Bolivar General Hospital and CEO Ruby Kirby, R.N., to Receive Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has announced Bolivar General Hospital and CEO Ruby Kirby, R.N., in Bolivar, Tennessee, as the 2022 recipient of the Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award. The award recognizes small or rural hospital leaders who guide their hospital and community through change and innovation. The awardees display outstanding leadership, responsiveness to their community’s health needs and a collaborative process that has led to measurable outcomes. The award will be presented at the 36th annual AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, which will be held February 19 – 22, 2023 in San Antonio, Texas.
Bolivar General Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital serving Hardeman County and surrounding communities. In addition to leading Bolivar General Hospital, Kirby is CEO of Camden General Hospital, also an affiliate of the Western Tennessee Healthcare network. As chair of the public-private Hardeman County Health Council, she led completion of a community health needs assessment that concluded many residents who were at risk of chronic and acute health conditions. This was reflected in many of the emergency department visits for congestive heart failure and other conditions that Bolivar General Hospital observed.
Working with community partners, the University of Tennessee and with the support of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant, a plan was developed to increase access to healthy foods and exercise options. Activities included construction of a playground that had not been updated since 1974 {read more about the new playground here}, a permanent food distribution designation at First Baptist Church in Middleton, and a new grocery store, FastTimes, in a community that lacked a full-service grocer for many years.
Following this implementation, the obesity rate in Hardeman County dropped from 40 percent to 35 percent within two years, and the obesity rate among students dropped from 46 percent to 44 percent. Bolivar General Hospital and partners in Hardeman County are continuing their work to engage local employers in healthy eating and exercise, along with an increased focus on child health.
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