b'From Student to Hospital ExecutivePowell reflected on how his time as a student at VSUIn June 2019 Powell accepted the position of allowed him to leverage different hands-on experiencesadministrative resident with Ardent Health Services, that enabled him to eventually determine what careerwhich oversees 30 hospitals, including Hackensack path he wanted to take after graduation. Meridian Pascack Valley Medical Center. He spent the first few months getting to know the leaders and As an intern at South Georgia Medical Center inthe physicians and learning the operations of each Valdosta, Georgia, Powell had the opportunity to workdepartment in the Westwood, New Jersey-based closely with the executive team and learn from each ofhospital. their leadership styles, which helped him to identify his own leadership style. Working with the chief operatingI look at the administrative residency as an interview officer gave him the advantage of being exposed to allwith the leadership team of an organization, he levels of the organization, including board meetings,shared. It is something I would recommend to anyone medical staff leadership, senior leadership, andwanting an executive leadership position within a department directors. These interactions helped himhealthcare organization. define the key functions of different roles within the organization and how they each contributed to theAs the residency progressed, Powell began leading organization achieving its goals. organizational initiatives, managing labor productivity, and serving as a project manager for the chief My internship at South Georgia Medical Centerexecutive officers organization-wide initiatives.allowed me to take what I was learning in the classroom and apply it to true hospital operations andThe residency gave me the opportunity to ask leadership, he said.as many questions as I possibly could throughout the year, he explained. A unique part of Ardents Powell also served as the president of the VSUdevelopment program is the 1:1 mentoring and check-chapter of Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI),ins with the leaders of the company. an organization committed to improving health and healthcare worldwide.Becoming the founding president of VSUs IHI chapterArdent Health Servicesinvests in quality allowed me to foster my own leadership style andhealthcare. In people, technology, facilities, ability to lead a diverse group of people, he said.and communities, Ardent makes considerable investmentsproducing high quality care Serving as the liaison between the university andand extraordinary results. 30various hospitals, clinics, physician practices, and professional organizations made it possible for PowellArdent includes:to become comfortable speaking on behalf of others.25,000What I think Valdosta did was allow me to really understand what kind of leader I was and what kindEMPLOYEES HOSPITALSof leader I hoped to grow into from an early point, he said. If it wasnt for Valdosta, then I wouldnt be where1,150 4,395I am today.Powell earned a Bachelor of Business AdministrationEMPLOYED LICENSED in Healthcare Administration from Valdosta StatePROVIDERS BEDSUniversity in 2017, followed by a Master of Business$4.2 130Administration in Management in 2019 and Master of Science in Healthcare Administration in 2020 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.BILLION INMANAGED REVENUES BEDS10 Langdale College of Business'