Kentucky Rural Health Association

Susan Starling	Susan Starling serves as Kentucky Rural Health Association president for the 2007-2008 year. She is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Marcum and Wallace Memorial Hospital in Irvine. Susan earned her undergraduate degree in nursing and a Master of Science degree in Community Rural Health Administration at Eastern Kentucky University. For more than twenty years, Susan Starling has been working in rural health and works diligently to transform the quality and delivery of healthcare in rural Kentucky. She is involved in advocacy for rural healthcare through initiatives including serving as a representative on the National Rural Health Association’s Rural Health Policy Board Representative in the Hospitals and Community Health Systems Constituency group and also on the Governing Council of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Small or Rural Hospitals. Both councils ensure that the unique needs of this constituency are a national priority by advising on legislative, regulatory, and policy priorities of small or rural hospitals. Additionally, Susan is active locally serving on the Estill Board of Health, MEPCO Home Health Advisory Board, Alcohol Substance Abuse Policy (ASAP) Estill/Powell Board, Estill Economic Development Alliance Board, as well as, other programs and projects as both a parent and representative of the hospital. She lives in the community of Estill County with her husband, Robbie, and sons, Michael and Matthew.
David Bolt	David Bolt serves as Kentucky Rural Health Association president for the 2006-2007 year. He is chief operating officer and director of planning and business development for the Lewis County Primary Care Center, a community health center based in Vanceburg. Bolt has been involved in rural primary care and health professions education programs for 36 years. He was instrumental in developing the state’s Area Health Education Center program, as well as the University of Kentucky satellite physician assistant and nurse practitioner programs at Morehead State University. He also led development of the first rural track family practice residency in the state and was a pioneer in the telemedicine program that now spans the commonwealth. He is chairman of the Kentucky Primary Care Association and has served on its legislative and Medicaid TAC committees for more than 10 years. Additionally, he is a member of the community advisory committee of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and a board and founding member of the Kentucky Institute of Medicine™. Bolt, a native of Ashland, is a published author on rural health care and serves as a consultant to several state and national organizations. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Morehead State University. He is mayor of Lakeview Heights in Rowan County, where he lives with his wife, Jenny, and son, Spencer.
Jennifer NeSmith	Jennifer NeSmith served as President of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2005-2006 year. She is the Vice President for Physician Services and Marketing for Mary Chiles Hospital in Mt. Sterling, KY. A Morehead native, Ms. NeSmith completed her BBA and MBA degrees at Morehead State University. She has served rural Kentucky throughout her career, having worked over 10 years as a physician recruiter for rural areas, in addition to experience as a rural primary care clinic manager and an HMO provider relations representative for eastern Kentucky. Ms. NeSmith has been a KRHA member since its inception in 1999 and is a member of the Kentucky Primary Care Association.
Greg Bausch, PharmD	Dr. Bausch served as president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2004-2005 year. He serves as the Vice President for Regional Services for St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead, Kentucky. In that capacity he oversees a six-clinic primary care practice and St. Claire Regional’s Center for Health Education and Research which includes: the Northeast AHEC/HETC, St. Claire TeleCare, and the St. Claire Family Practice Residency Program. A native of Somerset, he is a dual graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy; where he received both BS and doctorate degrees. He is a charter member of KRHA with over 25 years of experience in rural practice in Kentucky.
Julie Watts-McKee, DMD	Dr. McKee served as president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2003-2004 year. She is currently the Public Health Director for the WEDCO District Health Department in Cynthiana, KY.
James Norton PhD	Dr. Norton served as president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2002-2003 year. Dr. Norton is Associate Dean for Extramural and Post Graduate Medical Education at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. He also manages the Area Health Education Center Program. He is a graduate in psychology from the University of San Francisco and did his post-graduate studies at the University of Arizona. He then took post-doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Wisconsin. He holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
Karkie Tackett	Karkie Tackett served as president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2001-2002 year. For the past two years, Tackett has been the director of the North Central Kentucky Area Health Education Center. Her healthcare interests are in the area of Health Manpower, Education and Credentialing and, of course, Women’s Health. Current board affiliation is with the Hispanic Health Alliance of Northern Kentucky
Darlene Eakin	Darlene Eakin served as president of the Kentucky Rural Health Association for the 2000-2001 year. For more than 20 years, Eakin has been executive director of the Kentucky Optometric Association and a lobbyist. Her interest in rural health stems from working with optometrists, which is in large part a rural-based profession. A Louisville native, Eakin has also served as president of the Kentucky Society of Association Executives and a member of the Healthy Babies Work Group, part of Gov. Paul Patton’s initiative to improve public awareness of children’s health needs.
Bob Brooks	Trover Foundation’s commitment to health professions education and clinical research is directed by Robert W. Brooks, who serves as Vice President of Education and Research. In this capacity, he is responsible for the total operation of all of the educational programs, research, resource development, and telemedicine activities of the Foundation. He has a strong background in community assessment and development in the area of health care, and is a long-standing advocate for improved health care for vulnerable, underserved, or isolated individuals and families who reside in rural environments. Brooks also is the director of the University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health at Madisonville, a founder and past president of the KRHA for the year 1999-2000, a member of the National Rural Health Association and an associate in the American College of Healthcare Executives.