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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Rebekah Fincher, Chief Administrative Officer at Conway Regional Health System
00:09:28
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- [00:00]
Chanel Bunger
Hello and welcome to the Beckers Healthcare Podcast. My name is Chanel Bunger and today I'm thrilled to speak with Rebecca Fincher, the chief administrative officer and designated institutional official at Conway Regional Health System who joins us today to discuss her background trend she's keeping an eye on in health care and a bit more. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me. Could you get us started out by introducing yourself and sharing a bit about your background and organization?
- [00:26]
Rebecca Fincher
Sure. Thanks so much for having me today. We were chatting just a little bit before we started and I mentioned to those that are listening that there is not one thing I can do about my southern accent. But yes, it exists. No, I'm not from North Carolina. I'm from Arkansas, born and raised. So as she mentioned, my name is Rebecca Fincher and I work at Conway Regional Health System. I've been here for, It'll actually be 15 years tomorrow that I have worked here. And so I work kind of in three areas. We are a 180 bed, not for profit medical center here in Conway. And then our health system includes a critical access hospital in Dardanelle and then several clinics and imaging center, rehab hospital and foundation. And so I work in three areas, as I mentioned, strategy growth and business development and oversee the strategy for the health system. And and then also our provider enterprise which is a little over 120 providers and in 23 locations. And then also our graduate medical education. And so in 2020 we began graduate medical education at our institution. And so we have 33 resident physicians in three programs, family medicine, internal medicine and a rural training track. Personally, my husband and I have been married 15 years tomorrow and we have two kids. Ethan is 8 and Bennett is 3. We enjoy traveling, water sports, running. I, I enjoy running, I can't say that anybody else in my family does. Working out, yoga. When I find time, I enjoy cooking and baking because my family loves to eat. So that's a little about me.
- [02:06]
Chanel Bunger
Thank you so much for that introduction. I love it. And moving forward into the meat of the podcast a bit, can you talk about what trends you're watching in healthcare today, maybe as a whole or specific to Arkansas?
- [02:17]
Rebecca Fincher
Yeah, that's an awesome question. It's certainly a very interesting time to be in health care. You know, particularly here in Arkansas. We have really experienced a lot as it relates to maternal deserts and hospitals that are unable to provide delivery services. And so over the course of several years we've had declining hospitals that are able to provide labor and delivery services. And so at the same time, Arkansas has the third highest infant mortality in the United States. And so that has really been an area of focus of the governor and many of our legislators throughout Arkansas, both at the federal level, our federal delegation, and here at home in our state delegation. And so we are pretty blessed here at Colony Regional to have a well developed OB service line. And so one of the things that we've really been focusing on is what does that delivery of care model look like for our state? Conway's positioned 30 minutes north of Little Rock for those who may need to look us up on a map. And so, you know, really thinking about the delivery of care model differently and how those services are happening, how we're able to provide both prenatal and postpartum services to folks that are either not able to travel, it's difficult for them to travel, or don't have the resources that they need to access care. And so that is one of the areas of focus that we have really been looking at, not only here at the hospital, but throughout our state.
- [03:47]
Chanel Bunger
That's amazing to hear, especially considering all the labor and delivery and maternal health deserts growing across the country. And now moving forward, can you talk about what you're most focused on and excited about going into the second half of 2025?
- [04:00]
Rebecca Fincher
Yeah, for sure. I love this question and actually will maybe expand your question. One of the things that I'm most excited to have had the opportunity to work on and to continue to work on in my career relates to graduate medical education. As I mentioned, we are a 180 bed, not for profit, you know, medical center here in Conway, Arkansas. Community based, not for profit. And so being able to imagine what graduate medical education could look like at our hospital and expanding that into a rural training site at our critical Access hospital about 45 minutes north in Dardanelle, that's really. It's really just been the highlight of my career up to this point. And being able to continue to refine that and optimize the training that we're providing to physicians is just an incredible opportunity. Arkansas is an underserved, medically underserved state as it is. And so being able to think about helping to create that pipeline of our future workforce and train the next generation of physicians. Over the last several years, we've had an emergence of medical schools in Arkansas. And so being able to establish residency programs that physicians can go to medical school, have a residency here in Arkansas, and that we can help to really transform the accessibility of healthcare in our state is really just something that I feel very blessed to get to be a part of.
- [05:20]
Chanel Bunger
I'd love to hear it. And now you've already mentioned a couple things that you should be proud of with your guys OB program and with your graduate medical education programs. But could you maybe expand on those or talk about something different that you're most proud of from the past year, year and a half or so?
- [05:36]
Rebecca Fincher
Yeah, I think really talking about what am I most proud of and expanding upon graduate medical education. You know, it's really remarkable for us to be able to do that. Conway Regional and we serve as our own sponsoring institution. And so we have really positioned ourselves to be able to expand our ability to support other hospitals who may be interested in graduate medical education. And so I'm really, I'm really proud of the work that the state is doing in medical education and I'm really excited about the potential to be a part of the conversation for graduate medical education, not just here in central Arkansas, but throughout our state. And I don't exactly know what that looks like today, but I know that there's a lot of potential for us to continue to be in this space and to create opportunities for more residencies and to be in that conversation and you know, whatever we can do to increase access to health care, that's the space that we want to be in as a not for profit, community based hospital.
- [06:40]
Chanel Bunger
Love it. Now, with your 15 years at one organization and wearing different hats, I think you're the perfect person to ask this. What advice would you share to evolving leaders maybe looking to have the same impact and success in their careers as you have?
- [06:55]
Rebecca Fincher
Yeah, that's, that's a great question. I think I could tell you all the things I've done wrong and so maybe that would help some other folks to do, do things the right way. But I think the most, the most important things that I have found, you know, being at one organization and being able to grow and develop professionally, especially at community hospital, you know, find a great mentor. Find someone that's willing to invest in you both personally and professionally, and someone that you can trust. And then, you know, if you're serving in a mentor capacity, you know, I want those that I have the opportunity to work with, to feel comfortable with me there. There really are no stupid questions in healthcare because healthcare is complicated and it's complex and it is never straightforward. And so, you know, finding someone that you can trust to work with. I think having a great mentor is really important and being willing to invest in people. And you know, overall, I think a good work ethic goes a long way. And sometimes today it's hard to find that. And so if you're someone that is willing to work and volunteer for projects and take on extra opportunities, I have found that that, you know, traditionally leads to a lot of growth potential. And so be willing to raise your hand and ask for those opportunities. It feels like there are not a lot of folks that are willing to do that. And if you are, I think you can be really success.
- [08:19]
Chanel Bunger
Absolutely. Excellent advice. Well, Rebecca, I want to thank you for your time today, but before I let you go, is there anything else that listeners should know?
- [08:27]
Rebecca Fincher
I think that, you know, if you are considering healthcare, I mentioned a moment ago that it is. It's complicated and it's complex. And I am someone that likes to solve problems. I like challenges. And I think that is really what led me, you know, into a career in. Into healthcare. And I think healthcare is just hard. And I think, you know, if you are in healthcare, you know that it can be hard and, you know, you can easily get burned out. So find ways to take care of yourself and invest in yourself. And I know a lot of times for us in healthcare, it's so often we're asked to put others first, and that's certainly important. But my husband always says, you know, put. Put your oxygen mask on first, and I have to be reminded of that. So if you're one of those people that need to be reminded to put your own oxygen mask on first, I would encourage you to do that.
- [09:15]
Chanel Bunger
Absolutely. That's an excellent spot. And Rebecca, I want to thank you once again for your time today and for sharing your insights on the Becker's Healthcare podcast. Thank you.
- [09:24]
Rebecca Fincher
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.