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!