Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award - Winners

SCOTT M. STREET RECEIVES AHA'S SHIRLEY ANN MUNROE AWARD

Scott M. Street, president and CEO of Duncan Regional Hospital in Duncan, Okla. is the 2009 winner of the American Hospital Association's (AHA) Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award.  The award recognizes the accomplishments of small or rural hospital leaders who have improved health care delivery in their communities through innovative and progressive efforts.

Street has been CEO of Duncan Regional Hospital (DRH) for more than five years and has extensive health care management experience.  DRH is a 192-bed community hospital in southwest Oklahoma that serves a six-county area of 200,000 people.  During his tenure, Street has focused on providing better access to health care and health education and creating a state-of-the-art hospital for the citizens of Stephens County. 

Street's emphasis on improved access to health care led him to partner with other health care providers to expand DRH to provide cancer and pediatric care.  Patients who once needed to drive at least an hour and a half to receive cancer treatment now are treated much closer to home, providing quick access to care.  Children who need specialized care also are treated closer to home at the new Sanford Health Pediatric Clinic, which was made possible by a grant championed by Street.  Street also increased the availability of state-of-the art imaging technology to further expand the types of treatment for community members.  The Hands On Health Interactive Learning Center, a high-tech, high-touch facility for students in kindergarten through 8th grade, promotes personal health and the possibility of careers in health care for young people.  New services also include nephrology and cardiology, with rheumatology, geriatric psych, wound care and neurology services in development.      

Street also has focused on physician and nurse recruitment, bringing 31 new physicians to DRH since 2006 and working collaboratively with two schools of nursing to establish the Duncan Regional Hospital Learning Center, which provides an opportunity to train nurses locally and place them in positions at DRH.  Health IT is a top priority for the hospital, as well.  Street has implemented a system to ensure the right medication is given to the right patient at the right time using the IntellitDOT bedside drug administration system.  Additionally, he is working to make DRH a paperless hospital by early 2010. 

In addition to his work at DRH, Street is involved in several health care and community organizations.  Currently, Street serves on the Oklahoma Hospital Association's (OHA) board of directors and other OHA committees, including the rural health and education councils, and on the Cancer Centers for Southwest Oklahoma board of directors and the VHA, Oklahoma/Arkansas board of directors.  As a community leader, Street is chairman of Duncan Public Schools Sports Complex Fund-Raising and Dream Duncan's Destiny Community Health, and serves on the Duncan Area Economic Development Board and the Duncan Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board. 

Street received a master's degree in health care administration at the University of Missouri in Columbia and a bachelor of arts' degree in business administration at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. 

This year the Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award also recognized three finalists for their significant achievements in service of their community:

• Matthew D. Bailey, president and CEO of Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, Ind., has focused on the connection between the hospital and the community it serves.  When the county had financial difficulties, Bailey worked with county officials to relocate the Knox County Health Department within Good Samaritan Hospital.  The department's nurses provide primary health care and social services for patients without health insurance or Medicaid or Medicare assistance, creating better access to care for the citizens of Knox County.  Bailey also developed programs to provide free health screenings and tests, to combat childhood obesity and to care for migrant workers and their families.  In 2008, Good Samaritan Hospital received Magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.    

• Martin W. Guthmiller, chief executive officer of Orange City Area Health System (OCAHS) in Orange City, Iowa, has committed the health system to playing a greater role in the community OCAHS serves.  He has helped develop a new community daycare and preschool facility on the OCAHS campus and previously served as a board member of the Greater Sioux Community Health Center, a clinic providing care based on a sliding income scale for the uninsured and underinsured.  Guthmiller also spearheaded the Orange City Development Board's efforts to revitalize Orange City's downtown area after a fire destroyed a landmark retail business.  Additionally, he has expanded services available at OCAHS to better meet the health needs of Orange City citizens so they can receive care close to home.      

• Becky Ann Pape, chief executive officer of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital in Lebanon, Ore., lead efforts to build the first medical school in Oregon in more than a century and locate it Lebanon.  Students will begin attending classes in 2011 and the school will help address physician shortages in the community and state.  Pape also helped develop the Health Career and Training Center to provide education for a variety of health care jobs and supported the hospital's participation in the East Linn Community Health Improvement Partnership, which invests in community projects that provide a more healthful lifestyle for the citizens of Lebanon.   

Past Recipients: Rural Health Care Leaders

• 1991 - Leo Geiger, Ashley Medical Center, who instituted innovative programs in his 21-bed hospital in Ashley, North Dakota.
• 1992 - Carol Schott, Odessa Memorial Hospital, whose creativity boosted both internal and external services at this hospital in Odessa, Washington.
• 1993 - Domingo Monroig, Hospital General Castaner, for overcoming multiple challenges faced by this impoverished mountain hospital in Puerto Rico.
• 1994 - Leo A. Petit, Jr., Bladen County Hospital, whose management acumen transformed this failing North Carolina hospital into a functional and programmatic model.
• 1995 - Bruce D. Peterson, Mercer County Hospital, who developed a public health department run by the hospital that has served as a model for the delivery of public health services in Illinois.
• 1996 - J. Michael Boyd, Benewah Community Hospital, who was involved in carrying out the vision of developing a model rural health care system and is moving to build a model rural community that addresses local health care needs and issues.
• 1997 - Donald J. Babb, Citizens Memorial Hospital and Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation, for expanding community outreach and creating a fully integrated health care delivery system in Bolivar, Missouri.
• 1998 - Rodney C. Boula, Clifton Fine Hospital in Star Lake, New York, for improving health care access in a sparsely populated and economically depressed area and establishing a hospital foundation to help replace medical equipment.
• 1999 - Debra L. Griffin, Humphreys County Memorial Hospital in Belzoni, Miss, for initiating the Delta Rural Health Network of Mississippi, Inc., consisting of 10 small and rural hospitals in the northern and Mississippi Delta areas that were financially at risk and forming an alliance to improve health care. Under that initiative, Griffin piloted Humphreys County Health Network.
• 2000 - Gregory S. Lundstrom, Lindsborg Community Hospital, Kansas, for fundraising and building a new 37-bed facility, while continuing to offer new services to the community. He initiated a creative financing arrangement that utilized bonds. He also used an innovative approach to share nursing services between two institutions during a nursing shortage.
• 2001 - Timothy J. Tracy, Towner County Medical Center, Cando, N.D., for improving health care delivery in the community through innovative and progressive efforts.  By obtaining a certificate of need to renovate the existing hospital facilities and construct a new clinic, Tracy positioned TCMC for the future.
• 2002 – Randolph B. Bacus, Colorado-Fayette Medical Center, Weimer, TX., for establishing the hospital’s University of Texas Medical Branch of Galveston’s Family Practice Residency Program enabling residents to spend four months living in the Weimar community, while caring for patient under the supervision of local physicians.
• 2003 - Linda Farchione, Thompson Health, Canandaigua, NY., for defining the "Thompson Way" It set the framework for excellence in health care delivery by emphasizing the importance of vision, values, strategic planning and employee participation in a successful health care system.
• 2004 - Lisa Schnedler, hospital administrator for Van Buren County Hospital and Clinics in Keosauqua, Iowa. An example of Schnedler’s vision can be found in Van Buren’s “Job Opportunities” program, a financially sustainable initiative that provided job services to county residents.  Through a grant from Iowa’s Department of Economic Development to help create jobs, Van Buren Hospital opened a bakery, using its kitchen during off-hours.    
• 2005 - Barbara Oestmann, chief executive officer of Share Medical Center in Alva, Oklahoma.  Oestmann and her staff have been instrumental in bringing new services to the communities Share Medical Center serves.  Under her leadership, Share has established a mobile MRI service, a CT scanner, mammography services and fully automated filmless radiology services.  In addition, Oestmann helped develop a collaborative partnership with the local vocational technology center, bringing many educational opportunities to her staff.
• 2006 - Brian T. Shockney, president and chief executive officer of Memorial Hospital in Logansport, Indiana.  Shockney came to Memorial Hospital in 1994 and accepted the top leadership position in 1999.  Memorial, a 104-bed rural hospital in a predominately agricultural area, continually seeks to expand its mission in Cass and surrounding counties.  With fewer than 3,000 admissions yearly, Memorial patients come from a diverse cross-section of ethnic backgrounds and cultures, including a growing Latino population. 
• 2007 - Russell W. Johnson, chief executive officer of San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center in Alamosa, Colo.,  was recognized for the importance of community collaboration in efforts to expand health care services, Johnson engaged with a local district hospital to develop a new critical access hospital (CAH) serving two of the poorest counties in Colorado.  SLVRMC shares many services and responsibilities with the new CAH.  Johnson also works with a large, federally qualified health center to create and coordinate charity services that expand access to care for the uninsured and underinsured.
• 2008 - Ronald Cork, chief executive officer of Avera St. Anthony's Hospital in O'neill, Nebr., has collaborated with the community to create outreach programs and with hospital staff to develop health care services, expanding access and coverage to the community.