SOUTH WILLIAMSON, KY. – Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center COO Michael Thompson might be new to his position, but he’s no stranger to ARH.

“I would always go to football games and community events with my dad, and I got to see first-hand the way ARH gives back to the people it serves,” he said, mentioning his father Duanne Thompson, a former ARH Board of Trustees member who passed away in 2024. “He always spoke of the importance in giving back and was proud of the way ARH made it a priority.”

Thompson’s deep appreciation for ARH started early, but a career with the system wasn’t on his mind when he enrolled at the University of Pikeville where he played basketball for three years before transferring to Morehead State University to complete his degree.

“Numbers always came natural to me, I really wanted to be in the business sector, so my first job after college was as a financial director for Mountain Comprehensive Care,” he said.

Thompson’s career took off from there, as he began working for Coalfield Lumber Company, INC., an umbrella company under which he concurrently served as the CFO of six different businesses ranging from real estate to logistics to restaurants.

“It was stressful work and a lot of time management, but it was also a great opportunity,” he said of the positions that required him to travel throughout Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

In time, however, Thompson said he realized an industry change was necessary and, in 2024, stepped back to reevaluate.

That was when an idea that had first sparked with a 2022 conversation with his father, was reignited.

“That’s when I first considered moving into healthcare and I remember him saying, ‘ARH is the place to start,’” he recalled. “He said, ‘They truly care about their employees and always put the patients first.’”

Thompson, who has been on the job since May, is still new to healthcare, but he said it didn’t take long to realize first-hand, the shift to healthcare was the right call.

“The sense of community at this hospital is special,” he said. “It’s not just how they treat the community. It’s how they treat everyone both inside and outside the hospital. Everyone has been so supportive as I transition into this role, but I know that support is not unique to me.

“There is a true sense of family here.”

Thompson said he looks forward to growing his career with ARH and is committed to serving the community he calls home.

“I want to be an asset to ARH and truly help drive anything that can improve the hospital and the community we serve,” he said. “This is my home, and I feel very honored to have an opportunity to help it prosper.”

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Thompson and his wife Andrea are the proud parents of Norah, 12, Veyda, 10, and Baron, 7.

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