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Georgia (PRWEB) July 27, 2011

HomeTown Health, LLC is now in its 5th year of an Executive Leadership program designed to improve management and leadership development within healthcare organizations and hospitals in Georgia. According to research conducted in January of last year, twenty-two of approximately 65 rural hospitals in Georgia experienced turned over during an eleven month period. The reasons for the turnover were, external financial and reimbursement impacts beyond local control, e.g. payer mix and unemployment, failure of board to define expectations of CEO, very poor hospital financial performance, poor communications by CEO to explain hospital operations, local board not understanding the competitive compensation requirements for CEOs, etc. According to Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTown Health, job requirements of tomorrow will not resemble the CEO duties of today. Reimbursement complexity will soar; physician recruitment will become much more difficult as rural hospital compete with FQHC?s and technology of newer larger hospitals. Technology understanding for EHR?s, ACO?s, and HIE?s will require a much more educated and savvy CEO than ever before. This scenario will only get worse as more CEOs retire or are terminated. Lewis notes that after a chief executive officer leaves, it?s difficult for rural hospitals to find a qualified replacement. Unlike large hospitals in urban areas, rural facilities often do not have a ready backup candidate, and it can take several months to hire a new leader. For this reason HomeTown Health continues to grow its leadership program as means to develop and maintain strong leadership in the GA rural healthcare realm.

The Executive Leadership Program is IACET (International Association for Continuing Education) accredited and carries with it 50 credit hours or 5 CEUs. It begins each February with CEO Day at the Capitol and then moves to a private dinner with an evening of great food and a challenging message. Other key sessions include a two day cost report training session at Draffin & Tucker, a two day session at Lake Oconee on personal and executive development, communication with your board and crisis management, participation in clinical and financial workshops throughout the year as well as training at both the HTH spring and fall conferences. All of the leadership sessions are equally important and all the participants immediately see the validity of the program when the first session begins in February.

The program begins each year with an important CEO Day at the state capitol. It includes meeting with legislators, watching the proceedings in the chambers, and working the lobby lines. Jimmy Lewis, HomeTown Health CEO states, ?This is a significant event because it provides you access to legislators directly on critical issues and it provides transparency and accountability to CEOs for the representation that HomeTown gives to you.? This year there were 35 attendees from 20 hospitals that were able to engage legislators directly with their issues and questions. ?Attendees every year go away with a sense of awe at how the lawmaking process works. They also are impressed with the appreciation that legislators express for having them come to visit them at the capitol?, Jimmy Lewis.

http://www.youtube.com/user/HomeTownHealthOnline#p/u/6/R2qZsarBqE4

The 2011 Leadership Program Participants include: Jeff Dunn, CEO at North Georgia, Monica Arrendale, Director of Administration for Chestatee Regional Medical Center, Joe Tallent, Director of Rehab Therapy and Outreach for Effingham County Hospital, Jennifer Meeler, Patient Financial Services Director at Berrien County Hospital, Adam Howard, Asst. Patient Financial Services Director at Evans Memorial Hospital, Becky Smith, RN and Respiratory Therapy Services Director at Dodge Hospital, Greg Thomas, Director of Events and Management Services for HomeTown Health and Chris Scarborough, Director of Finance for HomeTown Health.

For More information Contact:

Kathy Whitmire,

Managing Director, HomeTown Health

kfw(at)windstream(dot)net

706-491-3493

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Georgia (PRWEB) July 29, 2011

HomeTown Health & Georgia Partnership for Telehealth (GPT) hosted a dynamic meeting of eight Georgia businesses who are all partnering to implement the TeleConnect GA for Better Health(TCGBH) Program. TCGBH is a collaborative effort through the use of telemedicine and broadband adoption to improve the declining health of rural Georgians. GPT received a grant to create training and outreach program for residents and healthcare providers to improve health and healthcare delivery in the state?s 91 designated ?counties of persistent poverty.? TeleConnect Georgia for Better Health (TCGBH) is made possible by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Leveraging the strengths of state government agencies, the private sector, and educational and nonprofit organizations, the project proposes targeted outreach to economically vulnerable populations including school children, low-income residents, senior citizens, and at-risk youth to address poor health and lack of high quality health care.

HomeTown Health, a network of 55 rural hospitals in Georgia, has been an integral partner with Georgia Partnership for Telehealth in the execution of this grant, as well as the integration of all partners? roles, and also evaluating each partner?s goals and objectives for the BTOP grant.

?We are so excited & honored to be partnering with Georgia Partnership for Telehealth on this far reaching initiative that will deliver better health outcomes to rural Georgians who need better access to medical care,” said Kathy Whitmire, managing director for HomeTown Health, LLC.

On July 21, 2011, HomeTown Health & GPT invited each of the eight partners involved in the BTOP grant to Georgia Public Web offices in Atlanta for an important team building meeting designed to create comprehensive understanding of each of the partners? roles within the BTOP grant overall. Partners were apprised of the new developments, new targets to achieve within the specified goals & objectives in the BTOP grant , as well as the upcoming Marketing Awareness Campaign where the mascot, Peachy, will be visiting schools to share information, fun activities and free giveaways so children can learn how broadband is used to help them stay healthy.

As the overall objective of the TeleConnect Georgia program began to unfold, all of the partners were able to understand each of their contributions to the greater BTOP grant goal of increased broadband adoption throughout Georgia. The eight strategic partners currently involved with the BTOP grant are: