Forty Under 40: Shannon White
by January 1, 2008 12:00 am 1,163 views
Sticking with the same employer year after year is an increasingly rare trend, but Shannon White, 36, has made the most of it.
In the last 17 years, White has progressed from an entry-level clinic receptionist out of high school to processing $500 million worth of billing each year for Sparks Health System.
White credits her mother, Shirley Graham, for making her a strong woman and Jeanne Parham, vice president of the Sparks Medical Foundation, for teaching her the importance of leadership skills.
White also credited Dr. Larry Price, medical director of the AHEC residency program, for helping her understand the inside of the health care system from a physician’s view.
“I have a strong ethic that the physician is why I am where I am,” White said. “Without them, we don’t have health care. It all comes back to that.”
Her motivation for success is helping others and she prides herself on her networking skills within the Sparks system and with other providers.
She earned a degree in business leadership from University of Arkansas-Fort Smith in 2004 and has set the goal to eventually complete her master’s.
White enjoys volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club and has a love for animals as well. She owns an 8-acre farm with three donkeys, three dogs, a horse and a garden in nearby Hackett.