David Conejo is the CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (RMCHCS) in Gallup, New Mexico. He has been running hospitals since the time Richard Nixon was President, with more than 30 years of experience in the position of CEO for multiple healthcare facilities throughout the United States. He has worked in hospitals in South Dakota, Texas and New Mexico.
“Somebody coming to see us may have 100-mile trip, of which 80 is on muddy roads.”
“We’ve been able to acquire a bus that we’re going to be taking out to the reservation to different locations.”
He was exposed to working in healthcare while in high school, where he worked as a volunteer in a psychiatric hospital where is mother was employed. After high school, he served in the Marine Corps for a few years. Once finished with his military service, he returned to healthcare where he worked his way up, advancing his career into supervisory and leadership roles.
David was educated at Columbia Pacific University in Novato, CA.
Dr. Mike Maxwell is the CEO of North Olympic Healthcare Network in Port Angeles, Washington. He began his career in 1991 as a partner in Family Medicine of Port Angeles and greatly enjoys the practice of full-spectrum family medicine which included High-Risk Obstetrics for 25 years. Even though he serves as the Chief Executive Officer for NOHN, he continues to practice part-time medicine.
“We had to find a different path and that’s when we chose to transition to a community health center.”
Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Dr. Maxwell earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Seattle University, Summa Cum Laude. He received his Medical Degree with honors from the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed a family medicine residency through the University of Washington in Spokane.
His professional interests are diabetes, heart disease, chronic disease management, quality improvement and health care administration. He enjoys teaching as clinical instructor for the University Of Washington Department Of Family Medicine.
In his free time, you’ll find Dr. Maxwell backcountry hiking, cycling, traveling, or playing guitar.
Mary Shores is the Owner and CEO of Midstate Collection Solutions. As the founder and CEO of what has been called one of the most unique collection agencies in the country, her philosophy of maintaining a positive approach to life and to debt collection has re-framed her entire organization and the lives of those she’s trained.
“We’re collecting debt in a way where we’re truly focused on building connection, rapport and trust with the patient.”
Mary is also a best-selling Hay House personal development author, and a businesswoman who discovered a roadmap for how to get in control of your own life. Check out her book, Conscious Communications.
Mary has a free gift for all Rural Health Leadership Radio™ listeners. She is offering you a free miniature Words That Work workbook download. It’s a value-packed 11-page workbook with Mary’s proven tips and tricks to level up your communication. Here’s the download for listeners: http://maryshores.com/mini-wtw
If you would like to connect with Mary, her contact information is:
217-351-1888
www.maryshores.com
info@maryshores.com
Portia Brown is the Vice President at Valley Health Page Memorial Hospital located in Luray, Virginia. She has 35 years of healthcare experience to include 30 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.
“We added a pharmacist to help support our patient care in our rural health clinics…She supports patients with opioid prescriptions and substance use disorders…discusses a narcotic contract with the patient and the patient signs that contract.”
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.
She 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 on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Rural Healthcare Association as well as on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Chapter of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.
Ray Rogers is the Chief Executive Officer for the National Center for Health Care Informatics (NCHCI) and The Praxis Center for Innovative Learning located in Butte, Montana. Ray serves as the CEO for the NCHCI, a non-profit corporation dedicated to improving the management of health care data, information, and knowledge. His company is leading an effort to develop the Praxis Center for Innovative Learning - a $35 million, 70,000+ square foot rural healthcare simulation training center. This will be the nation's first independent, non-profit, non-affiliated medical simulation training center dedicated specifically to the needs of rural healthcare practitioners.
“Mastery is achieved through practice.”
Ray has extensive experience developing simulation training for the USAF Special Operations Forces (Pararescuemen). He has hosted regional conferences and has spoken to audiences nationally on the topics of electronic medical records, personal health records, and health information exchange. He has also worked with Hewlett Packard and CrossFlo System on a syndromic surveillance Health Information Exchange (HIE) demonstration project, and served as a lead planner for the past three Montana Economic Development Summits hosted by Senator Max Baucus.
Ray has over 15 years’ experience in higher education administration, fundraising, marketing, and business development, 13 years’ experience working in the field of health care informatics, and 5 years as a marketing engineer for a full-service environmental consulting company.
In 2001, Ray led an effort on behalf of the Montana University System to create the nation’s first undergraduate degree in Health Care Informatics.
He is a part-time faculty member at Montana Tech.
Ray holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering and a MS degree in Technical Communications.
Ray has three grown children and enjoys skiing, running, hiking and fly-fishing.
You can reach Ray by email at rrogers@mtech.edu.
David Clayton is the Youth Outreach Coordinator for Families Against Narcotics. David is a person in long term recovery from drugs and alcohol. In his role as Youth Outreach Coordinator, he has had the opportunity to spread awareness on addiction prevention and recovery across the state of Michigan to drug courts, hospitals, local news and high schools all the way to the collegiate university level.
“Drug addiction and alcoholism does not discriminate, it can happen to anybody at any time, no matter your age, your race, your socio- and economic statuses, how you were raised, how you weren’t raised. It does not discriminate.”
David also assists in running Dillon Recovery Homes, a successful sober and structured living environment.
David also sits on the board of directors for MyCare Health Center and has been involved with getting their Medication Assisted Treatment program up and running to give people a chance at recovery.
Danielle Culberson is a Health Information Technology Specialist with the Michigan Public Health Institute. In this role, Danielle assists providers around Michigan with electronic health record adoption.
“Rural health is one of the most important fields within healthcare, but also one of the most overlooked.”
A Michigan native, she received her graduate degree in Health Informatics from the University of Michigan in 2017 and is passionate about all things health IT, especially when it comes to data.
Prior to her career at MPHI, she worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan as a Customer Service Representative for state of Michigan employees.
During her free time, she enjoys being a foodie, traveling to new locales, and lots and lots of reading.
During our interview, Danielle mentions a couple of websites.
For providers in Michigan, you can go to www.mceita.org. When you get to the home page, scroll down to the very bottom and you will the a “contact us” form. Fill that out and submit, and someone will get back to you within 24 to 48 hours.
For providers outside of Michigan, use this website: www.qpp.coms.gov.gp
Brock Slabach is leading the national discussion on quality improvement and alternative payment models in rural health. Brock was recognized for his work in rural health when the National Rural Health Resource Center presented him with the Calico Leadership award last year.
“Workforce, vulnerable populations and chronic poverty; we are focusing on all of these topics at the NRHA Rural Health Clinic & Critical Access Hospital Conference later this month.”
Brock currently serves as the Senior Vice-President of Member Services at the National Rural Health Association, a membership organization with over 21,000 members nationwide. 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.
For more information on the National Rural Health Association’s Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conference in Kansas City, September 25-28, 2018. click on this link: https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/events/event-details?eventId=24
Robert Thorn is the Principal at Summit Healthcare Strategies, where he assists hospitals and healthcare organizations in the identification of and response to market needs.
“How do they see us? Are we serving their needs? Are we doing everything we can to optimize the care in the community?”
Bob’s experience in telehealth includes serving as Executive Director of TRU PACE, a Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, where during his tenure the organization was awarded a $100,000 telehealth grant to introduce remote monitoring technology to help people safely "age in place." He has also served as the lead developer and Executive Director of the "Quitline" Tobacco Cessation Programs for the States of Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Ohio; Chairman of the High Plains Rural Health Network; and Administrator of Ambulatory Services and Regional Rural Outreach for Banner Health, where he introduced rural telehealth solutions to bridge distances and to allow for earlier intervention.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Master's degree in Business Administration from National University, San Diego. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Michael Fischer, M.D., MPH & TM has worked for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for over 6 years in the Infectious Disease Control Unit (IDCU) and in October of 2017, he took-on the role of Antibiotic Stewardship Expert for the Health Care Safety Group of the Infectious Disease Control Unit at Tx-DSHS.
“The biggest predictor has been leadership.”
Prior to taking on this role, Michael served Texas as the epidemiologist and subject matter expert for prion disease surveillance. Additionally, Michael has also served as a medical epidemiologist, during outbreaks involving high consequence pathogens (West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014) or events with elevated public concern (travel-related Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV)), providing consults to physicians, infection control practitioners, and healthcare facilities on appropriateness of testing, test results, prevention and control measures, and mechanisms of disease transmission.
As the Antibiotic Stewardship Expert, Dr. Fischer's primary role is to promote the implementation and enhancement of antibiotic stewardship programs in Texas across all healthcare settings.
Today we’re having a conversation with Andrea Wendling, M.D., Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Rural Medicine Curriculum at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
“Today’s medical students often say, “I want to care for a community. Teach me how to do that.” I think that’s really exciting.”
Dr. Wendling completed medical school at the University of Michigan and residency training at Michigan State University’s Grand Rapids Family Medicine Residency Program. After residency, she was an Assistant Director for the residency until 2003, when she moved to Northern Michigan to practice rural medicine.
Dr. Wendling is Director of the Rural Community Health Program, a rural training program for MSU-CHM medical students, and the Rural Premedical Internship Program, a pipeline program for undergraduate students interested in rural medicine.
She has received many teaching awards including MSU-CHM’s Arnold P. Gold Humanism Award, Outstanding Community Volunteer Faculty Award, and most recently, the Rural Professional of the Year Award from the Michigan Center for Rural Health.
Dr. Wendling has served on the editorial board for the Family Medicine journal since 2004, including Editor of the Dedicated Issue on Rural Health (2010), and Assistant Editor for the journal since 2013. She is also a founding Associate Editor of Peer-Reviewed Reports in Medical Education and Research (PRIMER). She participates on rural workforce research groups for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and has presented and published in the areas of medical education and the rural health workforce.
Dr. Wendling lives in rural Northern Michigan, with her husband and four wonderful kids. When her family is not having adventures traveling the world they can be found playing bluegrass music, camping, or skiing and snowmobiling around Northern Michigan.
Today we’re having a conversation with Nicole Thorell, MSN, CEN, Chief Nursing Officer at Lexington Regional Health Center in Lexington, Nebraska. Nicole has been at Lexington Regional for ten years, and has been Chief Nursing Officer for four years. Prior to becoming the CNO, Nicole was a staff nurse and Director of Nursing Quality.
“The secret sauce is really the transition care team.”
Lexington Regional Health Center was able to reduce readmissions by over 80%. Nicole was one of the key players to accomplish this along with Leslie Marsh, CEO, and Dana Steiner the Chief Nursing Officer prior to Nicole being in that position. Nicole was the data collector at the beginning and the first Transitional Care Director really got a great foundation of where hospital needed to go. Current Director of Transitional Care, Brittany Hueftle, is now taking the program beyond what was thought to be possible.
Nicole received her diploma in nursing from Bryan College of Health Sciences, and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Masters of Science in Nursing from Kaplan University.
Today we’re having a conversation with Kelly McGrath, MD, MS, Chief Medical Officer at Clearwater Valley hospital and Clinics where he has served as a rural Family Medicine physician for 24 years. He is also the Idaho Medical Director for Qualis Health – the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization.
“I’ve gone from being a doubting Thomas to a true believer.”
Dr. McGrath is a graduate of the University of Washington Medical School and the Ventura County Family Medicine Residency program.
Prior to his career in medicine, Dr. McGrath worked as a research chemical engineer where he developed a strong interest in process improvement and system optimization. That previous experience continues to drive his interest in healthcare quality in his current capacity as Idaho Medical Director of Qualis Health and Chief Medical Officer at Clearwater Valley Hospital and Clinics.
This week we are celebrating Rural Health Leadership Radio™’s 2-year anniversary! Yes! Rural Health Leadership Radio™ is two years old!
To celebrate, we are going to review the “Top 10” most listened to episodes, with a “Top 10 Count Down.”
We also have a few special announcements!
Announcement #1: Rural Health Leadership Radio™’s mission is to engage rural health leaders in conversations, learning and research. To achieve our mission, Rural Health Leadership Radio™ has become a non-profit organization, and just recently, achieved 501(c) (3) status! A great accomplishment that will greatly assist us in achieving our mission!
Announcement #2: Rural Health Leadership Radio™ has just published a book! What Rural Health Leaders are Saying is a summary of the inaugural year of Rural Health Leadership Radio™, filled with a collection of ideas and best practices from exceptional rural health leaders FOR rural health leaders. Guests include Alan Morgan, R.D. Williams, Brock Slabach, Kris Allen, Steve Barnett and many, many more! Proceeds from book sales will all go directly to Rural Health Leadership Radio™ to help us fulfill our mission.
Announcement #3: Rural Health Leadership Radio™ is headed to Australia! Will you come join us? In Episode # 97, we had a conversation with Mark Diamond, the CEO of the National Rural Health Alliance of Australia, and he invited all Rural Health Leadership Radio™ listeners to come join them for their bi-annual conference in March 2019. So, we’re going! In fact, with Mark’s assistance, we are putting together Rural Health Leadership Study Tour AUSRALIA. This 2-week trip to the land down under includes several visits to rural hospitals and clinics, two conferences, and along the way, we’ll do some sight-seeing. If you are at all interested, please send me an email today to bill@billauxier.com. The trip is the last half of March, and space is limited, so be one of the first to confirm so you won’t be left out.
This week we’re having a conversation with Jenna Bernson, a medical student at Michigan State University. Jenna attended Grand Valley State University’s Frederic Meijer Honors College and obtained her Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Science with minors in Chemistry and Music.
“The U.P. has three times the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome than any other region in Michigan and almost five times that of Detroit.”
Jenna is currently a 3rd year medical student at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine. She hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry.
Being that she is from a rural community, her passion for rural medicine as well as psychiatry have driven her research interests. Currently, she is involved in research and quality improvement projects with hopes to improve access to psychiatric care in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
This week we’re having a conversation with Kate Hill, Vice President of Clinical Services with The Compliance Team.
“Our motto is actually safety, honesty and caring.”
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.
Kate lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and near her three granddaughters. She’s happy to share photos anytime.
John Gardner, CEO of the Telluride Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Telluride, CO. John joined TRMC as its Chief Executive Officer in June 2016 is this week's guest.
“How do we protect the viability of the organization, be responsive to the needs of the community and try to be good stewards of health care dollars?”
Prior to joining TRMC, John served as the CEO at Yuma District Hospital and Clinics, located in Yuma. Previously, he has been a member of the management and executive teams of P/SL Healthcare in Denver, Sentara Health System in Norfolk, Virginia, Rocky Mountain Adventist Health System in Denver, Colorado, Centura Health System, North Valley Hospital in Thornton, and Good Samaritan Health Systems in Kearney, Nebraska.
Mr. Gardner has served in a variety of community and professional organizations. He currently serves on the Boards of the Center for Health Progress, the Colorado Rural Health Center and the Tri-County Health Network.
Katie Peterson, Chief Nursing Officer at Pender Community Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital in Pender, Nebraska, joins us this week.
“Our nursing staff is mostly millennials, so short staffing comes from having multiple nurses on maternity leave at the same time, not open positions.”
In addition to sitting on the senior executive team and providing nursing leadership, Katie also provides oversight to imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, behavioral health and quality.
Katie has empowered her teams to improve quality and expand services in all areas. During Katie's time at Pender, the hospital has won numerous national awards in quality and patient satisfaction.
Katie is a registered nurse with a Bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Darrold Bertsch, the CEO of Sakakawea Medical Center, a Critical Access Hospital located in Hazen, North Dakota and also the CEO of Coal Country Community Health Center, an FQHC with locations in Beulah, Hazen, Killdeer and Center North Dakota is here with us today.
“There are challenges that certainly come our way, but local challenges need local solutions that are developed by local people.”
Darrold has served in this unique shared CEO role for the last 7 years, leading collaborative efforts that have improved the delivery of patient care and the development of a patient centered medical neighborhood of care.
Darrold has worked in healthcare for 43 years, the last 23 as a CEO. He is an active proponent of rural healthcare and serves on various local, state and national boards and committees.
Dr. Scott Daniels, Performance Improvement Coordinator at the State of Hawaii Office of Primary Care and Rural Health joins us today.
“Providing care in a culturally appropriate way is something that really gets stressed a lot in Hawaii, particularly in the rural areas.”
Scott Daniels, Ph.D., has been in health care over eighteen years where he began as an analyst doing community health reports and analyzing hospital quality. In 2005, Scott began working for the Hawaii Office of Primary Care and Rural Health as the Performance Improvement Coordinator, where he oversees the state’s Flex program. He also served as interim chief of the office from 2006 to 2008.
Within the state, Scott has served on the Legislature’s Telehealth task force and on the Pacific Basin Telehealth Resource Center’s Advisory Board. He currently sits on the Hawaii Trauma Advisory Committee.
Nationally, Scott has served on the Rural Health Works advisory committee and on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the National Organization for State Offices of Rural Health, where he served as a president from 2015 through 2017. He currently serves on the advisory committees for the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) and on the Board of Trustees for the National Rural Health Association.
Scott earned his BA in Political Science from the University of Montana and his MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Scott lives on the Big Island of Hawaii where he passes time until the next natural disaster by brewing beer, raising chickens, and battling with his yard.
This week we’re having a conversation with Mike Leventhal, Executive Director of Men's Health Network-Tennessee.
“Leadership is the opportunity to serve.”
Since 2003, Mike has been serving as Executive Director for the Tennessee affiliate of Men's Health Network (MHN). Mike is responsible for MHN operations within Tennessee and consults with key staff on program coordination throughout the Southeastern United States, with an acute focus on outreach to policy makers, media, and private/public foundations. Additionally, Mike represents MHN in other state activities through a variety of unique capacities.
Mike is the founder of Save the Doodads.org, an MHN signature campaign that is designed to use humor while raising testicular cancer awareness and the importance of the testicular self-examination to the millennial generation.
Mike attended George Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Mike is active in a number of professional associations, including:
This week we’re having a conversation with Mark Diamond, CEO of the National Rural Health Alliance in Australia. Mark has had extensive experience in the management of public sector health and community services organizations in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia over a period in excess of 30 years. Mark has also occupied central agency roles including the redevelopment of mental health services in South Australia. More recently he was asked to assist a major not for profit aged and community services provider in the Northern Territory – Uniting Care Australia – Frontier Services. He was subsequently appointed Director of that service.
“Leadership is about creating the culture for people to thrive and contribute.”
Mark has skills and experience in hospital, health service and aged care management particularly in regional and remote areas and has skills in leadership, project management, change management and service design. He has been appointed to several quality evaluation panels at both state and federal level and has a strong interest in mental health, Indigenous health, primary health care, aged care and rural health.
He holds tertiary qualifications in Arts (Psych) and Social Work, is a Fellow and Board Director with the Australian College of Health Service Management, Board Director Health Consumer Alliance South Australia and former Council Member, National Rural Health Alliance Inc.
Mark was engaged on a consultancy basis to assist the NRHA Board in August last year and was subsequently appointed CEO in December 2017. The NRHA is the peak advocacy body for rural health in Australia.
This week we’re having a conversation with Christy Hopkins. Christy serves as the director of Greeley County Community Development, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring stability and growth for Unified Greeley County. She is also the secretary for Growing the Vision: A Foundation for the Future of Greeley County and treasurer of The Star Theater of Tribune, a community-owned movie theater.
“Greeley County ranks 105th out of 105 counties in the State of Kansas, but we’re eighth per capita in the number of college degrees for a population.”
Christy is a Class X graduate of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership (KARL) program and a Kansas Health Foundation Fellow. She serves on the Kansas Sampler Foundation board and is a core-team member of the PowerUps, a Kansas Sampler initiative dedicated to the empowerment and connection of Kansans aged 21-39 who are rural by choice. She also serves as president for wKREDA, the western Kansas Regional Economic Development Alliance.
Christy holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and film from Southwestern College in Winfield.
This week we’re having a conversation with Carrie Henning-Smith, Ph.D. Dr. Henning-Smith is the Deputy Director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
Dr. Henning-Smith has led multiple research projects at the Rural Health Research Center, with a wide range of topics including the social determinants of health, access to and quality of care, and aging and long-term care.
“Nobody wants to end up in a nursing home…”
She was chosen as a 2017 Rural Health Fellow by the National Rural Health Association and serves as a current editorial board member for the Journal of Rural Health.
She received her MPH and MSW from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and her Ph.D. in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration from the University of Minnesota.
This week we’re having a conversation with Hilda Heady. Hilda has 50 years of experience as a rural health leader, direct service professional, health professions’ educator and strong advocate for rural families and rural women’s health care including childbearing services. Hilda is also an advocate for Veterans and communities.
“We developed a plan to establish the state’s [West Virginia] first alternative in-hospital birth center.”
Hilda Heady’s work and advocacy is focused on how best to inform policies and practices which impact rural people and the service institutions in their communities.
She served as a charter member of the VA Secretary’s Rural Health Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2013 and as the 2005 President of the National Rural Health Association. For 18 years, she was the associate vice president for rural health at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center at WVU, and for seven years the senior vice president with Atlas Research, a service disabled veteran owned small business.
Hilda is a frequent national speaker on rural culture and resilience, maternal and child health in rural areas, rural health and mental health care and issues faced by rural veterans and their families.