BECKLEY, W.Va. – Beckley ARH Hospital welcomed new CEO Todd Howell to the team on Jan. 29.  

“Todd brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table,” said ARH Regional CEO and former Beckley ARH CEO Jeremy Hall. “He has great energy and a focus on creating an excellent healthcare experience for the patients we serve.”

Howell joins ARH after nine years at VCU Health-Community Memorial Hospital in South Hill, Va., where he served as Vice President of Professional Services. In that position, Howell oversaw management of hospital operations and was responsible for nine departments and service lines including radiation and medical oncology, cardiopulmonary and rehabilitation, and engineering and new construction.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the construction of a replacement hospital, which we moved into in 2017,” he said of his time in South Hill. “I oversaw design, construction and the move. It was a great project and I’m really proud of that work.”

Howell, who recently received his Doctor of Health Sciences from Eastern Virginia Medical School, said he was attracted to the position at Beckley ARH not only because it would afford him an opportunity to develop and grow as a CEO, but because he was impressed by the ARH system as a whole.

“When I read through the information about the position, I read about ARH being patient and quality-focused,” he said. “A focus on strong finances, safety and quality, and customer service is important and appeals to me as a leader.”

“That spoke to me,” he continued. “I want to be part of a team that’s leading healthcare, not lagging in healthcare.”

Howell said his experience during his in-person interviews, combined with what he learned when he traveled to the area to quietly visit the hospital ahead-of-time, helped cement his desire to join the team.

“I didn’t tell anyone I was there or talk to anyone. I just visited and looked around,” he said of the visit. “I wanted to see if it was a place I wanted to be, and it was.”

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Though Howell, a native of Lilburn, Ga., has worked in healthcare for more than 30 years, he initially received his undergraduate degree in pastoral ministries, as he had intended to follow his father’s footsteps and become a pastor.

“I got into healthcare by accident,” he said, explaining he took a position in discharge planning at a Florida hospital. “I then began to realize that this kind of work and leadership was more aligned with who I was.”

While working in discharge planning, Howell took advantage of an opportunity that allowed him to train to become a nursing home administrator.

From there, his career took him from Florida to Louisville, Ky., and then to Minnesota, where he completed a master’s degree in healthcare administration and began a career in hospital administration.

After years of snowstorms and frequent sub-zero temperatures, Howell, a “southern person at heart,” moved to North Carolina, where he worked for several years as COO at a Carolinas Healthcare (now Atrium Health) affiliate, before taking the position in Virginia.

Though Howell visited Beckley ARH for the first time during his interview process, he and his wife Shelly are no strangers to the area as they frequently stopped in Beckley while traveling to visit her parents who live in Ohio.

“We’ve always enjoyed stopping in Beckley and actually made memories in Beckley,” he said adding he believes familiarity with the area will help with the transition. “It’s important to feel good about where you live.”

Howell and Shelly, an educator, have been married for 20 years and are the parents of a blended family of three boys and three girls.

Though Shelly and the couple’s youngest daughter, a senior in high school, will finish the school year in in Virginia before moving to Beckley, Howell said he is excited to begin his new position and to help grow Beckley ARH.

“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity,” he said. “I know there are challenges. No place is perfect. I’m not perfect. But I’m really looking forward to meeting and working with the team.”

“I’ve heard great things about the team, and I know if we work together, we can do great things.”

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Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), is a not-for-profit health system operating 14 hospitals in Barbourville, Hazard, Harlan, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, as well as multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores and retail pharmacies and medical spas. ARH employs approximately 6,700 people with an annual payroll and benefits of $474 million generated into our local economies. ARH also has a network of more than 1,300 providers on staff across its multi-state system. ARH is the largest provider of care and the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky, and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.