Rural Health Leadership Radio‪™‬ Dr. Bill Auxier

This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio, we are wrapping up our series on NRHA’s 2023 Fellows Program Policy Papers with Fellows Michelle Fortune and Abby Radcliffe. Michelle and Abby explored one of the hottest topics in healthcare, particularly impactful in rural – healthcare workforce shortages. The Fellows share short and long-term strategies in handling workforce shortages, as well as pragmatic and policy-based recommendations.
“Everybody in every community can take some action in some way, and it doesn't have to be looking for that gigantic next step. The big is in the little, so do something.”
– Michelle Fortune
Michelle Fortune, MBA, BSN, FACHE is the President of Surgery and GI Service Line for Mercy Health in St Louis, MO. Prior to joining Mercy, Michelle led the Perioperative and Anesthesia Service Lines for Atrium Health and then served as a CEO for a Critical Access Hospital managed by the system which needed an operational turnaround. Michelle is a Certified Ambulatory PeriAnesthesia Nurse and a National Rural Health Fellow. She is currently participating in the NRHA Rural CEO Certification Program. Michelle has a passion for assuring the availability of high quality healthcare in rural communities. Her work in Rural Healthcare has brought her numerous honors, including being named the 2023 Rural Community Champion of the year by the North Carolina Rural Health Association for her work in advancing Cardiac Care in Rural North Carolina.
Abby Radcliffe currently serves as the Senior Director of the Small and Rural Hospital Constituency Section at the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA). She has worked with rural hospitals at IHA for over 17 years and has worked on several grant initiatives. In 2023, she served as a National Rural Health Association fellow and was also awarded the Rural Health Hero Award from the National Center for Rural Health Professions. 
Abby graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a major in Speech Communication and a double minor in Business Administration and Public Relations. In 2005 she graduated from Miami University with an MA in Speech Communication. Abby has also worked in state government and development.

On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we talk to a physician who came out of retirement to rekindle his passion for rural healthcare at a critical access hospital in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Dr. David Alcindor shares his incredible journey, from his childhood in France to his volunteer work in rural nations across the world, as well as the U.S. as a traveling ED physician. David is Chief of Staff at South Lincoln Hospital District and practices in Emergency Medicine and Med-Surg.
“It’s a small system, you could to the CEO, CFO, COO, CNO in the same hallway – or you could visit them in their homes…everything is approachable, everything is scalable.”
– Dr. David Alcindor
David grew up in Paris, France, and moved to the U.S. to start studies focused on helping disadvantaged persons, first by obtaining a degree in architecture and pursing research in housing for the poor. Construction research in a developing Caribbean nation led David to cross paths with rural medical volunteers. In joining them, he discovered that medicine had far greater impact in addressing not just poor living standards but impacting the health of each individual.
After completing medical school, David volunteered in the US Air Force as a medical officer, served on the war front and returned to civilian life to focus exclusively on the health of land laborers (miners, farmers and ranchers) in remote, rural America. After nearly 20 years of being a traveling rural ED physician across the U.S., David and his wife decided to settle in Kemmerer, Wyoming. David first traveled to work in Kemmerer at SLHD emergency department in February 2022. He has since joined the hospital's executive leadership team on a full-time basis with a plan to gradually assume various departmental directorships.

This week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio continues our series of exploring the Policy Papers of NRHA’s 2023 Rural Health Fellows. In this conversation, we talk to Lex Pierre and Jeff Dunbar who researched the intricacies of long-term care in rural healthcare. The pair broke their paper down into financing, staffing, and regulations to uncover the importance, possibilities, and difficulties of supporting long-term care in rural areas.
“Bringing awareness is the main thing and it's great that we have all these different avenues and different ways of doing it..”
– Lex Pierre
Jeff has been in the healthcare field for nearly 30 years in a range of roles from Sales to HR in pharmaceuticals, medical device, dental, fitness, and telemedicine. Currently and for the last 15 years he’s been running a telemedicine company providing physician services to rural and critical access hospitals. He derives great satisfaction providing access through technology to critical care specialists, hospitalists, infectious disease, and cardiology physicians that aren’t available to patients locally. He lives in N.CA wine country with his wife, three daughters, and golden retriever. When not working he’s usually on a bicycle in the mountains or on a country road.
As Director of Dentistry for Chambers Health, Lex is responsible for overseeing all operations within the dental department. He has been committed to providing superior dental care to underserved areas since graduating from dental school. His focus remains on addressing rural oral health disparities by increasing and promoting oral health access. Lex earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama State University and his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry. He is currently pursuing fellowships within the Academy of General Dentistry and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Lex travels nationally to attend the best continued educations to stay up to date with all the innovation within the dental field.    

Continuing our series on NRHA’s 2023 Fellows and Policy Papers, this week we’re talking to another group of Fellows that explored pediatric vaccination rates in rural America. Nitika Moibi, Andrea Stephenson, and Cynthia Calixte each touch on the current state of pediatric vaccination rates from the unique perspectives of a provider, through the lens of data, workforce and access, as well as community trust. The Fellows share personal experiences, historical data and information, as well as the importance of increasing these rates and tactics to make a difference.
“If you don’t have trust in your healthcare provider, then progress can't be made and you're not going to get the good care that you deserve. So please advocate for that and find a healthcare provider that you trust and can have these conversations with.”
– Dr. Cynthia Calixte
Cynthia Calixte, MD, MPH serves the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland as a Family Physician and the Physician Deputy for Wicomico County and Somerset County Health Departments. She works part-time at Menocal Family Practice in Salisbury, Maryland. Dr. Calixte graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical College in Brooklyn, NY, and completed her residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.  After residency, she obtained her Masters in Public Health from CUNY School of Public Health and Health Policy in New York.  As a provider, she addresses the health inequities in her community.  She also understands the importance of preventive care and health education.  She is committed to educating her rural community on healthy lifestyle and chronic disease management.
Andrea Stephenson-Royster, MBA, MHA is the Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Okeechobee Rural Health Network (LORHN), one of nine rural health networks established by the Florida state legislature. Mrs. Stephenson-Royster is committed to the residents, providers, and community partners that form the rural communities around Lake Okeechobee. She has developed a solid knowledge base of issues and trends in healthcare and human services during her 20 years in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and has served on community committees and the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations in the fields of aging, health care, child welfare, community partnerships, and mental health.
Nitika Moibi works for the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. She oversees statewide collection and analysis of data on Minnesota’s healthcare workforce and directs research on workforce availability, distribution and emerging trends to inform workforce policies and investments. Her background includes health services research and rulemaking. Nitika received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Human Resource Management from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and her graduate degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

On this week’s episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we kick off a series focused on NRHA’s 2023 Rural Health Fellows and their policy papers. The first group we chatted with includes Lisa Rantz, Kevin Lambing, and Dr. Carrie Shaver who had the task of examining Medicare Advantage. In our conversation we discuss the intricacies, impacts, as well as personal experiences that the Fellows uncovered in their research.
“Get involved and advocate and educate on these issues. It will require all of us working together to create the change in policy and funding mechanisms that we need to ensure that our rural Healthcare is supported and continues to be strong.”
– Dr. Carrie Shaver
Kevin Lambing serves as the Senior Program Officer for Health at the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. In this role, he helps ensure East Texas children, adults, and families are healthy and have access to quality healthcare. He organizes and convenes stakeholders and develops community partnerships with potential health related grantees in East Texas, consisting of 22 rural counties and one primarily urban county, Harris County and Miller County, Arkansas (Texarkana area). In addition, he monitors federal and state legislation related to health with intentions for future gaps in funding health resources in rural East Texas.
Kevin’s 30-plus-year career in the Air Force culminated in his service as the Senior Advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General. In this role he defined, shaped, and executed health care policy in support of 45,000 personnel at 75 medical treatment facilities around the globe, ensuring a cost effective, patient-centered, and prevention-based healthcare continuum for 2.6M beneficiaries. He earned an Associate of Applied Science degree from the Community College of the Air Force, Bachelor of Science degree from Wayland Baptist University, a Master’s of Business Administration degree from Webster University and is a 2023 National Rural Health Association Fellow. He is married to his wife Sheliea and they have 2 children, Noah and Lydia.
Lisa Rantz is the Executive Director of Hilo Medical Center Foundation which serves as the Hawaii Island Area Health Education Center, focusing on health career recruitment from K-12 to graduate medical education. She is the President of the Hawaii State Rural Health Association and in 2023 joined the National Rural Health Association Board of Trustees. Lisa is a 2023 NRHA Fellow and has over fifteen years of experience in facilitation and focus groups in education and health care, Lisa has developed impactful programs to address rural health challenges and advocate for community needs. Her accolades include the 2020 Small Business Advocate of the Year, the 2021 Peacemaker Award, the 2022Athena Leadership Award, the 2023 Community Star recognition for Hawaii, and the 2024 NRHA Volunteer of the Year award.
Dr. Shaver is an Assistant Professor of Health Management and Leadership at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and a founding member of the New Mexico Rural Health Association. Dr. Shaver has a strong background in the social service sector and has experience administering disease prevention, treatment, and health and wellness programs. She endeavors to bridge gaps between traditional silos in healthcare and foster collaboration among healthcare professionals through Systems Thinking. By embracing this holistic framework, she aims to contribute to the development of sustainable, inclusive, and equitable healthcare systems. Dr. Shaver’s research centers around understanding and addressing the unique healthcare challenges faced by rural and frontier communities along the United States-Mexico border and countries within Latin America and the Caribbean.

Medical residency in a rural area is one of the key influencing factors for providers to stay and continue practicing in a rural area. This week on Rural Health Leadership Radio we are talking to Yoana Cruz, Clerkship and Sub-Internship Coordinator in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. We talk with Yoana about the growing need for more providers in rural healthcare, and how she is bringing awareness to the need with up-and-coming medical students and working to connect those students with rural residencies. 
“Although I may not be the person that gives direct care for patients, I hope to encourage medical professionals at an early stage of their career to provide the best quality care for patients.” 
– Yoana Cruz
Born and raised in southwest Kansas, Yoana Cruz grew up in a welcoming community, full of hard-working immigrant families from more than thirty countries. Despite its rich heritage and tolerant culture, this agrarian city has many health disparities due to its growing number of immigrants and political refugees. The regional healthcare delivery system is slow to react to the complex medical and social needs of these diverse groups. Yoana’s own experiences with barriers to utilizing the healthcare delivery system as a child of immigrants have informed her perspective on health equity and motivated her to pursue mission-driven work in healthcare administration. 
Yoana has 6+ years of project planning experience in the healthcare setting while previously working at Kearny County Hospital, Cerner Corporation, and now at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is a 1st generation academic student where she received her BBA from Fort Hays State University and recently graduated in May 2024 in her Master of Health Services Administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center. In her spare time, she holds professional development workshops for undergraduate students pursuing business or healthcare-related careers.