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.”
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.