WALNUT RIDGE, Ark., May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility in northeast Arkansas, were named today as the 2004 HealthLeaders Top Leadership Team in Healthcare for Small Hospitals.
County-owned Lawrence Memorial, like many small hospitals, was headed toward bankruptcy and closure in the mid-1990s, but its leaders sparked a revival that resulted in the hospital growing and thriving in a small, rural community that is not growing.
"The senior leadership team at Lawrence Memorial epitomizes what can be done when leaders work together as a team to make the delivery of healthcare better for patients and their families," said Scott McQuigg, president and publisher of HealthLeaders, an award-winning monthly magazine for senior-level healthcare executives.
The leadership team at Lawrence Memorial includes Lee Gentry, president; Sandy Sullins, vice president of financial services; Judy Belcher, vice president of long term care; Ernest "Junior" Briner, vice president of support services, and Vickie Cousins, vice president of patient services.
The honor was based on the outstanding teamwork exhibited by Lawrence Memorial's senior leaders that led to them achieving their stated operational goals and objectives, McQuigg said. A panel of judges considered how the senior leadership team worked together to overcome challenges and barriers to meet its goals and objectives.
The judges selected Lawrence Memorial from among three finalists in HealthLeaders' search for the 2004 Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare. The other finalists were the leaders at Odessa Regional Hospital, Odessa, Texas, and Spring Harbor Hospital, Westbrook, Maine.
"Choosing the Top Leadership Team from among the three Small Hospital finalists was a difficult task for the judges because each of the leadership groups is well deserving of this honor," McQuigg said.
In addition to the Small Hospital category, for hospitals with less than 170 beds, HealthLeaders will name top leadership teams later this month for Large Hospitals and Health Plans. The leadership team finalists in those categories are from:
- Large Hospitals (170 beds or more) - Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Baton Rouge, La. - NYU Medical Center, New York, N.Y. - University of Colorado Hospital, Denver, Colo. - Health Plans (state or regional) - Healthchoice Arizona, Tempe, Ariz. - Medica, Minneapolis, Minn. - QualCare Inc., Piscataway, N.J.
HealthLeaders will feature the nation's top healthcare leadership teams in a future issue, and they will receive worldwide exposure on http://www.healthleaders.com/ .
HealthLeaders Inc. ( http://www.healthleaders.com/ ) is an integrated healthcare media and business information company comprised of HealthLeaders, a 40,000 circulation monthly magazine which provides senior-level healthcare executives with solution-focused ideas to help leadership teams improve business operations, HealthLeaders Online News and HealthLeaders Research, a leading provider of in-depth state-level and local data and analysis on 850 health plans, as well as analysis of healthcare developments in 75 major metropolitan markets.
HealthLeaders Inc.CONTACT: Tom Gillem, Communications Manager of HealthLeaders Inc.,+1-615-369-4806, or tom.gillem@healthleaders.com
Web site: http://www.healthleaders.com/