Valued Voice

From June 19-21, almost 300 members gathered in Appleton for the annual Wisconsin Rural Health Conference. The conference started with a golf outing followed by a welcome reception where WHA members had the opportunity to network with one another and visit the 46 corporate members exhibiting.



On the first day, Dr. Amer Kaissi shared with the group his work and research on the topic of humility in leadership. Sharing his vast array of experiences, he talked about how leaders being self-aware, open-minded and ambitious can help thier teams to become high performing. He also provided specific and practical behaviors that leaders can implement within their teams and hospitals. The morning session was rounded out by President and CEO of the Wisconsin Hospital Association Eric Borgerding and Executive Director of the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Tim Size presenting their annual message on the current state of health care in Wisconsin. During the afternoon, attendees had the opportunity to attend a variety of breakout sessions.
 
Day two started off with speakers from WHA’s Premier Partner, M3 Insurance, and their partner organization Ghostscale. They shared information on the highly sought after topics of artificial intelligence (AI) and ransomware. Attendees were highly engaged and prompted the speakers with several questions. The conference ended with a humorous and thought-provoking presentation by Dr. L. Lavon Gray called Never Wrestle with Pigs. Dr. Gray discussed strategies for handling conflict in the workplace.
 
A big THANK YOU to this year’s sponsors and exhibitors. This event would not be possible without your support.
 
See more about this year’s conference in next week’s In Review document.