Cases in Health Care Leadership

Dr. Stephens earned a Doctoral of Health Administration at Central Michigan University's School of Health Sciences, a Masters in Health Administration at Indiana University's School of Medicine, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Indiana University's School of Business.' He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and is Board Certified.He has held senior executive positions in large medical centers and health systems for 25 years, with 18 years at the President and CEO level.' Before joining the Georgia Southern University faculty, he held faculty/staff positions at University of Kentucky, Ohio University, University of Indianapolis, and Butler University.Dr. Stephens has served on many healthcare and civic organizational governing boards to include the Kentucky and Indiana Hospital Associations, Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Boy Scouts, and the International Rotary Club.He has been awarded Excellence in Teaching at Georgia Southern University, Excellence in Service Award at Ohio University, Sagamore of the Wabash (highest award from the Governor of Indiana), Kentucky Colonel (highest award from the Governor of Kentucky), Indiana Governor's Award for Volunteerism, Indiana University Alumni Association President's Award, Lincoln Trail Red Cross Award, and Equal Opportunity Award of Merit by the Urban League.' He is also a Paul Harris Fellow in International Rotary.' He and his wife have been recognized as Special Donations by International Rotary for their contribution to the Polio-Plus Program.Dr. Stephens' interests include healthcare systems, disparity issues in urban/rural communities, CEO leadership development and succession planning, healthcare governance, strategic planning, and new healthcare delivery models.Currently, Dr. Stephens is an Associate Professor and Distinguished Fellow in Healthcare Leadership and the Director for the Master of Healthcare Administration Program within the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University.' He teaches only doctoral and master's courses to include Healthcare Finance, Healthcare Economics, Leadership and Strategic Planning, and Communication in Healthcare Organizations.' .'Dr. Stephens has published many articles, book chapters and case studies in additional to national and international academic presentations.' Dr. Gerald (Jerry) R. Ledlow, as a board-certified healthcare executive and Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, has led team members and managed resources in health organizations for more than 29'years, including 15 years as a practitioner and over 14'years as an academically based teacher-scholar. He has successfully held a variety of positions: (1) executive-level positions in corporate and military health systems in the areas of clinical operations, managed care, supply chain and logistics, information systems, and facility management; (2) management positions in health services, medical materials, and the supply chain; and (3) various academic leadership positions as the director of doctoral programs at two universities, director of academic affairs, director of student services, and director of the center for survey research and health information, as well as holding tenured faculty positions at two doctoral research universities. Dr. Ledlow earned his PhD in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma, a master of health administration degree from Baylor University, and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the Virginia Military Institute. He has held'tenured graduate faculty positions at Central Michigan University and Georgia Southen University and is currently Professor and Chair of the Healthcare Policy, Economics, and Management Department in the School of Community and Rural Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center Northeast in Tyler, Texas.Dr. Ledlow has taught 24 different graduate-level courses, including teaching doctoral- and master's-level students in the topic of health leadership. "Dr. Jerry" (as his students call him) has made presentations on health-related topics and health leadership models and applications across the globe; he has presented to a myriad of audiences internationally, nationally, and locally. He has published in many venues (e.g., journals, book chapters) and has been author, contributing author, editor, and reviewer for several books.Dr. Ledlow is married to his beautiful wife, Silke, and has three fantastic daughters, Sarah, Rebecca, and Miriam. He is a regional editor for the Journal of Global Business and Technology, is on several publication review teams, and participates as a member of various task forces and committees internationally, nationally, and at the state level. Years ago, Dr. Jerry was a National Registry-certified emergency management technician as a volunteer and was deployed to combat zones as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps.He received the Federal Sector Managed Care Executive of the Year Award in 1998 and the American College of Healthcare Executives' Regent's Award in 1997 and in 2003. His interests are health industry oriented and focus on the areas of leadership, management, decision sciences, supply chain and logistics, community preparedness for terrorism and disasters, socioeconomic constructs of health and community health status, and any project that has the potential to improve the health of communities through moral, effective, efficient, and efficacious health leadership and management practices. Dr. M. Nicholas Coppola is the Program Director for the Healthcare Master of Science in Clinical Practice Management program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). He is also the (elected) president of the TTUHSC Faculty Senate. In this capacity, Dr. Coppola leads the faculty in the governance process of the university. Prior to being elected by his faculty peers as the Faculty Senate president, Dr. Coppola was elected by his practitioner peers as the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Regent for the West Texas Region. In this capacity, he represented the interests of nearly 500 senior healthcare executives in West Texas and New Mexico. In addition to serving as the ACHE Regent for West Texas, Dr. Coppola also had previously served as the ACHE Army Regent. In this capacity he represented the interests of military healthcare executives worldwide.Prior to his position at TTUHSC, Dr. Coppola served in the U.S. Army for 26 years. He originally enlisted in the Army as an engineer, was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry, and finally branch transferred into the Medical Service Corps where he completed his career. His healthcare experience includes service as an administrator in Army hospitals, serving as a policy analyst for the Surgeon General, and being the director of an ambulatory clinic in his early careerist days. Dr. Coppola's last assignment in the Army was as the Founding Associate Dean of the Army Medical Department's Graduate School. While there he also served as the Founding Program Director of the Army-Baylor Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration (MHA/MBA joint degree).Dr. Coppola is an ACHE Fellow, and a Past Fellow of the U.S. Medicine Institute. He holds a BA in Biology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam, a master of science degree in administration from Central Michigan University, and a master of health administration degree from Baylor University, Texas. He has a PhD in health service organizations and research from the Medical College of Virginia Campus, Virginia Commonwealth University.Dr. Coppola is the author of more than 100 scholarly publications and presentations, and has lectured globally on healthcare leadership and healthcare administration. He is the proud recipient of numerous leadership awards, including the 9A Proficiency Designator award from the Surgeon General (which identifies the top 1% of Army medical personnel), seven ACHE Leader-to-Leader awards, and an ACHE Governor's Award. He has also received' leadership and recognition awards from every university from which he has earned a degree. This includes the Rising Star Award from SUNY Potsdam, and Distinguished Alumni Awards from both Baylor and Central Michigan. Dr. Coppola has also earned teaching awards from both Baylor and TTUHSC. Prior to his military retirement, officers worldwide nominated and elected him as the Medical Service Corps' Mentor of the Year. Dr. Coppola is listed in two national Who's Who publications, and is a member of three national honor societies in allied health, business, and healthcare administration. Dr. Coppola and his wife, Susannah, have three wonderful children together: Nicholas, Holly, and GiGi.