We believe the heart of healthcare is service to others. Our single goal is to provide affordable, accessible, first-rate healthcare that improves the health and well-being of the people we serve and raises the quality of life for all concerned. Working in partnership with communities, we seek to build healthcare systems that are locally focused and nationally recognized as the standard by which community hospitals are judged.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Rash is the chairman and CEO of RegionalCare Hospital Partners. Previously he was the chairman and CEO of Province Healthcare, a NYSE hospital company. Under his direction, Province completed a successful IPO in 1998 and grew to an organization owning/operating 21 hospitals across the U.S. with revenues of nearly $1 billion by 2004, when it was sold to LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) for $1.7 billion. Prior to founding Province Healthcare, Mr. Rash served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Community Health Systems, Inc. During his tenure at CHS, he led the growth of the company from 10 to 41 hospitals in 17 states. Earlier in his 25-year healthcare career, Mr. Rash worked at numerous community hospitals in various administrative and financial roles. He has served as chairman of the Nashville Health Care Council and as Chairman of the Board for the Federation of American Hospitals. He currently serves on the board of HealthSpring, a NYSE company and previously served on the board of Odyssey Healthcare. Mr. Rash holds a bachelors degree and an MBA from Middle Tennessee State University.
President and Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Rutledge has spent 25 years in the hospital management field. In 1997 Mr. Rutledge joined Province Healthcare as COO and later became president of the company. Under his leadership, the company grew to nearly $1 billion in revenue. The company was sold in 2005 for $1.7 billion. Prior to joining Province, Mr. Rutledge was regional vice president over the largest and most profitable division at Community Health Systems. Mr. Rutledge was part of the original operating team at Community Heath Systems. He started as operations controller and then was promoted to his position as regional vice president. Mr. Rutledge is a graduate of Lipscomb University.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Bakewell has over 26 years of experience building and executing financial and operational strategies for rapidly growing businesses across a number of industry sectors. Prior to joining RegionalCare as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Bakewell served as EVP and CFO of Wright Medical Group, Inc., a publicly-held orthopedic medical device company; as VP of Finance and Administration and CFO of Altra Energy Technologies, Inc., a software and e-commerce solutions provider to the energy industry; as VP of Finance and Administration and CFO of Cyberonics, Inc., a publicly-held medical device company focused on the treatment of epilepsy and other neurological disorders; and, as CFO of ZEOS International, LTD., a publicly-held manufacturer and direct marketer of personal computers.
He served in various capacities with the predecessor firm to KPMG and with Ernst & Young. Mr. Bakewell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa and is licensed as a certified public accountant. He serves on the board of directors of ev3 Inc., a publicly-held endovascular medical device company and Keystone Dental, Inc., a privately-held dental implant medical device company.
Senior Vice President, Financial Operations
Mr. Moody will oversee financial operations of the hospitals. His responsibilities include budgeting, performance monitoring, and capital planning. Previously he was in a similar position at Province Healthcare. Mr. Moody has over 20 years experience with HCA, beginning as a reimbursement consultant and culminating as a group CFO. He also has seven years experience with an insurance company. Mr. Moody holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vice President, Business Development
Ms. Craft was a member of the hospital acquisition team of Province Healthcare for seven years. Prior to joining Province she did nationwide business development for Brim Healthcare for ten years. Her career experience has also included Marketing and Business Development for hospitals in Oregon as well as the Olympic Scientific Congress, the University of Oregon and Analog Devices in Boston. Ms. Craft holds a Masters degree in business and marketing from Marylhurst University (Portland, OR).
Vice President, Medical Staff Development
Ms. Smokler's career has included 20 years of experience in all phases of medical staff development, including physician recruitment, physician relations, medical practice management, and healthcare marketing. Prior to joining RegionalCare, she served as a senior officer in charge of medical staff development for two national hospital corporations. During her tenure with these corporations, Ms. Smokler successfully recruited 350 physicians, primarily to rural and suburban areas. Her work spans every aspect of the recruitment process from initial strategic planning to contract negotiations and closings. Additionally, Ms. Smokler worked 7 years with Saint Thomas Health Services, a leading faith-based health care system in Tennessee.
Vice President, Clinical Operations
Prior to joining Regional Care Hospital Partners, Ms. Dillon was Principal & Vice President of ASPIRE Healthcare Partners. She served as assistant vice president for quality resource management at Province Healthcare where she supervised multi-facility development of clinical operations, nursing, patient throughput, quality, utilization, medical staff quality and physician advisor programs. She led hospital-based clinicians to paperless systems and improved operational efficiencies. Ms. Dillon has held positions in corporate and clinical management at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Columbia/HCA hospitals and HealthTrust. She has restored numerous facilities accreditation programs, averting loss or payment structure. She has clinical nursing experience in pediatrics, neurology, cardiology and cardio-thoracic surgical intensive care.
Vice President, Risk Management
Mr. Thornburg's work involves designing, marketing and implementing insurance and risk management solutions for our company. Prior to joining RegionalCare, he held an executive position at Gallagher Healthcare in Nashville, TN. Mr. Thornburg also served as Vice President of Risk Management for Province Healthcare. He has extensive experience in all aspects of risk management and insurance. Mr. Thornburg also previously held the position of senior account executive for 17 plus years specializing in healthcare and risk management clients.
Vice President, Materials Management
Ms. Walls has 29 years of healthcare experience. Prior to joining RegionalCare Hospital Partners, she served as Director of National Contracting/Purchasing for HealthSpring, Inc. Before joining HealthSpring, she held the position of Vice President, Materials Management for a large multi-hospital organization. In addition, Ms. Walls was a member of the Province Healthcare team serving as its VP of Materials Management for over 9 years. She also has operational experience in acute care hospital settings and has worked for both for-profit and non-profit healthcare facilities for a combined total of 14 years.
VP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer
Ms. Martin is a 29 year legal veteran in the areas of civil and criminal health care law and regulatory enforcement. Prior to joining RegionalCare she served as the Presidentially appointed United States Attorney for Northern Alabama from 2001-2009. Under her leadership a Health Care Fraud Task Force, responsible for enforcement actions which generated fine and restitution exceeding $600M was established. She spearheaded the HealthSouth $2.8B accounting fraud investigation and led the Department of Justice in corporate fraud prosecutions (2004). In addition to defending individual medical care providers and private and government hospitals since 1981, Ms. Martin has worked as a Registered Nurse. She holds a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Mississippi and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University.
Vice President, Information Systems
Mr. Flanagan is Chief Information Officer for RegionalCare Hospital Partners. He is responsible for the company’s information system strategy and execution. He is leading efforts on the Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology, Information Security & Compliance and Business Intelligence. He brings 20 plus years of healthcare management and information technology (IT) leadership to RegionalCare. Prior to joining RegionalCare, he served as Chief Information Officer for APS Healthcare, a specialty healthcare company for Population Health Management, Disease Management, and Health & Wellness.
Mr. Flanagan received his Masters in Hospital Administration from Duke University in 1988. His background includes working in hospital operations, hospital systems management, Information Technology Consulting, physician practice management and care management. Mr. Flanagan has experience in many aspects of IT management, including: Strategy, Architecture, Application Development, Infrastructure, Business Intelligence and Project Management.
Vice President, Receivables Management
Mr. O'Hara has over 25 years of experience in all phases of hospital accounts receivables management. Prior to joining RegionalCare, he held a position at Ingram & Associates Health Services in Nashville, TN and was responsible for implementing their complete reimbursement recovery program. Mr. O'Hara also served six years as Chief Operating Officer with Nashville Patient Account Services. Additionally, he worked in acute care hospital settings as Business Office Director and Business Office Manager.
AVP, Financial Operations
Mr. Somerby has more than 15 years of healthcare experience. Prior to joining RegionalCare, he worked for 5 years as Operations Controller for a Nashville based healthcare organization. Mr. Somerby also served as Director of Operation Support at Province Healthcare for 5 years. He has held various roles in healthcare finance. Mr. Somerby's experience includes Medicare Reimbursement Technician, Market DSS Analyst, Hospital Controller, and Division Controller. He has an Accounting Degree from Tennessee Technological University.
Sr. Manager, Business Development
Ms. Copous has extensive experience in business development and account management. Prior to joining RegionalCare, she held the position of account representative for a large Nashville based organization and was responsible for territory management, growth and development. She was previously a member of the Province Healthcare acquisitions and development team for 5 years. Ms. Copous has a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee State University.