New hospital CEO ‘ready to get the work done’

GREENFIELD — From the day Catherine Hillestad interviewed to be Adair County Health System’s next CEO, she could clearly understand there are exciting opportunities here to be experienced and impacts she can make to help the organization grow.

Hillestad got the job and began July 7, succeeding Marcia Hendricks.

Hendricks, who is still around helping in some aspects of transition, will soon solely be charged with leading Madison County Health System, also an affiliate of MercyOne.

“Marcia’s done a great job here. She’s done a lot of work with the team at ACHS. I plan to continue to build on that momentum and continue to build this organization to be a great place to work,” Hillestad explained Tuesday. “I’m excited and I’m ready to get the work done.”

Growing up in a Des Moines family laden with healthcare professionals, Hillestad was always interested in healthcare.

After completing her undergrad studies, Hillestad was an AmeriCorps volunteer and worked part-time in a hospital to take the time to carefully decide what her next step should be. She then earned her master’s degree in healthcare administration at the University of Iowa.

“With my degree you can do so many things, but obviously leadership has always been in the back of my mind. I want to lead people and create a successful organization where people want to work,” Hillestad said.

Hillestad’s mentor helped introduce her to rural healthcare through her role as interim CEO at Davis County Hospital in southeast Iowa. She most recently served as administrator of the urgent care portion of The Iowa Clinic in Des Moines.

Through her time in both of those positions, Hillestad grew to appreciate the reasons healthcare in rural Iowa is so important. Though population is declining in many rural places, she feels strongly that everyone needs access to healthcare.

“ACHS and other organizations are important because we want to ensure all community members have access to healthcare and don’t have to drive 50 miles to Des Moines to get the services they need,” Hillestad said. “Even though we’re in a rural spot in Iowa, we need healthcare too.”

Hillestad senses plenty of momentum on the local healthcare scene at ACHS. One example is the fact that the hospital will be adding Dr. Paul Grossman, general surgeon, who will serve patients once a week here soon.

There are a lot of goals Hillestad has in mind, including increasing service lines and being more engaged as an organization in the community.

“For these first few weeks, I have times scheduled with all of the managers and all of their staff to get to know them. For me, it’s very important as CEO to get to know the people who work here. I’m going to be seeing what’s working for them, listening to them, and having that conversation.”

Hillestad added that she also plans to be out and about in the community, getting to know leaders, residents and patients. Hillestad continued to say that after that it will be time to “get her boots on the ground” and determine the directions ACHS needs to go.

“We have a strong leadership team. From what I’ve gathered, they are very knowledgeable and know what they’re doing. We can get a lot done,” Hillestad said. “I’m just excited to be here and get started.”