health in Batesville, Indiana, and has over 30 years of healthcare experience. He received his Doctorate in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina where his dissertation was focused on acute stroke care in rural hospitals. In 2015, Dr. Putnam was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and serves on the Batesville Fire and EMS Lifesquad.
Rural hospitals have many challenges, and the Center for Optimizing Rural Health (CORH) was created to help overcome those challenges. Housed within the Rural & Community Health Institute at Texas A&M University, CORH works with the rural facilities, their providers and their communities to improve the quality of care, maintain access to care and address the challenges unique to small hospitals and the towns they serve. We’re having this conversation with Bree Watzak, a true rural health leader who wears many hats. Bree is the Director of Rural Access Programs, Director of Technical Assistance (CORH), and Patient Safety Organization (PSO #79) Pharmacist.
“The themes we are seeing in the Bright Spots are leadership, culture and upstream thinking.”
~Bree Watzak
Bree Watzak has been a pharmacist since 2008, she joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center in 2011. She is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist and a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. Bree received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Houston and completed residency training at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. Bree is the pharmacist on the PSO #79 team, listed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
As Director of Technical Assistance for the Center for Optimizing Rural Health, Bree spends her time working with rural communities to improve the quality of care, maintain access to care, and address the challenges unique to rural hospitals and the communities they serve. Bree was a 2020 Rural Health Fellows with the National Rural Health Association and currently serves as a Research and Education Constituency Group Representative on the Rural Health Congress.
You can learn more about CORH by clicking here.
After serving rural hospitals and clinics in rural Illinois for years, Pat Schou became the President of the National Rural Health Association right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. All those plans for conferences and presentations changed dramatically while the needs for rural health providers dramatically changed too. In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, Pat provides her perspective on the current state of affairs in rural healthcare.
“We are really better together!”
~Pat Schou
Pat Schou is the Executive Director of the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), the first state-wide critical access hospital network established in 2003. ICAHN is comprised of 57 CAH and rural hospitals, which is providing a number of hospital support services and educational programs, as well as managing the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant, Small Hospital Improvement Program, and several other grant programs on behalf of the IL Department of Public Health and other organizations.
In addition, Pat is the Executive Director of the IL Rural Community Care Organization (IRCCO), a statewide rural accountable care organization comprising 25 critical access and rural hospitals. Pat has more than 35 years of clinical and rural hospital administrative experience and past president of the National Rural Health Association. Pat serves on the Board for the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, National Rural Resource Center Board, and Partners for Connected IL Board. She is also a fellow member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and is a national speaker and facilitator.
You can learn more about ICAHN by clicking here.
What would you do if the first thing your Board of Trustees asked you to do as the new CEO was to close the hospital? This CEO said no! Listen to her story, Robin Rau’s story, CEO of the Hospital Authority of Miller County in Colquitt, Georgia.
“The first thing my Board asked me to do when I came here was to close the hospital. I said no!”
~Robin Rau, CEO
Before joining the Hospital Authority of Miller County as the CEO in 2008, the organization had years of multi-million-dollar losses and had less than $100,000 in the bank and negative net worth. Annual revenues in 2008 were $17 m with roughly 150 employees. At that time, the organization consisted of a 25-bed CAH, Rural Health Clinic, and 97 bed SNF. The hospital had an average daily census of 5 patients, and the nursing home had an Average census of 62.
Today, the organization consists of 2 Rural Health Clinics, one Mobile RHC, 2 Skilled Nursing Facilities with 217 beds, 25-bed CAH, management of two other CAH facilities, a 5 county Home Health agency, Home Infusion Center, an ACO, and free-standing Pharmacy. Annual Revenues are now $84m, with 700 employees and an annual payroll of $40.5m. During the past 12 years, Miller County has not raised its Charge Master fees but selectively lowered them.
What would you do if you became the CEO of a Critical Access Hospital for the very first time in your career, and immediately had to deal with a global pandemic? All this after several years of blood, sweat and tears, turning around that same hospital from difficult times as the CFO/COO along with the entire leadership team. Hear one rural health leaders’ story who has weathered this and more along with his leadership team by listening to our conversation with Hunter Nostrant, CEO of Helen Newberry Joy Hospital.
“It was the start of breaking down any barriers and silos in communication and really having more open dialogue to truly get down to the root of issues”
~Hunter Nostrant
Hunter Nostrant, FACHE, RHCOC, is the Chief Executive Officer of Helen Newberry Joy Hospital & Healthcare Center (HNJH). HNJH is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital with an attached 39-bed Long Term Care Facility and three Rural Health Clinics, located in the middle of the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Prior to his promotion to CEO, he was the COO/CFO and responsible for a multitude of areas focusing on the ongoing day-to-day internal operations, financial strategies, and a strategic partner to the CEO. He earned his Bachelor Degree in Public Accounting from Hope College in Holland, MI, and a Masters of Healthcare Administration. Hunter is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and earned a Rural Hospital CEO Certification through the National Rural Healthcare Association, amongst other credentials.
What do rural hospitals and clinics have in common with large academic medical centers? How can they collaborate with each other to their community’s benefit? How can they collaboratively create value? Find out what they’re doing in the state of Oklahoma by listening to our conversation with Greg Martin, Physician Outreach & Business Development Coordinator with OU Health.
“You take great care of my patients, but you probably couldn’t find us on a map.”
~Greg Martin
Greg Martin works as a Physician Outreach and Business Development Coordinator for OU Health, which is the most diverse medical health care system in the state of Oklahoma and recognized by Beckers Hospital Review as one of the top 100 hospitals of 2020.
In his current role, Greg helps community physicians have greater access to specialty care for their patients and collaborates with hospital leaders to maintain a vibrant health care community in their area.
His family ties run deep with healthcare. He and his wife Heather live in Tulsa where she is a private practice OBGYN, his daughter-in-law is a Nurse Practitioner, and his daughter is a Physician’s Assistant.
Greg holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Oklahoma State University and is currently pursuing two Masters Degrees: a Masters of Organizational Leadership from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters in Biblical Studies.
Can you believe that the world’s worst outbreak of HIV happened in a rural community in Southern Indiana? In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we continue the conversation with Dr. Will Cooke, who shares his story of being the sole practitioner in this rural community challenged with this incredible healthcare issue.
“We had threats to my life, people threatened to burn down the clinic, there was a lot of pushback”
~Will Cooke
William Cooke, MD, FAAFP, FASAM, AAHIVS, is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, specializing in family medicine, addiction medicine, and HIV medicine. His work has been covered by CBS, NBC, PBS, the BBC, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and others. In 2019, Dr. Cooke was named National Physician of the Year by the American Academy of Family Physicians and joined the ranks of two US surgeons general and a former secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services in receiving the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award. He was also the first physician to be awarded the Pillar of Excellence by Addiction Policy Forum.
Dr. Cooke lives in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana, with his wife, Melissa, and six children.
Learn more at:
www.canaryinthecoalminebook.com
What would you do if you were the lone physician living and practicing in a forgotten rural community while facing the world’s worst outbreak of HIV? Would you believe this actually happened in a rural community in Southern Indiana? Hear Dr. Will Cooke’s story about his roller coaster of emotions and challenges that he experienced as he dealt with this hidden epidemic.
“The circumstances into which someone is born and raised has a lot to do with their health outcomes.”
~Will Cooke
William Cooke, MD, FAAFP, FASAM, AAHIVS, is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine and the American Society of Addiction Medicine, specializing in family medicine, addiction medicine, and HIV medicine. His work has been covered by CBS, NBC, PBS, the BBC, USA Today, the New York Times, NPR, and others. In 2019, Dr. Cooke was named National Physician of the Year by the American Academy of Family Physicians and joined the ranks of two US surgeons general and a former secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services in receiving the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award. He was also the first physician to be awarded the Pillar of Excellence by Addiction Policy Forum.
Dr. Cooke lives in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana, with his wife, Melissa, and six children.
Learn more at:
www.canaryinthecoalminebook.com
What are some of the financial challenges rural hospitals face? What are some creative solutions? We’re talking about that and more this week in our conversation with Julie Leonard, CFO of Boundary Community Hospital.
“That program was the greatest program I would say I have been in and would recommend it to anybody.”
~Julie Leonard
Julie Leonard is the CFO of Boundary Community Hospital (BCH) in Bonners Ferry ID. BCH is a 20-bed critical access hospital with an attached 28-bed long-term care facility. Julie has earned 2 master’s degrees – 1st in International Business and Finance and the 2nd in Health Care Administration and is a graduate of the first NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification program February 2020 cohort.
Julie and her husband are avid hikers and mountain bikers so living in rural Idaho gives us everything we want and need to live life as we love it. Being able to live and work in rural Idaho is even better!
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the rural collaborative advantage; how rural community leaders can recognize the resources within their community and then then collaborate with the various organizations within their community to create a culture of health. We’re having that conversation with Chris Thompson, President and CEO of the West Missouri Community Action Agency.
“Whether you’re in an urban area or a rural area, it is what it is. Poverty is poverty.”
~Chris Thompson
Chris is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of West Central Missouri Community Action Agency located and West Central Community Development Corporation (d/b/a New Growth) located in Appleton city, Missouri. Prior to joining West Central in 2014, Chris coordinated community economic development efforts in Clarkston, Georgia -- a community that has been described, variously, as the “most diverse square mile” in the United States and as “the Ellis Island of the 21st Century,” and on American Indian reservations (in South Dakota); and has served as an economic development advisor to, and provided administrative oversight of, large networks of resources for community transformation in twenty of the most economically challenged counties in the United States.
During his time in community economic development, Chris has led efforts to develop a unique community engagement model known as a community trust, assisted in the development of a small business accelerator model featured in a documentary, facilitated community engagements throughout the United States, consulted non-profit organizations on community development and facilitation, and has spoken on community development issues at various conferences, and on various media.
Chris also practiced commercial real estate law for over 16 years, which practice included stints at large law firms, at large international corporations, and at smaller boutique firms providing counsel to local, regional and national real estate developers and commercial/retail tenants.
Chris holds degrees in business (B.S. Business Administration), law (J.D.), and alternative dispute resolution (L.L.M.), all from the University of Missouri – Columbia.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about innovations that are making a big impact on rural health and rural communities. Global STL is an organization based in St. Louis, Missouri, that is bringing innovators from around the world together to make a difference in peoples’ lives with a particular focus on rural America.
“We now have a huge toolbox of innovation. And we started to realize that many of these innovations were very valid and relevant for our rural communities.”
~ Vijay Chauhan
Vijay Chauhan is an experienced Corporate Business Development Executive and a startup CEO of multiple companies in the health & nutrition space. He leads BioSTL’s initiatives including the Center for Rural Health Innovation (CRHI) and GlobalSTL. CRHI’s mission is to help improve the health & economic vitality of rural communities through innovation & coalition building. Key priorities of the CRHI include improving healthcare access & affordability; healthcare workforce capacity; high speed, affordable broadband, and addressing the social determinants of health unique to rural communities.
The CRHI hosts webinars and an annual Rural Health Symposium, sources & deploys cutting-edge innovation (including telehealth) and captures the impact of its outcome; informs rural health policy; convenes & connects rural communities to improve health & economic vitality. GlobalSTL’s mission is to recruit companies with cutting-edge global innovation to St. Louis and rural Midwest rural communities to create economic vitality. GlobalSTL is leveraging St. Louis’ massive buying power in healthcare by convening 18 healthcare organizations, whose combined revenues are over $360 billion to source and deploy cutting-edge healthcare innovation. GlobalSTL also hosts an annual Health Innovation Summit that has become Midwest’s premier event for healthcare innovation.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about some of the unique things Kevin DeRonde and his dynamic team are doing at Mahaska Health, a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital located in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
“One of the first things we did at Mahaska Health is we reversed the organizational chart.”
~Kevin DeRonde
Kevin DeRonde grew up on a farm in Iowa just north of Pella, where he still helps his dad on the farm. Kevin’s dad is a four-time cancer survivor, who is doing well now, and his cancer in remission. Kevin’s concern for his wellbeing provided the motivation to return to Iowa and to serve in healthcare.
Kevin has a strong resumé of healthcare business management, professional leadership, and has been recognized for building high-performing, cohesive teams focused on delivering high-quality, compassionate care. He has led strategic initiatives to improve financial operations and enhance employee and physician recruitment and engagement. In his previous management and executive roles at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., UnityPoint Des Moines, John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines and MHP, DeRonde led numerous capital improvement projects.
Kevin holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Masters of Healthcare Management (MHM) from Middle Tennessee State University. Prior to earning his master’s degrees and playing football in the NFL, DeRonde earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Iowa State University, completed the Pre-Optometry program, and served as a team captain for the ISU football team.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about various initiatives centered around health and child well-being, wellness, strengthening families, transportation, a diversity of projects and activities in rural communities through the Randolph County Caring Community Partnership. We’re having that conversation with Lorna Miles, Project Director, and Brian Williams, Executive Director of Randolph County Caring Community Partnership in Missouri.
“Our goal is to remove all barriers.”
~Lorna Miles
Brian Williams has served as the Executive Director of the Randolph County Caring Community Partnership since 2007 and has facilitated several workshops on organizational, program, and community development. He also serves on the board for the Network for Strong Communities, the industry leader for affordable and innovative capacity building, programs and services and resources that strengthen nonprofits, and as the Chair for the Northeast Alliance Advisory Coalition of the Office of Minority Health.
Brian works extensively with community and faith-based agencies, government agencies, and health agencies to implement diverse health and social-health-related projects within Northeast and Central Missouri.
Lorna Miles, MBA, BS Paralegal Studies is currently employed as a Project Director for Randolph County Caring Community Partnership (RCCCP) since 2011. She supervises Community Health Workers (CHW's), as well as plans, directs, coordinates, and leads activities of their Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Opioid federal grant.
Lorna formerly worked as a Governmental Paralegal to the Missouri Attorney General Jeremiah Wilson "Jay" Nixon for several years. Lorna operated the Victim’s Compensation Fund, as well as provided resources, counseling, advocacy, and referral for thousands of victims of crime and their families.
Prior to Lorna’s employment with the Missouri Attorney General, she was a leader in the healthcare industry for over 20 years. On the business side of healthcare, Lorna has expertise in the area of risk management and catastrophic case management, and long-term care. Through each of these experiences, Lorna has been an advocate for the patient and family, which allowed her to have a broad scope of the practice and an understanding of how and why the area of patient advocacy is emerging as a key tool to engage patients to be active participants in their health and healthcare.
Lorna is the Co-Chairperson for the Northeast Alliance Advisory Coalition for the Missouri Office of Minority Health. She serves as a Civic Interest Representative on the board of North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC); a non-profit agency that has been managing and delivering an abundance of social service, community health and public housing programs to the low-income, elderly, youth, handicapped and disadvantaged rural Missourians since 1965. She is a board member of the Missouri Coalition of Oral Health and is on the Planning & Zoning Commission for the City of Moberly (her term ends 2024).
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the value of community collaboration and leadership in rural healthcare with Brian Williams, the CEO of Coal Country Community Health Center in Beulah, North Dakota.
“As a healthcare leader in your community, I think you’re more visible than other leaders in the community.”
~Brian Williams
Brian Williams and his family love living in rural America, he does not believe that by living in rural communities one must sacrifice their healthcare. Brian has spent the last 12 years working with hospitals and community health centers in providing services to rural communities and those who are underserved. He is currently the CEO of Coal Country Community Health Center and Sakakawea Medical Center, which is a unique collaboration between a critical access hospital and a community health center.
Center for Rural Strategies
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about improving economic and social conditions in rural communities around the world. We’re having that conversation with Dee Davis, President of the Center for Rural Strategies.
“Life is what happens when you’re not making plans.”
~Dee Davis
Dee Davis is the founder and president of the Center for Rural Strategies. Dee has helped design and lead national public information campaigns on topics as diverse as commercial television programming and federal banking policy.
Dee began his media career in 1973 as a trainee at Appalshop, an arts and cultural center devoted to exploring Appalachian life and social issues in Whitesburg, Kentucky. As Appalshop's executive producer, the organization created more than 50 public TV documentaries, established a media training program for Appalachian youth, and launched initiatives that use media as a strategic tool in organization and development.
Dee is the chair of the National Rural Assembly steering committee; he is a member of the Rural Advisory Committee of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Fund for Innovative Television, and Feral Arts of Brisbane, Australia. He is also a member of the Institute for Rural Journalism’s national advisory board. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Work and the Economy. Dee is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. Dee is also the former Chair of the board of directors of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the financial problems rural clinics and hospitals are facing because of the payments they receive for their services. We’re having that conversation with Harold Miller, President and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
“Most of what people believe about the causes of the problems and the solutions to them are wrong.”
~Harold Miller
Harold D. Miller is the President and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR), a national policy center that facilitates improvements in healthcare payment and delivery systems. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. Harold is a nationally-recognized expert on healthcare payment and delivery reform.
He has twice given invited testimony to Congress on how to reform healthcare payment, and he has worked in more than 40 states and several foreign countries to help physicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, and government agencies design and implement payment and delivery system reforms. He served for four years as one of the initial members of the federal Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee that was created by Congress to advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the creation of alternative payment models.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about some of the unique things Hillsdale Hospital is doing to serve their community. We’re having that conversation with the hospital’s CEO, J.J. Hodshire. Located in southern Michigan near the Ohio and Indiana borders, Hillsdale Hospital is a Critical Access Hospital located in Hillsdale, Michigan.
“Our philosophy is to take it right to the community.”
~J.J. Hodshire
Love of God, love of family, love of community. Those three things drive Jeremiah “JJ” Hodshire, ’99, in his many roles: as the new president and CEO of Hillsdale Hospital, as a minister, as a community advocate, and as a husband and father. In a year when health care and hospitals have dominated the national conversation, JJ’s love of the Hillsdale community has motivated him to work tirelessly to bring attention to the importance of rural hospitals.
A Hillsdale County resident since early childhood, JJ graduated from Camden-Frontier High School and matriculated to Hillsdale College, something he considers “the best decision of my educational career. Hillsdale College formed me into the man I am today.”
A political economy major, he fondly recalls “passionate professors” such as Mickey Craig (politics), Ken Calvert (history), and Richard Ebeling (economics), as well as his senior thesis class with then-president George Roche. “The small classes, the access to guest speakers through CCAs, the wonderful things I learned about how free markets work and about our Judeo-Christian heritage—these all gave me a solid educational foundation,” he says. “Furthermore, Hillsdale taught me how to learn and how to write, and how to manage my time—all things I use in my career.”
In 2010, JJ joined Hillsdale Hospital as director of organizational development, where he was responsible for human resources, staff education and training, safety, security, and governmental affairs. In 2018, he was promoted to vice president, then a year later, to chief operating officer. Last June, he took the helm upon former president Duke Anderson’s retirement.
“Working in health care is the best job I’ve had,” JJ says. “Every day is different and dynamic, and it’s very rewarding.”
It’s that spirit of the community that motivates JJ to volunteer his time in so many other ways beyond his job at the hospital. He currently serves on the boards of the Hillsdale County Community Foundation, Southeast Michigan Workforce Development, and the Local Development Finance Authority of the city of Hillsdale.
“I want to see this community thrive,” he says. “So I want to be at the table to make decisions that will help direct the community.”
JJ is also an ordained minister, and for 20 years, he has served in a pulpit supply capacity for local churches. “I’ve always had a passion for ministry,” he says.
With such a demanding career and schedule, JJ is grateful for the love and support of his wife and their four children. He is also grateful for the foundation he received at Hillsdale College. “It all started with Hillsdale College,” he says. “I believe in the ideals of the College. I believe in this community. It’s a wonderful feeling to serve the College and the community.”
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the ‘Transcultural Care Project,’ a program created to serve the well-being of diverse cultural groups in rural Oregon. Candy Canga-Picar and her team at St. Charles Madras Hospital have had great success implementing this program and collaborating with members of the community.
“The Transcultural Care Project is an evidence-based intervention that really promotes respect for our diverse cultural minority groups.”
~Candy Canga-Picar
Candy Canga Picar is a dynamic, compassionate and collaborative nursing leader in pursuit of continued excellence. She is currently the Chief Nursing Officer at St. Charles Madras Hospital. Candy enjoys collaborating with the physicians, operational leaders, and other stakeholders to provide excellent and evidence-based patient care. She represents diversity in leadership.
Candy attained her BSN degree in Cebu, Philippines. She immigrated to the US in 1991. Since then, she has worked as a staff nurse in various healthcare settings all the way up to an executive role for over 10 years. She earned her Master’s in Business Administration degree through the University of Phoenix and Doctor of Nursing Practice through Capella University. She also has board certifications in ANCC’s Nurse Executive Advanced specialty and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Candy was declared “Winner of the California Nurseweek Nursing Excellence Award for Leadership” in 2009. Recently in 2019, she received the Transformational Pioneer Award in Nursing Leadership given by the Northwest Organization of Nurse Leaders (NWONL). She is a frequent speaker on nursing, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and leadership throughout healthcare organizations and at national conferences.
Lastly, Candy is passionate about transcultural care, diversity, inclusion, and equity. The transcultural care project in Madras has attracted the attention of the Oregon Medical Board and considered it as an “inspiring model of care.” It is Candy’s desire to spread the transcultural care project to all other healthcare systems providing care to a diverse population.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the ‘Grow Program,’ a new program that is trauma-focused on children who are involved in a foster care system. Nikki King and her behavior health and addiction services team found that in treating substance abuse patients, they were actually treating trauma, realizing that the vast majority of patients they were treating had adverse childhood events scores of over 8, more than double the high-risk scores.
“They are just very little kids who are experiencing significant trauma mostly due to the unchecked substance abuse”
~Nikki King
Nikki has been the Manager of Behavioral Health and Addictions Services at a rural Critical Access Hospital since September 2017. During that time, they doubled their number of providers and dramatically increased services across 4 locations in an extreme shortage area.
In addition to her management role, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Rural Health Association where she is working to design and implement a leadership Fellows program for young professionals interesting in pursuing healthcare. Furthermore, she serves as the Chair of the Membership Committee and the Behavioral Health Task Force.
Nikki worked in policy development as a member of the National Rural Health Association where she served on the Policy Congress and completed the Policy Fellowship in 2017. She co-authored policies on Medically Assisted Treatment for SUD, Congregational Health, Expansion of Practice for PAs, and Redesigning Reimbursements for Rural EMS.
Prior to her current roles, she worked as a Clinical Data Analyst focusing primarily on predictive analytics for high-risk ACO patients. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Healthcare Administration.
In this week's episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re having a conversation with Kyle Kellum, CEO of Cherry County Hospital, about what it takes to be a successful CEO and how “creating a psychologically safe environment" can allow individuals to become the best version of themselves.
“Even when the pandemic is over, they’re going to continue to face the challenges of healthcare”
~ Kyle Kellum
Kyle Kellum is the CEO at Cherry County Hospital and Clinic (CCH) in Valentine, Nebraska. CCH is a 21 bed, independent critical access hospital. Kyle has earned his Master of Healthcare Administration degree from Des Moines University and is a graduate of the first NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program February 2020 Cohort.
Kyle and his wife are celebrating 19 years of marriage, and together they have two wonderful kids. As a family, they enjoy all things sports and the outdoors.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about how being self-aware and responding to failure can allow us to become successful leaders with Johnny Stephenson, Director of the Office of Strategic Analysis and Communication at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“Resilience starts with, are we able to look at ourselves and honestly gauge what have we done well and what have we not done so well.”
~Johnny Stephenson
Johnny F. Stephenson Jr. is director of the Office of Strategic Analysis & Communications at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He also leads an organization providing strategic planning, objective analysis, and comprehensive communications to support the policy, program, and budget decisions for Marshall. In April 2015, Stephenson was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, the personnel system covering top managerial positions in federal agencies.
He was deputy director of OSAC from 2008 to 2015. In 2008, he was manager of Marshall's Performance and Capabilities Management Office in OSAC, where he led his team in analyzing Marshall's capabilities and performance in the execution of its missions. From 2002 to 2007, he served at NASA Headquarters in Washington, as chief architect and implementation lead for One NASA, and then the director of organizational readiness for the Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation. Stephenson began his career at NASA in 1986 when he joined the student co-op program, as a systems engineer in Marshall's Engineering Directorate where he served in several managerial capacities until 2002.
Stephenson earned a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1987 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He has received numerous awards throughout his NASA career including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the highest award bestowed by the Agency, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, and the NASA Silver Snoopy Award. He is a contributing author of the book "Organization at the Limit: Lessons from the Columbia Disaster," which extracts lessons from the space shuttle Columbia accident for application in high-risk organizations.
He and his wife, Sonja, live in Moulton and have two children.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about careers in rural healthcare and the advantages of working in small-town hospitals in our conversation with Stacey Gabriel, CEO of Hocking Community Hospital.
“Once you have the opportunity to show someone what it’s like to work in rural health care, and that passion of giving back to your community, that helps them understand”
~Stacey Gabriel
Stacey has been with Hocking Valley Community Hospital since January 1995 and was appointed CEO in June 2018. She started her career at HVCH working as an LPN in the Skilled Nursing Facility. Throughout her career, she worked in various clinical settings including Med-Surg, Special Care Unit, Surgery, and the Emergency Department.
In 1999 she transitioned into a Nursing Supervisor role, and in 2004 became Director of the Emergency Department, Urgent Care, and Emergency Preparedness where she served for eleven years. Prior to becoming CEO, she served as Chief Nursing Officer for almost three years. In addition to healthcare at Hocking Valley Community Hospital, she worked as a flight nurse with Air Evac Lifeteam and still currently works as an EMT-Basic with Hocking County EMS.
She earned her Associates's Degree in Nursing at Hocking College in 1995, a bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Ohio University in 2007, and a Masters Healthcare Administration and Masters Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2016.
She lives in Logan, Ohio with her husband, Josh, and four children, Madison, Carter, Mollie, and Carson.
In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about some of the challenges rural Tennessee is facing and how rural health leaders there are dealing with those challenges. We’re also talking about building community and community relationships to create a culture of health and well-being in our conversation with Jacy Warrell, Executive Director of the Rural Health Association of Tennessee.
“Having moved around the way I did was a very eye-opening experience in regard to the disparities that exist between urban areas and rural areas”
~Jacy Warrell
Jacy Warrell helps bring people and organizations together to improve health outcomes through programs, policy, and collaborations. She is a listener, strategic thinker, and achiever who maintains that the best way to bring about positive change is through community engagement and pairing direct services with advocacy.
Currently, Jacy serves as the Executive Director of Rural Health Association of Tennessee a 501(c)3 non-profit established to improve the health of Tennesseans.
In this episode or Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re having a conversation with Melanie Richburg, CEO of Lynn County Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital in Tahoka, TX. Tahoka is about 30 miles south of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle. Tahoka is primarily a farming community including wind farms.
“My definition of leadership is, ‘Did I HELP?’ Did I Heal? Did I Empower? Did I Listen? Did I Persevere? Did I HELP?”
~Melanie Richburg
Melanie grew up on a 180-acre cotton farm where she learned about hard work and perseverance, working her way through college through livestock farming. She and her twin sister would rise every morning at 5:00 am to feed the cattle and do it all over again at 5:00 pm. Raising cattle paid her tuition to get her BSN.
After earning her BSN, Melanie went back to school to earn an MSN and become a Nurse Practitioner, continuing her education to receive her Doctorate in Nursing.
Today she is the CEO of Lynn County Hospital where she started as a Nurse Practitioner working in one of the hospitals, a Rural Health Clinic that was barely making it. Today, both the clinic and the hospital have grown with her guidance, and simultaneously, Melanie has mentored many students looking for a career in rural health.
Melanie is a daughter and a sister along with one of her favorite roles, being an Aunt. And according to Melanie, being a Great-Aunt is even better than just being an Aunt.
Happy New Year! We’re kicking off 2021 with a conversation with Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association. Alan shares how the COVID-19 pandemic has made an impact on rural health, the good and the bad, and talks about the opportunities the new year presents.
“The pandemic really has been an accelerant for change.”
~Alan Morgan
Alan Morgan is recognized as among the top 100 most influential people in healthcare by Modern Healthcare Magazine. Alan serves as Chief Executive Officer for the National Rural Health Association. He has more than 30 years experience in health policy at the state and federal level and is one of the nation’s leading experts on rural health policy.
Alan served as a contributing author for the publication, “Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care,” and for the publication, “Rural Populations and Health.” In addition, his health policy articles have been published in: The American Journal of Clinical Medicine, The Journal of Rural Health, The Journal of Cardiovascular Management, The Journal of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, Cardiac Electrophysiology Review, and in Laboratory Medicine.
Alan served as staff for former US Congressman Dick Nichols and former Kansas Governor Mike Hayden. Additionally, his past experience includes tenures as a health care lobbyist for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the Heart Rhythm Society, and for VHA Inc.
He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, and a master's degree in public administration from George Mason University.
In this final episode of 2020, we are honored to have Dr. Connie Reimers-Hild as a guest. Dr. Connie shares her perspective on several timely leadership topics: the impact of history on the future, purposeful futures, systems thinking, and leadership of the future.
“My research on leaders repeatedly revealed one major finding; people are motivated by personal fulfillment and purpose.”
~Connie Reimers-Hild, Ph.D.
Dr. Connie Reimers-Hild, Wild Innovation’s Founder and Chief Futurist, is on a mission to help leaders and organizations intentionally create a more prosperous future in the exploding longevity economy, which is expected to be valued at $28.2 trillion by 2050.
Prior to launching Wild Innovation as a full-time venture, Dr. Connie worked at the University of Nebraska for twenty-five years. In her last position at the University, she served as the Executive Director (Interim) and Chief Futurist for the Rural Futures Institute at the University of Nebraska where she published an invited journal article, strategic foresight, leadership, and the future of rural healthcare staffing in the United States https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5916469/, which was the first of its kind published in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA).
Dr. Connie is a Certified Futurist, Professional Coach, and Gallup Strengths Coach with a doctorate in Human Sciences and Leadership Studies. She loves firewalking, snow sledding, swimming with sharks, and spending time with her family.
In this special Christmas episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about Christmas Miracles with Dr. Mike Keegan who shares two Christmas Miracle stories.
“In my mind, it was miraculous that even after something so bad was happening, so many good things transpired thereafter.”
~James M. “Mike” Keegan, MD
James M. Keegan, MD, is a KMA principal partner and infectious disease specialist with more than 35 years of experience in the medical field as well as 20 years’ experience in Antibiotic Stewardship.
Throughout his career of practicing medicine, Dr. Keegan has taken an active role in improving the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes by serving in numerous medical director and hospital executive leadership positions including Chief Medical Officer of a health system.
Dr. Keegan has taken a special interest in solving the negative impact of the overreliance on broad-spectrum antibiotics and has designed and implemented numerous and successful antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) that have shown to decrease the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria.
As a student at the University of Oregon’s Business School, Orion Falvey decided to participate in the ‘social business challenge’ with other students. It started with meeting with a team of 5 or 6 students who collaboratively worked on creating a business model that solved a local problem while simultaneously delivering a positive benefit to society. Those brainstorming sessions provided the launchpad for Orchid Health.
“I spent close to two years researching and connecting with a wide range of healthcare stakeholders before we opened our first clinic.”
~Orion Falvey
A graduate of the University of Oregon Business School, Orion has served as a consultant for several local businesses, was named the 2013 Oregon Student Impact Entrepreneur of the Year, and was awarded as a Freeman Fellow while working for a community-based social enterprise in Cambodia. His passion for improving the healthcare system and for achieving health equity stems from his experiences growing up in rural Alaska and the opportunity for large-scale positive impact.
To learn more about Orchid Health, visit their website at http://orchidhealth.org/
In this week’s Leadership Nugget, I mention a writing by Robert Greenleaf, The Institution as Servant. You can find this work here.
Farmers face many challenges today, dairy farmers in particular. As many of you know, I worked on a dairy farm in my youth, so this conversation with Dr. Amanda Stone truly struck a chord with me.
“Unless you really go to a farm and truly talk to that person and understand their situation, there’s really no way that you could understand them.”
~Amanda Stone, Ph.D.
Dr. Amanda Stone is an Assistant Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist at Mississippi State University. She earned her B.S. in Animal Sciences from the University of Findlay (2009) and her M.S. (2013) and PhD (2016) from the University of Kentucky.
She has co-authored 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 1 book chapter, and over 50 peer-reviewed abstracts and conference papers. She has received $3.9 million in grants since 2016, much of which is related to her work with farm stress and farmer mental health.
She works with a team at MSU focusing on farm stress and opioid misuse that has received funding from USDA NIFA and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor and works with AgriSafe as part of the Southern Farmers and Ranchers Stress Assistance Network. Her work on these teams revolves around her knowledge of the ag industry and experience with producer behavior and thinking.
Dr. Stone’s goal in all her Extension work is to improve the lives of the producers who feed, clothe, and care for each and every one of us each day.
She is a mom to two little boys and wife to a very patient husband.
Cara Veale became the CEO of the Indiana Rural Health Association earlier this year, right in the middle of a global pandemic, but I don’t think that has slowed her or the IRHA down one bit.
“Challenging would describe rural healthcare on any given day, let alone in the middle of a pandemic.”
~Cara Veale
Cara began her professional career as an Occupational Therapist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, Indiana, in 2006. The following year, she moved to Daviess Community Hospital in Washington, Indiana, to work as an Occupational Therapist in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit.
Cara was promoted to the Director of Outpatient Rehabilitation Therapies in 2011, overseeing Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, and Audiology services. In 2015, Cara transitioned to executive-level leadership as the organization’s first Chief Patient Experience Officer.
During the last three years at Daviess Community Hospital, Cara served as the Vice President of Provider Services providing administrative oversight for the medical practice division.
Cara received her Bachelor’s in Psychology, Master’s in Occupational Therapy, and Doctorate in Health Sciences from the University of Indianapolis and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Ferry County Public Hospital only had a few days cash on hand were on a list of ‘likely to close’ rural hospitals. And having cash on hand wasn’t the only issue. In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking with Aaron Edwards, CEO of Ferry County Public Hospital as he shares his hospital’s story.
“We were on the Flex Monitoring Program of the University of North Carolina’s list of likely to close facilities.”
~Aaron Edwards
Aaron Edwards became the CEO of Ferry County Health in June of 2016 while working on his MHPA from Washington State University, graduating in the spring of 2017. Internships at Cancer Care Northwest, Lincoln County Hospital District #3, and working for his predecessor at Ferry County Health led him into his current role. Aaron is currently a participant in the NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program October 2020 Cohort. Prior to working in hospitals and clinics, Aaron was a successful sales representative at various pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
At home, Aaron takes orders from his two-year-old daughter, wife, black lab, and min pin dachshund mix.
Welcome to this special episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio in celebration of National Rural Health Day. The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, otherwise known as NOSORH, sets aside the third Thursday of every November to celebrate National Rural Health Day. This year’s celebration will take place on Thursday, November the 19th. While National Rural Health Day is a special day, Rural Health Leadership Radio tries to make every day a National Rural Health Day by living our mission to improve the world by engaging rural health leaders in conversations, learning, and research.
In celebration of National Rural Health Day, we’re having a conversation with Jillian Bohl, a pre-med student at Fort Hayes State University. Jillian is the very first recipient of the Juanita and Earl Bartholomew Scholarship. Rural Health Leadership Radio created the Juanita and Earl Bartholomew Scholarship to help a recent high school graduate who wants to work in rural health to help pay for their education.
“I want to move back to my hometown because when I decide to have a family someday, I want to know that my family is in a safe environment, where everyone knows everyone.”
~Jillian Bohl
Jillian Bohl is currently a freshman at Fort Hays State University in Kansas. She is the oldest of four children and her family lives on a farm in Phillips County, Kansas. Jillian is very involved in her hometown and hopes to return to the area after she completes medical school. Jillian has been involved in many activities including Girl Scouts, 4-H, tennis, dance, and leading a walking trail committee. Her goal is to become a Family Physician and work in the rural area where she grew up. She is very determined to accomplish this goal.
During our conversation, Jillian mentioned a couple of organizations. Here are their website links.
Trail in a Box: https://www.kansastrailscouncil.org/about/trail-in-a-box/
Nex-Generation: https://www.nex-generation.org/
In this special Veteran’s Day episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we're talking with Kate Hill, RN. Kate is a US Army Veteran and Bronze Star Recipient, awarded in recognition of meritorious service in a combat zone while serving in Viet Nam. You may know her as Vice President of Clinical Services with The Compliance Team.
Here is what Kate had to say about receiving the Bronze Star:
“I was humbled beyond belief… I was overwhelmed because there were so many more deserving, particularly men, who served in the jungles in great peril… And so frankly, I was shocked… It reads meritorious service in a combat zone, and that it was. I spent many nights in a bunker…”
~Kate Hill, RN
Kate Hill, RN, grew up outside of Philadelphia and is a graduate of Einstein Medical Center School of Nursing. As an Army Nurse, Kate served in Viet Nam where she was awarded the Bronze Star. Kate has worked with orthopedic patients in several capacities including nearly 3 decades with Biomet in various capacities.
Kate joined The Compliance Team in early 2012 to direct TCT’s rural health clinic accreditation program and has fallen in love with Rural. As VP of Clinical Services, she has spearheaded the TCT Rural Health Clinic Accreditation program combining her clinical expertise, business acumen and passion for delivery of the best care possible to every patient.
She presently serves on the Board of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics. She feels fortunate to have been able to speak at numerous state and national meetings about RHC compliance countrywide which gave her the opportunity to learn firsthand the diverse regional issues clinics are facing.
Kate also works with clinics in TCT’s PCMH program and is seeing that a PCMH accreditation is being increasingly rewarded by payers.
Kate lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and near her three granddaughters.
The COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc across the country and around the world. Dr. Brady Beecham provides a unique perspective to the current state of affairs due to the many hats she wears. One hat is that of a practicing family physician at Lexington Regional Health Center in Lexington, Nebraska. Another hat is that of the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Health in Lexington.
“Leadership is trying to help anticipate problems and help the whole group navigate around them.”
~Brady Beecham, M.D.
Dr. Beecham is a family medicine physician, a public health advocate, and a mother to two young kids. She has lived around the world and speaks three languages but finds living in a rural Nebraska just right. As a family doctor, she takes pride in providing the best possible care to her patients, including a busy OB practice. In addition to her primary job functions, she serves as the chief medical officer for the local health department, which this year means helping to strategize a COVID-19 plan. She has been recognized as the minority health provider of the year in Nebraska for her commitment to serving patients in this diverse rural community.
Antibiotic stewardship is a critical component of creating value in concert with quality care. Two of the country’s leading experts on this topic are Randee Mason and Dr. Mike Keegan. Dr. Keegan has been a guest on Rural Health Leadership Radio previously; that conversation is the second most listened to episode in the program’s history.
“You don’t have to be titled the leader to lead through creating value.”
~Mike Keegan, M.D.
Randee Mason, RN, BSN, CPHQ, is a KMA principal partner and innovative healthcare leader dedicated to driving change by creating value across the healthcare industry. As a certified healthcare professional with a strong Lean methodology approach, Randee can lead organizations through quality and patient safety improvements at all levels.
Her vast experience in healthcare includes leading a 30-hospital Antibiotic Stewardship collaborative as well as a statewide hospital quality benchmarking initiative. In addition, Randee has been instrumental in the development of high standards of practice, evaluating patient care for effectiveness, and implementing cutting edge changes to organizations in the most cost-efficient manner possible utilizing Lean methodologies.
Randee excels in large strategic projects requiring tight project management to meet impactful goals. Randee is certified in Quality, Epidemiology, Infection Control, and Antimicrobial Stewardship and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from South Dakota State University.
James M. Keegan, MD, is a KMA principal partner and infectious disease specialist with more than 35 years of experience in the medical field as well as 20 years’ experience in Antibiotic Stewardship. Throughout his career of practicing medicine, Dr. Keegan has taken an active role in improving the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes by serving in numerous medical director and hospital executive leadership positions including Chief Medical Officer of a health system.
Dr. Keegan has taken special interest in solving the negative impact of the overreliance on broad-spectrum antibiotics and has designed and implemented numerous and successful antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) that have shown to decrease the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria.
You can learn more about Randee and Mike’s work by visiting their website at www.keeganmasonllc.com.
Greg Puckett is a member of the Mercer County Commission in Princeton, WV, and known for local advocacy in everything from addressing the opioid addiction crisis to making the environment cleaner. He is also executive director of the nonprofit organization, Community Connections, Inc., also in Princeton, and was awarded the Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Health Care by the National Rural Health Association in May of this year.
“It’s pretty difficult to look at how you impact health in a given culture.”
~Greg Puckett
Greg wears a lot of hats working in rural health. He grew up in Southern West Virginia and has been an advocate for others his entire life. He comes from a family of hard-working educators. His mom was a teacher and a principal while his dad was a truck and UPS driver. Greg gives his mom credit for his knowledge and credits his dad for his work ethic.
Anna Marie Anna, RN, BSN, MHA, NE-BC, was appointed the CEO of Tyrone Hospital in July of this year, after having served as the Interim CEO since April 2019. Under her leadership, Tyrone Hospital joined The Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, an innovative payment model that transitions rural hospitals to global budget payments and allows them time to transform care to better meet the health needs of the community.
“The participation in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model for us has been very beneficial to our survival.”
~Anna Marie Anna, CEO
Anna has served in an executive leadership role since joining Tyrone in 2016. She first served as Chief Nursing Officer. Later she was promoted to the position of Acting CEO.
Mrs. Anna provided executive leadership for Tyrone Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the safety of patients, staff and the community while continuing to provide the highest quality of patient care. She continues to facilitate planning for potential future needs associated with the ongoing pandemic.
Mrs. Anna’s professional experience includes over twenty-six years in executive and management roles in the healthcare industry. Prior to joining TRHN, she held leadership positions at Conemaugh Health System, Clearfield Hospital and Golden Living Center.
Mrs. Anna has a Master’s Degree in Health Administration from Ohio University. She is also a Board Certified Nursing Executive and recently completed the NRHA Rural Hospital CEO Certification Program.
Jason Bleak grew up in a small frontier community in Nevada and finds comfort and enjoyment in practicing his profession as the CEO of a frontier hospital in Battle Mountain, Nevada.
“Sometimes you have to wear a tutu.”
~Jason Bleak, CEO
Jason loves his profession working in healthcare; however, his highest priority and true love is being a husband and father to a wonderful wife and 5 kids that bring him much joy. They have been very supportive throughout his career.
With a bachelor’s degree in Sports Injury Management from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and an MBA with an emphasis in Health Care Management from the University of Phoenix, Jason has been able to find success in a variety of healthcare settings throughout his 18-year career. Jason’s career began when he received his Long-term Care Administrator’s License and worked as an LTC Administrator in several western and midwestern states. For the past 15 years, Jason has worked as the Chief Executive Officer in two different frontier critical access hospitals in Nevada: Grover C. Dils Medical Center & Battle Mountain General Hospital.
During his years of healthcare administration, Jason has pursued and acquired his Fellow status with the American College of Healthcare Executives. Jason has had great pleasure working in two great critical access hospitals that provide a full range of services. The services include primary care in rural health clinics, long-term care services, emergency medical services, and critical access hospital services. His preference is to work in small rural communities where he can see and feel the benefits of high-quality healthcare.
Ochiltree General Hospital is a critical access 25-bed hospital that does a little bit of everything. Ochiltree takes care of med-surg patients, surgical patients, provide OB services, ER services, and other outpatient services. They also have an assisted living center as part of their hospital district. The county has a population of about 9,000 people. The closest tertiary care facility is about a two-hour drive. The hospital is about 7 miles from the Oklahoma border and about 45 miles from the border with Kansas.
“We deliver about 130 babies every year.”
~Kelly Judice
Kelly Judice is a Registered Nurse at a Critical Access Hospital in the Texas Panhandle. She has been with Ochiltree General Hospital for 20 years, starting as an LPN, continuing her education to become an RN. Kelly worked as a floor nurse for 14 years before she took a management position as a trauma coordinator. Two years ago, she became the Chief Nursing Officer.
Kelly has a passion to help others and loves taking care of people. She has always taken care of family and friends, sitting with her grandparents, doing whatever needed to be done. Kelly has always known that she wanted to do something that helped others.
National Prostate Health Month (NPHM), also known as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, is observed every September in North America by health experts, health advocates, and individuals concerned with men's prostate health and prostate cancer. In recognition of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, we’re having a conversation with Bob Parker, a semi-retired architect and practicing artist who was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer 16 years ago.
“Many men do not like to talk about health.”
~Bob Parker
Bob Parker is a semi-retired architect and a practicing artist who has practiced for nearly 6 decades and lived in the rural town of Taos, New Mexico for the past 23 years. He is active in cultural affairs and has served on a number of boards (museums and arts organizations) and is an active member of ZERO, The End of Prostate Cancer.
He serves as MENtor through ZERO for a number of newly diagnosed men with prostate cancer and has also served as a panel member of the Prostate Cancer Research Panel for Congressionally funded research through the Federal Government. He remains active in his community, hikes in the nearby mountains of Taos, and has a large community of friends and colleagues. His prostate cancer story began in 2004 when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and he has had numerous treatment protocols.
To learn more about Zero – The End of Prostate Cancer and their MENtoring program visit www.zerocancer.org.
National Prostate Health Month (NPHM), also known as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, is observed every September in North America by health experts, health advocates, and individuals concerned with men's prostate health and prostate cancer. In recognition of National Prostrate Cancer Awareness Month, we’re having a conversation with Jamie Bearse, CEO & President, of Zero-The End of Prostate Cancer, the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action.
“Prostate cancer actually kills more than 30,000 guys every year. This year, the projection is 33,000.”
~Jamie Bearse
Jamie Bearse has spent almost two decades in the fight against prostate cancer. At ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer, the nation’s leading nonprofit in the fight against a disease that impacts 1 in 9 men, he started the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk and endurance team program in 2008. Then, in 2013, he founded ZERO’s co-pay support program. During his tenure at ZERO, the organization has raised over $100M for the cause, recruited celebrity spokesmen including Rudy Giuliani and Ken Griffey, Sr. to educate men and their families, and won six national public relations awards for raising awareness.
To learn more about Zero – The End of Prostate Cancer visit www.zerocancer.org.
Portia Brown is the Vice President of Page Memorial Hospital of Valley Health and a passionate rural health leader. We’re having a conversation with Portia today, who participated in a meeting in the West Wind of the White House a few weeks ago with members of the current administration. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Portia to meet in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to have a conversation with administration leaders talking about rural health.
“I accepted the White House invite at around 12:30 pm on Monday and found myself in the West Wing of the White House on Tuesday at 1:00 pm.”
~Portia Brown
Portia Brown is the Vice President at Valley Health Page Memorial Hospital located in Luray, Virginia. She has 37 years of healthcare experience to include 32 years in leadership positions working in large and small hospitals, a 1000 bed Veterans Administration hospital, academic facility, and Martin Marietta contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy. She provides administrative oversight to hospital and clinic operations at Page Memorial Hospital as well as oversight for the Southern Region Valley Health hospitals including Shenandoah Memorial and Warren Memorial Hospitals’ quality, performance improvement, safety, risk management, patient experience, regulatory compliance, and infection prevention programs.
Portia has a passion for patient safety, risk reduction, performance improvement, patient experience and providing an environment where staff and physicians have a great place to work and patients to receive high quality compassionate care. Portia received undergraduate degrees in laboratory technology and medical technology from Auburn University and a Master of Science in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia. Portia is a certified professional in healthcare quality (CPHQ), patient safety (CPPS), and healthcare risk management (CPHRM) as well as Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). Currently, Portia serves as acting president of the Board of Directors for the Virginia Rural Healthcare Association and is a National Rural Health Association Fellow.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking the top priorities of a new rural hospital CEO in the Northwest part of the country in the state of Washington. We are having that conversation with Heidi Anderson, CEO, Forks Community Hospital in Forks, WA.
“I love taking care of my community.”
~Heidi Anderson
Heidi Anderson was born and raised in the community, has been married for 30 years, and has one grown son. She started her career in healthcare at FCH in 1991 as a NAC, then obtained her LPN in 1993, until 2003 when she obtained her RN. She has worked in many areas before deciding to go into Nursing Administration in 2006.
She obtained her BSN from WSU in 2011 and is currently obtaining her MBA with an emphasis in Rural Healthcare from The College of St. Scholastica. Heidi is the CEO of Forks Community Hospital and serves a population of 10k, which includes the surrounding small communities.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking building a network of rural hospitals and the power of collaboration along with the challenges of rural hospital CEO turnover. We are having that conversation with Mellie Bridewell, CEO of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership.
“Oftentimes people don’t recognize how hard a rural hospital CEO job is because you kind of have to be a jack of all trades. You don’t have all the levels of leadership so sometimes, you’re it!”
~Mellie Bridewell
Ms. Mellie Bridewell currently works for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as a Regional Director of the Office of Strategic Management and serves as the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership’s Chief Executive Officer. Mellie has eighteen years of experience in community and organizational networking, grant writing, and program development and implementation.
Mellie created the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership organization in 2008, which began with five critical access hospitals and has grown to fourteen-member hospitals across the south Arkansas region. Mellie has obtained over $15.2 million dollars in grant funds for Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to implement healthcare provide training opportunities, healthcare workforce initiatives, chronic disease programs, behavioral and mental health services, and access to care throughout the Arkansas Delta.
Mellie currently serves on the National Rural Health Association Congress and graduated last year from the NRHA Rural Fellows program. She also serves on the board of the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association. In 2016, Mellie was acknowledged as a Federal Office of Rural Health’s Rural Health Champion, and this year was awarded the Healthcare Heroes Innovation Award by Arkansas Business magazine. Under Mellie’s leadership, ARHP has been recognized nationally as a Rural Health Community Champion for Collaborative Partnerships by the Federal Office of Rural Health and as Outstanding Network of the Year by the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about population health and community wellness with two rural health leaders in upstate New York. Our guests are Victoria Reid, Executive Director of the Rural Health Network at Ellenville Regional Rural Health Network within Ellenville Regional Hospital, and Steven Kelley, President & CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital.
“It’s not always one size fits all when it comes to technology.”
~Victoria Reid
Victoria Reid joined the Ellenville Regional Hospital team in 2018 as the Executive Director of the Rural Health Network. Ms. Reid earned a Master’s degree in Social Work with a Concentration in Community Organization and Policy Development from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelors in Sociology from Moravian University. With extensive experience in health promotion and education, population health, assessing health disparities, innovative planning activities, and clinical quality improvement and reporting, Ms. Reid is responsible for leading the Population Health Department, overseeing collaborative community health programming.
Ms. Reid is a licensed Social Worker, and is a certified Screening, Brief Intervention. Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Trainer, Certified Mental Health First Aid Trainer, and a Naloxone Train the Trainer.
“All of these program’s goals is to help people make better decisions about their health.”
~Steven Kelley
Steven L. Kelley, FACHE, has been the President & CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital since 2003. He has a diverse background in computer, research, and healthcare industries.
Under Mr. Kelley’s leadership, Ellenville Regional Hospital has been recognized with many National and Regional awards for patient safety and medication safety. Ellenville Regional Hospital has been recognized by the National Rural Health Association as one of the top 20 Critical Access Hospitals in the Country for Quality and has been a leader in New York State in the areas of Quality Management and Rural Health. Ellenville Regional Hospital presented 1t 19 different conferences between 2018 and 2019 and recognized in leadership in many different areas.
Mr. Kelley holds an MBA in Health Systems Management. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, which denotes national Board Certification in Healthcare Management.
When he became CEO of the hospital, it was broke, out of money, operating on a line of credit. Today, Scott County Hospital has a new building and is thriving. How did he do it? Listen to the conversation with Mark Burnett, CEO and President of Scott County Hospital.
“The best practice you can try to develop in your facility is the culture.”
-Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett is the CEO and President of Scott County Hospital in Scott City Kansas, a position he has held for 15 years. He has many passions in life including old cars, flying, his wife, and primarily his role in rural healthcare, which he considers ‘his calling’. His goal in life has been to advance availability to care in rural environments, and building upon his clinical background managing Imaging Departments, he believes he has succeeded! Success in growing outpatient specialty practices led to the construction of an entirely new hospital, designed to promote marketability to potential patients and recruitment efforts to grow staff as well.
He believes in always seeking to meet the needs of his employees, financially, culturally, and with work life balance. He seeks to advance telemedicine and behavioral health, and after 40 years in healthcare has no intention of slowing down. He believes that a vision for the future only comes to pass if you push the boundaries of the present.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are celebrating our 4th anniversary of being on the air.
“Our mission is to improve the world by engaging rural health leaders in conversations, learning and research.”
~Bill Auxier, Ph.D.
To celebrate our 4th anniversary, this special edition of Rural Health Leadership radio will share its “Top 10 List,” the 10 most listened to episodes since the program first launched on August 2, 2016.
We also have several BIG THANK YOUS for our donors who have helped underwrite the cost of production, the board members who donate their time, our guests, especially our guests in the very beginning, and most of all, you, our listeners.
Happy 4th Birthday Rural Health Leadership Radio!
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation about an educational opportunity for nurses and the perils of working in agriculture. We’re having that conversation with Cheri Fast and Charlotte Halverson, who are Registered Nurses with AgriSafe.
“The potential for danger is so great in farming and ranching and is so overlooked”
-Cheri Fast, RN
Cheri has a diverse healthcare background. She played a pivotal role in the development of a Home Health Infection Prevention Toolkit and has served on the Home Health Quality Improvement (HHQI) technical expert panel to provide feedback on the Recognizing and Reporting Changes in Skin Conditions Home Health Aide Course developed in response to the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare (CMS) Conditions of Participation.
She serves as a certified intensive case manager and has worked with patients, families, and physicians to coordinate care and teach on disease processes along with other quality improvement efforts. As the education coordinator, she implemented a wound department and coordinated a variety of patient and staff education programs.
Beyond her Bachelors of Science in Nursing, she is a Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurse (WOCN), certified case manager and master trainer for Better Choices, Better Health Chronic Disease Self-Management, and Diabetes Self-Management programs. She most recently completed the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar program and has been selected to represent South Dakota as an Agrisafe Total Farmer Health Coach.
Charlotte serves as the Clinical Director for AgriSafe. Prior to this role, she worked for several years in hospital acute care settings and community education. During those years, Charlotte developed and managed a Rural Outreach Health service and a Parish Health Ministry department serving nine counties in northeast Iowa. A charter graduate of the University of IA agricultural occupational medicine course, she served as the agricultural occupational health services manager for the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety. Her primary role with AgriSafe involves development and dissemination of educational programs for health care professionals, agricultural businesses, and educators.
To learn more about the AgriSafe Nurse Scholar Program, use this link: https://learning.agrisafe.org/nurse-scholar-program
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are having a conversation with Dr. Hannah Wenger, a clinical care specialist on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital. Hannah is a physician who is passionate about providing culturally relevant care to the residents of the community she serves.
“What does allopathic medicine have to do with a traditional ceremony like a sweat lodge? I would argue it has a lot to do with it”
~ Hannah Wenger M.D.
Hannah Wenger, MD, is a general internist and faculty member at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) having just completed MGH’s Fellowship Program in Rural Health Leadership. She obtained her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She then completed an internal medicine residency and a clinical medical ethics fellowship at the University of Chicago. As a rural health fellow at MGH, Dr. Wenger currently provides clinical care to the Sicangu Lakota Oyate on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her interests include Two Spirit and LGBTQ health, hepatitis C, and clinical ethics.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about Caregiver Heroes and the impact of kindness. We are having that conversation with Brian Lee, the creator of Caregiver Heroes.
“Our vision for healthcare is kindness care everywhere”
~ Brian Lee
Brian has been a professional speaker for over 36 years. He has authored 8 books, including Skillful Communication with Physicians and Rural Hospital Renaissance.
He is the CEO and Founder of Custom Learning Systems. Their mission is creating a 5-star culture of healing kindness. He also founded the HealthCare Service Excellence Conference which started 20 years ago.
Brian lives in Calgary, Canada. He has traveled over 5 million miles, while speaking at events over 3,800+ times.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about how health care is a core function of the community and how it defines that community. We are having that conversation with Dr. John Cullen, Board Chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and a full scope family physician practicing in the frontier community of Valdez, Alaska.
“Health care is really one of those core functions of a community. That’s sort of what defines what a community is.”
~ Dr. John Cullen, MD
John Cullen, M.D. is part of a four-physician private clinic, the Valdez Medical Clinic, that he has been a part of since 1994.
A graduate of University of Arizona School of Medicine, he moved to Valdez, Alaska immediately after family medicine residency in Modesto, California. His family was drawn to the quality of life in Alaska and it proved to be an exciting place to practice medicine and raise his daughter and two sons. Serving as Chief of Staff for over twenty years at the Valdez Medical Center, he oversaw the expansion of the hospital. In addition, he has served as the EMS director in Valdez for 23 years.
His passion for skiing and wilderness safety landed him positions as physician for the World Extreme Skiing Championships and the King of the Hill Snowboarding championships in Valdez where he was responsible for setting up emergency services on the side of a mountain.
Alaska Academy activities include terms as Chapter President, and nineteen years as COG delegate or alternate. Honors include Alaskan Family Physician of the Year in 2008, runner up for the National AAFP Physician of the Year, and 2011 American Red Cross Hero for saving a mother and baby in an icy river car crash.
Experience serving on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services for HRSA, where he toured the country evaluating critical access hospitals and rural health systems, as well as serving on the Alaska State Medical Board, allowed him to help shape health care policy as the ACA was developed. He enjoys speaking and advocating for patients on the national stage almost as much as he enjoys his adventurous life with his wife Michelle over the past 30 years.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about foundations of wellness. We are having that conversation with Bill Reger-Nash, EdD, Professor Emeritus, at the School of Public Health, West Virginia University.
“Mindfulness is learning to be more present moment by moment nonjudgmentally and all of us could use a good dose in being more aware and more present.”
~Bill Reger-Nash, EdD
Dr. Bill Reger-Nash is professor emeritus in the WVU School of Public Health. He has a doctoral degree in exercise physiology (1984) from West Virginia University and master’s degrees in educational psychology (1973) and political science (1974) from the University of Hawaii. He was an undergraduate French Major (Marist College 1965). He worked as a high school French teacher, school guidance counselor, research coordinator at a hospital Cardiac and Wellness Center, executive director of the Bayer Community Wellness Program, Director of Wellness for Ohio Valley Health Services and Education in West Virginia and eastern Ohio, and was the founding director of the West Virginia University Wellness Program. He coached football, basketball, track, soccer, and sailing.
Given his interest in population issues, Bill ran for and was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1985. Human Kinetics published his mindfulness-based Foundations of Wellness in 2015. He taught wellness and stress management courses at West Virginia University since 1991. Bill began a regular meditation practice as a religious monk in 1959 to help manage stress, increase inner peace, and keep his life in balance.
Bill and his wife Jan have a daily mindfulness practice. He enjoys spending time in the outdoor cross-country skiing, sailing, bicycling, walking in the woods, and gardening.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about breaking the intergenerational cycles of poverty and education, and any other continuous cycle that has a negative impact on health and wellbeing. We are having that conversation with Dr. Randy Wykoff, Dean of the College of Public Health, and Director of the Center for Rural Health Research, at East Tennessee State University.
“If we can’t break the intergenerational cycles of poverty, we’re not going to be effective in improving rural health.”
~Randy Wykoff, MD
Randy Wykoff, MD, MPH & TM became the founding dean, College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University in 2006. He is a physician, board-certified in both Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine, with additional training and certification in Tropical Medicine. He teaches courses in Social Justice, Public Health Leadership, and in various aspects of applied public health, and he lectures extensively on the social determinants of health.
His research focuses on the inter-relationship of poverty and health, with a specific interest in how to improve the health status of people living in poor and/or rural areas. In 2019, he was asked to Direct the newly created Center for Rural Health Research.
Prior to his current position, he served as Senior Vice President for International Operations at Project HOPE, overseeing health education, disaster response, and humanitarian programs in over 30 countries around the world.
He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention and Health Promotion) in the US Department of Health and Human Services. In this position, he oversaw the release and implementation of Healthy People 2010, and the Surgeon General’s first Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease and Overweight and Obesity, and served for one year as the acting Executive Director of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport.
He served for 11 years at the Food and Drug Administration, holding the positions of Associate Commissioner for AIDS and Special Health Issues, and, later, Associate Commissioner for Operations. In this latter capacity, he served for 18 months as the deputy to the Acting Commissioner. While at FDA, he also led the Science Team for the Tobacco Working Group, served as the Executive Director of the National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development, and completed a detail with Senator Edward Kennedy and the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. He began his career as District Medical Director of the Upper Savannah Health District in the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, responsible for all public health activities in a rural six-county region.
He and his wife, Janine, have five children.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about bridging the divide between behavioral health and physical health to promote access across the care continuum. We are having that conversation with Chris Molaro, CEO & Co-Founder of NeuroFlow.
“We try to solve the problem of access and engagement with behavioral healthcare.”
~Chris Molaro
Chris Molaro is the CEO and co-founder of NeuroFlow, a digital health technology and analytics company promoting behavioral health access and engagement in all care settings. Chris is a West Point graduate who served in the army for 5 years, including a tour of duty in Iraq as a platoon leader. Coming back home, he experienced firsthand the gaps in the behavioral health systems and how veterans and civilians alike face too many barriers when it comes to receiving appropriate, timely care.
Chris earned his MBA at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he also spent time as digital health consultant at Mckinsey. Chris was also the founder of the literacy non-profit Things We Read.
Use this link to learn more about NeuroFlow and the solutions they provide: https://www.neuroflow.com/rural/
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about the transformation of care. We are having that conversation with Josh Martin, CEO of Summit Pacific Medical Center, a Critical Access Hospital in Elma, Washington.
“We set a very bold vision that through Summit Care, we will build one of the healthiest communities in the nation.”
~Josh Martin
Josh Martin joined Summit Pacific Medical Center in 2016 with more than 18 years of healthcare experience in both large health systems and rural community hospitals. Josh has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, both from Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho.
He has a certification in Lean Process Improvement from the University of Washington and a Social Marketing certification from Boise State University. Josh currently serves on the Washington State Hospital Association Public Policy Committee as well as the Rural Health Committee. He is an active board member on the Washington Rural Health Collaborative, Greater Grays Harbor Regional Chamber of Commerce, and acts as Vice-Chair for CHOICE Regional Health Network.
Josh understands the healthcare delivery system and enjoys the challenge of rural hospitals. He strives to create an organizational culture that embodies excellence, compassion, and quality while advocating at a state and national level to transform our healthcare delivery system. In his free time, Josh enjoys mountain biking, playing soccer, volunteering in the community, and spending time with his wife and 3 young children.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking about the importance of the relationship between the hospital board and the hospital CEO. We are having that conversation with Andrew “Drew” Hooper, Chairman of the Board at Summit Pacific Medical Center, a Critical Access Hospital in Elma, Washington.
“There are generally two problems that organizations see when it comes to that relationship between Board Chair and CEO.”
~Drew Hooper
Andrew “Drew” Hooper grew up in the Pacific Northwest and met his wife while auditioning for a college play in 1999. Little did they know that when they were married in the play it would bind them in a life-long commitment to one another. Five years after that amazing encounter they were married (by the same man who married them in the play!) and have worked as a team ever since.
After college Drew worked in the retail sector prior to moving to financial services. Drew became self-employed when he opened his first financial services business in Montesano, Washington, eventually opening an office in Tacoma, and now calling Olympia the base of operations for Hooper Financial.
Drew has been an active leader in the community through his involvement as a publicly elected hospital district commissioner to advocating for rural health care and financial services in Washington D.C.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about pharmacists and their role in delivering healthcare in rural America. Did you know that most individuals in the US have a pharmacist within 5 miles of them? That is often not the case with a physician or a hospital.
“A pharmacist is actually the most accessible member of the healthcare team that is in a given community.”
~Tom Kraus
Tom Kraus is Vice President for Government Relations at ASHP. He is a graduate of University of Michigan (BS Biology), Georgetown University Law Center (Doctor Of Law), and The Johns Hopkins University (MHS, Health Policy).
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization’s nearly 55,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. For more than 75 years, ASHP has been at the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety. To learn more visit www.ashp.org.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we're talking about vision care in rural America. The Niswonger College of Optometry at one of the nation’s oldest universities, Tusculum University, is totally focused on vision care in rural America
“That is robbing these people of their vision faster than should ever be conceivable in America.”
~Dr. Andrew Buzzelli
Dr. Andrew Buzzelli is the Executive Vice President for Tusculum University, College of Health Sciences, and the Founding Dean for Niswonger College of Optometry. Dr. Buzzelli received his doctorate in optometry from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. He holds a Master of Science degree in child development and visual perception from the State University of New York. He has practiced in the private health care sector as a specialist in dysfunctions of binocular vision and visual information processing disorders.
A noted international lecturer, Dr. Buzzelli served as a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the medical protocols currently utilized on the International Space Station. The author of more than 25 articles in both optometric and military publications and a recognized expert in the field of chemical and biological weapons, Dr. Buzzelli authored the first-ever ophthalmic textbook series for the treatment and management of injuries resultant from terrorist attack.
A retired colonel in the United States Air Force, Buzzelli has held command positions as the chief of optometry for the 105th Military Airlift Wing and commander of the 105th Medical Group. He served as the assistant to the command surgeon for Air Force Material Command and was selected as the Chief Advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General of the Air National Guard.
Recognized as an authority in the field of binocular vision and visual perception, Dr. Buzzelli has taught programs in the diagnosis and treatment of acquired brain injury, pediatric optometry, and binocular vision, as well as child abuse and intimate partner violence. He is one of 36 optometrists in the world recognized as a diplomat in binocular vision and perception for the American Academy of Optometry.
Dr. Buzzelli has already led the efforts to begin several new programs including the Niswonger College of Optometry, He has and will continue to administer the preparation of materials and documentation required for accreditation and will ensure that the academic and patient care missions of the College are accomplished. He does this all while providing leadership for recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty, staff, and students.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we're talking about behavioral health and addiction treatment services at a rural hospital in Louisiana. More specifically, this is a conversation about how a hospital added in-patient withdrawal management services for drug and alcohol abuse and related issues. It is a stabilization program that is a voluntary program.
“They need compassion and care and they’re very thankful that somebody isn’t judging them.”
~Jackie Reviel
Jackie Reviel has over 25 years in healthcare experience, starting her career in healthcare in 1990 in Canada where she obtained her Diploma in Nursing. She continues to have a passion for serving patients in local rural communities and has worked in many areas in nursing. Jackie has always been challenged by taking on different leadership roles including Director of Maternal Child Services, VP of Patient Care, CNO, and her current role as CEO of Allen Parish Hospital. Jackie has continued her education and obtained her BSN and MSN in Healthcare Systems Administration. She is a Rotary member and on the boards of the Rural Hospital Coalition and WorkForce Commission Board.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we're talking about several of the challenges rural health leaders face with Naomi Sweeney from the State Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Arkansas Department of Health. Her state office has recently received approval to sponsor 10 Critical Access Hospital CEOs in attending the National Rural Health Association Rural Hospital CEO Training Program. Their vision is to these 10 CEOs return and share what they have learned with other rural hospital CEOs across the state. The expectation is that there will be a lot of good measurable data on the improvement at participant facilities once they implement the lessons learned. They see a tremendous value in this program and look forward to seeing how it affects rural health across the state.
“You cannot make a difference from an office chair alone, let people see your face.”
~Naomi Sweeney
Naomi Sweeney is the State Office of Rural Health Coordinator for the state of Arkansas. She is housed within the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care at the Arkansas Department of Health. Naomi is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas. She has a Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, and she has over 14 years’ experience in public health-related fields. When Naomi began her work at the Arkansas Office of Rural Health and Primary Care in November of 2018, she was responsible for recruitment and retention of medical professionals in rural and underserved areas of Arkansas through programs such as Nurse Corps, various National Health Service Corps programs, and the J1 Visa program. Naomi has an excellent track record in the field of public health, with plenty of public speaking experience, a heart for community service, and a desire to improve the health of rural Arkansans.
Rural health leaders are always talking about the challenge of recruiting providers. That is why we are talking with Jordan White, an undergraduate medical student at Mississippi State, and a participant in the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program this week on Rural Health Leadership Radio.
“Are you doing what you want to do? Are you doing what God wants you to do? Have you even asked?”
~Jordan White (quoting her Pastor)
Jordan is a pre-med junior at Mississippi State, having transferred from EMCC Scooba last semester. She was raised in the small town of De Kalb, MS. Her grandmother, mother, brother, sister, and a few aunts are all nurses, so she grew up hearing about the medical field. They talked about working with great doctors and not so great doctors. Jordan’s mission is to return to De Kalb and be the kind of doctor her family would enjoy working with and being seen by.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it is making on rural healthcare. We are having that conversation with Broch Slabach, Senior VP of Member Services at the NRHA.
“From that day forward, the end of the world changed as we know it”
~Brock Slabach
With over 28 years of experience in the administration of rural hospitals, Brock is definitely an expert and experienced rural health leader. From 1987 through 2007, he was the administrator of the Field Memorial Community Hospital in Centreville, MS. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Oklahoma Baptist University and his Master of Public Health in Health Administration from the University of Oklahoma.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about recruiting providers and other professional staff to rural America. We are having that conversation with Alicia Calloway, Chief Operating Officer at OPYS Physician Services.
“It can be tough to know who you can trust in any industry, but knowing who you can trust in rural healthcare is vital”
~Alicia Calloway
Alicia Calloway was born and raised in Tennessee. She started in healthcare shortly after high school and began to develop a passion for rural healthcare in underserved communities. She began working with a staffing and management group that specialized in providing service to rural areas and worked her way up into a leadership position. Now working for a different group with the same focus, her passion to help rural hospitals succeed under what are seen as insurmountable odds has only grown.
“There is a true need for rural hospitals to find a way through the difficult times at hand. To be able to continue to offer the healthcare that the people in these communities so desperately need. I want to be part of that solution.”
~Alicia Calloway
Alicia can be reached at: acalloway@opys.com
You can learn more about OPYS Physician Services by visiting opys.com.
“COVID-19 is not just an urban problem but something that is a risk for all of us.”
-Dr. Jay ButlerDeputy Director for Infectious DiseaseCDC
If you have a question or best practice to share, please reach out to the CDC at ruralhealth@cdc.gov.
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the world as we know it. I hope you, your family, your hospital, clinic, and community, are all doing as well as possible considering the new normal we now are living in.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re having a conversation about the COVID-19 pandemic with Patty Harper and Taylor Cottano. Patty shares some of the top operational best practices for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and Taylor shares some of the top clinical best practices.
“This pandemic is ever changing”
Taylor Cottano
Patty Harper is CEO of InQuiseek, LLC, a business and healthcare consulting company based in Louisiana. She has over 21 years of healthcare experience in the areas of healthcare finance & reimbursement, health information management, compliance, and practice management. She began her healthcare career as a hospital controller and reimbursement analyst. Patty holds a B.S. in Health Information Administration (cum laude) from Louisiana Tech University. She is credentialed through AHIMA as a RHIA, CHTS-IM, and CHTS-PW. Patty successfully completed AHIMA’s ICD-10 Academy and has been recognized as an ICD-10 Trainer. She is also Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC®) thorough the Compliance Certification Board. Patty is a frequent speaker and contributor for national, state and regional and rural healthcare associations on these and other reimbursement-related topics. She has held memberships regional, state and national organizations throughout her healthcare career including NARHC, NRHA, AHIMA, MGMA, and HFMA. Patty currently serves on the Board of NARHC and LRHA.
Patty can be reached at pharper@inquiseek.com.
Taylor Cottano is the Founder and CEO of Southern EVALS and has worked in the healthcare field as a Registered Nurse for over 5 years. Through his time working in different healthcare organizations around the Nation, he has been able to see the evolution of healthcare from a regulatory aspect and help organizations come into and stay in compliance. As the regulatory bodies continue to add requirements and tweak programs some things stay the same. Patients continue to seek quality healthcare that is easy to access at a valuable cost.
Taylor can be reached at tcottano@sevals.net
This week we have a special episode on Rural Health Leadership Radio. Rural Health Leadership Radio recorded the CDC call titled “Update for Rural Partners, Stakeholders, and Communities on the 2019 Coronavirus Disease Response.”
“We’re in the midst of a global pandemic of a disease, COVID-19, caused by a newly recognized virus.”
-Dr. Jay Butler Deputy Director for Infectious Disease, CDC
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the world as we know it. I hope you and your family, your hospital, clinic, and community, are all doing as well as possible considering the new normal we now are living in.
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we’re talking about movement as medicine. We’re having that conversation with Dr. Anthony Fleg, Director of Running Medicine.
“Movement is something we as leaders, as health professionals, need to remember is one of our simplest outlets that life gives us.”
~Anthony Fleg
Dr. Fleg is a family physician who thinks of his work of healing as “occasionally done with a stethoscope, more often done in communities…done with youth and elders, done through art, language, culture, and love, and through listening more than through talking.” Through NHI, Dr. Fleg created the Running Medicine (www.runningmedicine.org) program in 2016, a unique approach to mind, body, and spiritual wellness through walking and running.
“Leadership is more about empowering people around you to see the best in themselves and to see their own ability to lead, to heal, and do for themselves.”
~Anthony Fleg
Dr. Fleg is also a co-founder of the Native Health Initiative (www.lovingservice.us), a partnership to address health inequities through loving service. He is also a faculty member at the University of New Mexico in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and in the College of Population Health. Dr. Fleg considers himself a love activist, grounded in a deep belief that love can serve as a vehicle toward equity, justice and social transformation. For more information about Dr. Fleg’s work, see the links below!
- "What is Running Medicine" video:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_m7L5lP1hs
- Annals of Family Medicine article:
- http://www.annfammed.org/content/17/5/466.full.pdf+html
- NHI Brochure:
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mScFc3EfcLgcCBIxGvVWncmHtGvU74zW/view
- 2018 RM Report:
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/25nvujcdf3tpo4s/2018-Report%20022019.pdf?dl=0
- 2019 Running Medicine Report
- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LsupYTCsxoLNGo6DIN_GpwDosxKtAvIY/view?usp=sharing
This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about rural health centers and their workforces. We’re having that conversation with Darcy Shargo, CEO of Maine Primary Care Association (MPCA).
“I think we’re in a time in the evolution of healthcare delivery and certainly in the rural context that we can’t really stand still anymore and that we’ve got to move.”
~Darcy Shargo
Darcy grew up in rural northern Minnesota in a small farming community. Her personal experiences drove her to work that invests in understanding and alleviating some of the social risk factors that are barriers to better health. Darcy feels that rural areas have the opportunity to test change and commandeer their future.
“Having a focus on healthcare particularly through a rural lens is important because we have the opportunity to scale up changes and try new things.”
~Darcy Shargo
Darcy is the CEO of MPCA, a membership organization for the state’s federally qualified health centers (FQHC). These delivery sites exist across both rural and urban centers in Maine and constitute the state’s largest primary care network. The community health centers serve people from all walks of life, regardless of their ability to pay, acting as a true safety net.