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Rural Health Leadership Radio™

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.
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Archives
Now displaying: March, 2018
Mar 27, 2018

This week we’re having a conversation with John Henderson.  John has been the CEO at Childress Regional Medical Center, his hometown hospital in Childress, Texas, for 16 years.  Soon he will be moving to Austin, Texas, to serve as the President & CEO or the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, otherwise known as TORCH.  TORCH is an advocate for the 163 small hospitals in Texas. 

“When we got really good is when we stopped making excuses.” 

John served as the chair of the TORCH board in 2011, and also served a board chair for the Texas Hospital Association in 2016. 

John is also a husband and father of three children.

Mar 20, 2018

This week we’re having a conversation with Evalyn Ormand, CEO at Union General Hospital in Farmerville, LA.  Farmerville is in the northeast part of Louisiana, about 25 miles from the Arkansas border.  This year marks Evalyn’s 40th year in healthcare administration.  During those 40 years, she has served two rural hospitals, approximately 20 miles apart. 

“Don’t swallow a camel and gag on a gnat.” 

The first hospital she started her career was at Shirlington Memorial Hospital in Shirlington, LA.  Shirlington Memorial was started in the ’60s by a physician and his wife who was an RN.  They worked together until he died unexpectedly.  Their two sons returned after his death and one took over the hospital as the administrator, the other was the doctor.  They hired Evalyn to work in administration. 

Evalyn started her journey as an administrative assistant, bookkeeper, payroll clerk, insurance clerk and any other job that he needed to be done. There were two women in administration, Evalyn and another, and they ran the entire business office. 

Ten years later, Evalyn was promoted to CEO.  

Shirlington Memorial was taken over by a larger facility who then asked Evalyn if she would consider filling the position as CEO for both Shirlington Memorial and Union General.  For over seven years, she would spend the morning at one hospital and the afternoon in the other hospital.  Shirlington Memorial ended up closing, and Evalyn has been CEO of Union General for the past 25 years. 

Mar 13, 2018

This week we’re having a conversation with Dr. Burke Kline, CEO of Greeley County Health Services in Tribune, Kansas.  Tribune is a town with a population of 750 in a county with a population of 1,200, one of the least populated counties in the state of Kansas, located on the Kansas/Colorado border.

“Verbal judo is a practice that’s taught to law enforcement. 
It’s a way of listening, relating and responding.” 

Burke has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare industry, primarily working at Pawnee County Memorial Hospital and Rural Health Clinic (PCMH), located in Pawnee City, NE, in a number of managerial roles and as Associate Administrator. He gained front-line healthcare experience working in a variety of roles within health care including as a certified nurse aide and a certified medication aide in the Long Term Care setting early in his career.

Dr. Kline holds a Master’s Degree from Bellevue University in Healthcare Administration and a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from Walden University.

Prior to his health care administrative roles, Burke served as a Deputy Sheriff for 8.5 years, as a Deputy Sheriff, he filled many roles including K-9 Handler, SWAT team leader and Commander of the Major Crimes Unit for the Gage County Sheriff’s Office.

Dr. Kline and his wife, Andrea, a nurse, have two daughters: Ellie, age 7, and Katelyn, age 5, who enjoy horse riding and playing sports.

Mar 6, 2018

This week we’re having a conversation with Corie Kaiser, the Director of the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health.  Corie joined the Office of Rural Health in 2005.  Since that time, she has maintained the office’s community engagement programs as well as coordinated and maintained quality and performance improvement and financial programs to assist critical access hospitals.   

“We had three critical access hospitals convert to critical access hospital status in 2016…” 

Corie received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and a Master of Science with an emphasis in healthcare administration from Oklahoma State University.   She is a member of the National Rural Health Association and currently serves as President of the Rural Health Association of Oklahoma and President-Elect of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health.  

Corie is a native rural Oklahoman and currently lives in Edmond, OK, with her husband and two sons. 

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