In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio™ we are talking about several different aspects of rural healthcare with Farrell Turner, President of the Alabama Rural Health Association.  Farrell had the experience of a lifetime when he attended the State of the Union Address this year while he was in Washington, DC, at the NRHA Policy Institute meeting.

 “There needs to be a sense of urgency because we can’t just sit back on our thumbs to make incremental changes.”

 Farrell began his career with St. Luke’s Episcopal and Texas Children’s Hospitals in Houston.  After that, he was CFO at South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel, Mississippi and has served as interim CEO and CFO in a number of small rural hospitals in the South. He most recently served as CEO of Community Hospital Corp’s Jellico Community Hospital in Tennessee and Interim CEO of Medical Center Barbour in Eufaula, Alabama for Alliant Healthcare Management. He is a subject matter expert in Rural Health Clinics, especially provider-based RHCs.

He was educated in Alabama public schools, received a Bachelor’s degree at University of Alabama College of Commerce and Business Administration in Accounting and Health Care Management, and a Master’s in Finance at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. He is a CPA, a certified coder, and a Fellow with HFMA. He is President of the Alabama Rural Health Association and has been chapter President of the Anniston- Gadsden and Oxford Chapters of the American Academy of Professional Coders.

He enjoys hunting and has taken up running. He completed his first half-marathon on his 60th birthday and did it again on his next birthday. He lives in rural Cleburne County with his wife Beverly.

During our conversation, Farrell talks about an excellent tool for rural health leaders, the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps.  Hopefully you will find this a useful tool as well.