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.
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.”