Monday Kudos: New CEO Takes Helm At Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s new CEO takes the helm; a former legislator and Beebe administration official shifts to non-profit work in the Delta; and a publicly-traded firm invests in the University of Arkansas.

NEW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CEO STARTS
Marcy Doderer starts her position as president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s Hospital today (July 15).

The ACH Board of Directors named Doderer to the hospital’s top position in early May after an extensive national search. She follows Dr. Jonathan Bates, who retired from the role on June 30 after 20 years of service.

Doderer has 20 years of health care management experience in a variety of hospital settings and is a graduate of Little Rock Central High School.

Most recently, she served as vice president and administrator of the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, part of the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System. Doderer was instrumental in leading the transformation from a multi-use downtown hospital campus into the freestanding, separately licensed children’s hospital. The new campus will be fully transformed by late 2014.

“Throughout my health care career I’ve dreamed of leading an organization such as ACH and being able to do so in my home state of Arkansas creates a dream job,” Doderer said. “For 100 years, ACH’s focus has been on serving patients and their families; it is a humbling and exciting opportunity to be entrusted with leading that tradition. I look forward to working with the world class clinical teams and leaders to continue enhancing our patient care delivery systems and elevating our presence as a nationally recognized leader in pediatric subspecialty care.”

Doderer holds a master of arts in hospital and health administration from the University of Iowa. She received her bachelor of science in finance from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

Doderer is married to Mark Doderer, PhD, a computer science professor. They have two children, Emily, 18, and Katherine, 15.

STEVE JONES TO JOIN SOUTHERN BANCORP COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Southern Bancorp Community Partners (SBCP) announced that Steve Jones, former lawmaker and current deputy director at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, will join the nonprofit organization later this month. Jones will serve as senior vice president of programs and will initially focus on the organization’s community development programs in Arkansas and Mississippi.

In this new role, Jones will oversee SBCP’s work across a four-county area and lead the non-profit’s efforts toward its three transformational goals of reducing poverty, increasing employment and improving graduation rates.

“As a son of the Delta, I’m thrilled to join the team at Southern Bancorp Community Partners in their mission to strategically work with communities on their educational attainment, unemployment reduction and poverty reduction goals,” said Jones. “There is nothing that’s wrong in our region that people working together can’t make right.”

A native of Crittenden County, Jones is an alumnus of Arkansas State University. He serves as Gov. Mike Beebe’s designee to the Delta Regional Authority and has previously served as chair of the Delta Service Board and president of the Good Neighbor Center, a nonprofit agency in Crittenden County. He lives in Marion, Ark with his wife, Dr. Susan Ward-Jones, and they have three children. His office will be located in Helena-West-Helena.

PHILLIPS 66 GIVES $100,000 TO UA
Phillips 66 presented the University of Arkansas a $100,000 check to support initiatives in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and the College of Engineering.

This year, $70,000 of the company’s contribution went to programs and scholarships in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Funding recipients included, but were not limited to, the Supply Chain Management Research Center, Information Technology Research Institute, accounting department and minority scholarships.

The College of Engineering received $30,000 in support of the Engineering Career Awareness Program (ECAP), a program that recruits students who are underrepresented in the field of engineering, and programs that support students and faculty in the department of computer science and computer engineering.

“As an alumnus of the UA, it was an honor returning to campus to present Phillips 66’s contribution to the university,” said Doug Johnson, vice president and controller for Phillips 66. “By giving across several disciplines, we expect to make a positive impact on a number of students and provide them with unique opportunities during their undergraduate experience and beyond.”