Charles R. Evans is the Chairman of the Hospital
Charitable Service Awards. He is also
the President of the International Health Services
Group (IHSG), a social enterprise he founded in 2007 to
support health services development in underserved areas of the
world. It is the mission of IHSG to work with established
organizations to supplement their capabilities in healthcare
management and development as they work to achieve their broader
missions. Projects are currently underway in Kenya, Nigeria,
Peru, Honduras and the Dominican Republic working with such
partners as Rivers of the World, MedShare International, the
Presbyterian Church of East Africa, the Ropheka Hospital in
Nigeria, and Indiana University Medical School. Mr. Evans
retired December 2006 as President - Eastern Group of Nashville,
TN-based HCA, the nation's leading provider of healthcare services.
In this role, he was responsible for HCA's operations in Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, which included
approximately 58 hospitals with annual net revenues of $8 billion.
Evans is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare
Executives and is currently serving as Chairman of the Board.
He served as a Governor of the College from 2004 through
2007. He is involved in numerous boards and associations
including MedShare International, the Georgia Association of
Healthcare Executives, and CSA Health System. Evans also holds an
appointment as Clinical Assistant Professor of Family and
Preventive Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
Prior to joining HCA, Evans served in executive positions at
Memorial Medical Center of Jacksonville, Florida, and Community
Hospitals, Indianapolis, Indiana. He joined HCA in 1995 and managed
company divisions including North Carolina, MidAmerica, and
Southeast. Evans was named President of HCA's Eastern Group in
2004. A West Virginia native, Evans received an undergraduate
degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College, a Master of Arts from
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Indiana
University.
Since 1991, Mr. Barker has served
as Professor Emeritus, Department of
Community Health at the Emory University School of
Medicine, where he had been named an Associate Professor
in 1978 and Professor in 1988. From 1984 to 1990, he was the
Director of Hospitals for Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory
University, and now holds the title of Retired, Director of
Hospitals. In 1990, Mr. Barker became a Life Fellow with the
American College of Healthcare Executives (LFACHE).
Throughout the years, he has received numerous honors, which
include Distinguished Service Awards from the American Hospital
Association, the Emory University School of Medicine, the Medical
Association of Atlanta, and George State University, Institute of
Health Administration Alumni Club. Mr. Barker has served on
numerous healthcare finance, advisory and strategic planning
committees, including as President of the Georgia Hospital
Association and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American
Hospital Association.
Mr. Ellison served as Executive Vice President of
The SunHealth Alliance from 1986 to 1995. From
1969 to 1986, Mr. Ellison served as the President of Cleveland
Memorial Hospital in Shelby, North Carolina. He has been a
member of the North Carolina Hospital Association since 1967,
serving as President 1972-1973, and received the Distinguished
Service Award and the Meritorious Service Award from the
Association in 1986 and 1992, respectively. He has also
served as Chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives
from 1990 to 1993 and he received the Lifetime Service Award in
2000. He served on the Board of Directors of the Southeastern
Hospital Conference from 1989 to 1992, serving as Chairman from
1979 to 1980. Mr. Ellison was a member of the American
Hospital Association's House of Delegates and has served on the
Board of the North Carolina Health Insurance Advisory Board and on
the Board of North Carolina Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mr.
Ellison is a graduate of Wofford College and of the post graduate
program in hospital administration at Charlotte Memorial Hospital,
Carolinas Medical Center.
For the past 30 years, Richard "Rick" Jackson, Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of Jackson Healthcare, has
been instrumental in conceptualizing and developing more than 25
healthcare companies. Beginning in 1978 with the founding of
Jackson & Coker, Jackson has demonstrated a unique ability to
anticipate healthcare industry trends, identify underserved niches
and create industry-leading companies that improve the
transparency, speed and quality of healthcare delivery.
Through his efforts, Jackson has developed and acquired a
family of companies that address the two largest challenges facing
healthcare today: finding the right people and delivering the
right information at the right time. By transforming their
technology, operations and culture, organizations are realizing
their potential through partnership with Jackson Healthcare.
The companies within the Jackson Healthcare family provide
clinician staffing, anesthesia management, hospital management and
healthcare information technology solutions, proven to improve
clinical and financial outcomes, as well as increase operational
efficiency. Jackson has owned and operated surgery centers,
physician practice management companies and clinics, providing him
with a clear understanding of what it takes to run a successful
healthcare business. More than 10 of his companies have been
market share leaders in their industries. Within its first five
years in business, Jackson & Coker became the nation's largest
physician search firm and seventh largest executive search
company. Jackson has owned two hospitals and ran the first
chain of outpatient pain relief centers in the nation. In
addition, Jackson ran the third-largest outpatient surgery center,
as well as run the largest multi-site allergy clinic in the
country. He has been a finalist multiple times for Ernst and
Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Reynold J. Jennings served as Vice Chairman of Tenet
Healthcare Corporation until his retirement in July
2007. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer
responsible for operational oversight of Tenet's 69 core acute care
hospitals and other facilities in 13 states. Jennings has had
extensive experience as a hands-on hospital operating executive for
over 30 years. Before being promoted to COO of Tenet in
February 2004, he served as President of the company's former
Eastern Division, which consisted of 48 acute care hospitals and
other facilities in 11 states. Prior to that, Jennings was
Executive Vice President of Tenet's former Southeast Division,
where he was responsible for the overall management of 34 acute
care hospitals and specialty facilities in Alabama, Georgia,
Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and the Carolinas. Jennings
joined Tenet in 1997 as Senior Vice President of the company's Gulf
States Region. Jennings is a Life Fellow of the American
College of Healthcare Executives and served as a board member and
officer of the American Federation of Hospitals. He served as
Chairman of the Board of two Tenet affiliate corporations - Tenet
Choices Inc., a Medicare HMO, and the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in
Weston, Fla., which was jointly owned by Tenet and The Cleveland
Clinic Foundation. Additionally, Jennings is a past Chairman of the
Florida League of Hospitals and the St. Petersburg, Fla., Hospital
Council.
Thornton Kirby has served as President & CEO of the
South Carolina Hospital Association since 2005. In that
role he interacts with hospital CEOs, physicians, state and federal
legislators, agency heads, business leaders, and educators to
represent our state's hospital community. Thornton chairs the
boards of both the South Carolina Office of Rural Health and
Welvista, an organization committed to improving health and
wellness for the uninsured. Recently he was appointed to the
Joint Commission Board of Commission Resources, a not-for profit
affiliate of The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit
organization that accredits and certifies more than 17,000 health
care organizations and programs in the United States.
Thornton is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the
USC School of Law. Before joining SCHA, Thornton practiced law as a
hospital attorney with the Nexsen Pruet law firm in Columbia,
served as vice president of Tuomey Regional Medical Center in
Sumter, and spent 8 years as a senior administrator of Clemson
University. His diverse experiences in law, health care, and higher
education give Thornton a unique perspective on many of the policy
issues facing South Carolina.