C EN T ER FO R R U R A L H E A LT H
CE O T UR NO V E R IN
RURAL HOSPITALS UND’s Center for Rural Health talks to West River Health Services CEO Matt Shahan about leadership in rural healthcare.
Leading a rural hospital or health system is difficult. Just ask
NRHA policy paper
Matt Shahan, who daily tackles everything from recruitment,
This is where Shahan comes in, for he’s also a National
retention, and salaries to board governance, facility growth,
Rural Health Association (NRHA) fellow. NRHA’s Rural Health
community involvement, and third-party reimbursement.
Fellows is a yearlong, intensive training program that develops
As chief executive officer (CEO) of West River Health Services (WRHS) in Hettinger, N.D., Shahan understands the opportunities and challenges that come from being a CEO in a rural hospital. Most people in rural healthcare positions wear multiple hats, and Shahan wears three: he is also the CEO of Western Horizons Living Center, an assisted
leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America. The program is set up to educate and orient new administrators to policy development. The platform helps build leaders for the future, and one of its objectives is to have fellows write policy papers that could potentially be used to help shape future federal policy.
living and skilled nursing facility, and the West River Health
Helping shape such policy is why Shahan and his co-NRHA
Services Foundation System.
fellow Mellie Bridewell, CEO of Arkansas Rural Health
And although there has not been much research or data on rural hospital CEO turnover to date, many in the industry are beginning to realize the need for such research.
Partnership, a public nonprofit comprised of 14 rural hospital members and two Federally Qualified Health Centers spanning south Arkansas, spent a lot of time interviewing health system CEOs in the past 18 months. Out of these conversations
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