On behalf of the Office of Primary Care and Rural Health (OPCRH), we were all disheartened to have canceled the 2020 Rural Hospital Administrators Summit due to Covid-19. The Summit always gives us the opportunity to share successes and strategies, while strengthening relationships with our partners across the state.
Although the Summit had to be cancelled, the work done in your Utah rural hospitals does not go unnoticed — and should not go unrecognized. The OPCRH team has decided to continue with our annual tradition of distributing awards to select rural hospital leaders for their outstanding work.
This year’s award recipients were nominated by Greg Rosenvall in light of his extensive experience working with the rural hospital administrators. However, based on our observations and research, the OPCRH team couldn’t agree more that the awardees are deserving of this recognition.
The 2020 awards are as follows:
CEO of the Year:
Eric Packer, Cedar City Hospital
Nomination statement from Greg Rosenvall:
“Eric Packer has done a great job at Cedar City Hospital. He is a tenured CEO who is well respected and very capable. Because of his leadership, Cedar City Hospital has consistently been recognized nationally with various awards for being one of the top rural hospitals in the country.”
Community Benefit/Engagement:
Lori Weston, CEO, Park City Hospital
Nomination statement from Greg Rosenvall:
“Lori Weston, CEO of the Park City Hospital, is a rural hospital leader who is very engaged with the community. Lori spends many hours at community events representing the hospital and healthcare in general.”
COVID-19 Response/Preparedness:
Brenda Bartholomew, CNO, Gunnison Valley Hospital
Nomination statement from Greg Rosenvall:
“Brenda Bartholomew, CNO at Gunnison Valley Hospital (GVH), has
done a remarkable job in preparing GVH for COVID response and preparedness, but she is also the leader of the Rural 9 CNO group, and has conducted weekly conference calls with the other Rural 9 CNOs to discuss ongoing COVID response issues and to collaborate with ideas and new information.”
Each awardee will receive a plaque from our office to commemorate this achievement. Please join us in congratulating the awardees, and thank you for the contribution each of you make to your hospitals and communities!