HJLR Mar/Apr 2019

Healthcare Journal of little rock I  MAR / APR 2019 63 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalLR.com AndreaWoods Named Chair of Conway Regional Board of Directors Andrea Woods, JD, is the new chair of Conway Regional Board of Directors. She succeeds Rev. Cornell Maltbia as board chairman. Maltbia con- tinues on the board.  “We have been blessed to have such an engag- ing leader as Rev. Maltbia as our chairman, and I look forward to Andrea bringing her own brand of decision-making and compassion to leadership of the board,” said Matt Troup, Conway Regional Health System president and CEO. Woods is known for her public and community service. She has been a member of the Conway Regional Board of Directors since 2016. She was chair of the 32-member Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors in 2017. “Jerry Adams asked me to consider volunteer- ing for Conway Regional. I hesitated because I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse.  Like many, I only saw the healthcare system from the per- spective of the emergency room when our son broke his arm,” said Woods. Regarding serv- ing as a volunteer on the board, Woods said, “I was amazed. Each day for the team at Con- way Regional is in service to a calling, not a job. Compassion, kindness, and self-sacrifice are the essence of every one of these men and women, and I ammotivated by them to give what I can to make a difference.” Her most memorable experiences include the health system’s Immersion Program. “Every board member spends a full day in the hospital, dawn to dusk, experiencing healthcare from the per- spective of our surgeons, social workers, nurses, nutrition staff, and other employees. You are immersed in the hospital from the inside out, and you get to see how your votes in the board room help our patients and our team.” As board chair, she wants to follow the example of the outgoing chair. “Healthcare is extremely complicated and always in a state of change. I hope to follow Cornell’s example by focusing on strategy and supporting our board of directors in thinking outside the box while maintaining a clear focus on providing the highest quality, compas- sionate healthcare.” In the future, she views Conway Regional as a “comprehensive medical system that is account- able to providing compassionate healthcare for our community.” She added, “The culture at Con- way Regional is one that attracts the best in the area—best doctors, nurses, leaders and support team. We have a great team.” Woods has served as corporate counsel since 2005 and became an executive vice president for Nabholz in 2012. She is also on the board of direc- tors for the company’s parent group, The Nab- holz Group Inc. A native of Fayetteville, Woods received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and earned a juris doctor degree with honors from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. She has served as assistant city attorney in North Little Rock and assistant prosecuting attor- ney in Fairfield County, Ohio. Woods was recently appointed as a member of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission and is in her second term on the Arkansas Bar Association’s Board of Governors. In another change, Carol Angel, MD, a Conway anesthesiologist, is the new chief of the Conway Regional medical staff. Angel succeeds Greg Ken- drick, MD, whose term on the board expired in December. She has been in practice as an anes- thesiologist in Conway for the past 22 years. During Maltbia’s term as chairman on the board, Conway Regional was named a Best Place to Work by Arkansas Business twice and was listed among Modern Healthcare’s 2018 Best Places to Work in Healthcare. The board also approved a $40 million dollar expansion project in Novem- ber. Maltbia and the board also oversaw the addi- tion of clinics in Pottsville and Russellville to the Conway Regional Primary Care Network, and the additions of a new CT scanner, a cardiac catheter- ization laboratory, a neuroscience center, a pain management clinic, and a sports medicine clinic. Jim Rankin, president of Trinity Development, one of the oldest and largest land development companies in Conway, is the new vice chairman of the board. Other returning members of the board are Andrew Cole, MD, Thad Hardin, MD, Barbara Williams, RN, PhD, Jeff Standridge, Tom Poe, and Wayne Cox. Arkansas Children’s Names Brent Thompson, JD, as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer Arkansas Children’s has hired Brent Thompson, JD, to lead its legal services division as senior vice president and chief legal officer. Thompson previously served as chief legal offi- cer for Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayette- ville, North Carolina, a system with more than 900 licensed beds and 6,000 employees. His expe- rience there, coupled with his previous experi- ence as assistant general counsel for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, give him an excel- lent skillset for helping Arkansas Children’s further strengthen its legal services division. “Brent was drawn to our mission of champion- ing children because one of his two sons spent several days in an NICU right after birth,” said Arkansas Children’s President and CEO Marcy Doderer, FACHE. “During his son’s stay, Brent experienced the same type of passion for mak- ing children better today and healthier tomorrow that is characteristic of our team. We’re excited to welcome this collaborative, mission-minded leader with an inclination for problem-solving.” Andrea Woods, JD Brent Thompson, JD