In
John Jackson
Profile
As fate would have it, not having a car in college influenced John Jackson’s entire career. “When I was in college, we did internships during the regular semester. Most of the students were placed in nearby areas. Since I didn’t have a car, I was assigned to WVU Hospital. I really never thought much about working in a hospital.”
In the spring of his senior year, John saw a sign that SunHealth was interviewing. He signed up for the interview, was invited for a site visit, and had a job offer in 7 days.
SunHeath (now Premier) provided consulting services to its membership hospitals. Over a six year span, John worked in 17 hospitals. Most of his work was traditional Industrial Engineering. He spent a lot of his time with two hospitals in North Carolina. On one of these assignments, John helped with policy development necessary for accreditation. The hospital (Richmond Memorial) was so impressed with his work, that they hired him as their Chief Operating Officer. John was not yet 30 years old.
John was offered and took other senior executive positions with a national healthcare system, Health Trust and Columbia/HCA. He didn’t feel the sense of accomplishment that he did with his original work at Richmond Memorial. He returned back to Richmond Memorial as its President.
Richmond Memorial is now part of a five hospital system FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Inc. in North Carolina. John is the President of two of the hospitals, FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital Richmond and Hamlet.
A lot of what John does today is to help rationalize the delivery of services throughout the region. “We are in a rural part of North Carolina so it’s important that having a coordinated approach to the delivery of healthcare services that is efficient and supports the citizens in our communities.”
Along the way, John earned an MBA from Queens University of Charlotte. “I did the traditional MBA because I already had the health care experience, “John says. John advises students who want a career in healthcare administration to first work as a consultant in the healthcare industry and then pursue a Masters in healthcare administration. He is also seeing an increasing number of CED’s in healthcare having a doctorate in some form of public health or clinical specialty.
John is especially proud of being selected as the Citizen of the Year in his community. In the presentation of the award, Dr. Dale McInnis, President of Richmond Community College, commented that John was “a servant leader before it became a buzz word. He serves his patients, his employees, and his community.”
Bio
JOHN J. JACKSON, President, Richmond Memorial Hospital, since November 1999 and Sandhills Regional Medical Center, since December 2016. In this position, Mr. Jackson is responsible for all aspects of RMH and SHRMC operations and reports to the Chief Executive Officer of FirstHealth. He works in conjunction with Senior Management and the Richmond Memorial Hospital and Sandhills Regional Medical Center management teams to ensure quality, cost-efficient operations of both facilities, including maintaining effective relationships with RMH and SHRMC Board of Advisors, medical staff, and RMH Foundation.
Education/Experience: Mr. Jackson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University in 1984 and a Master of Business Administration from Queens University in 1996. Mr. Jackson joined FirstHealth in May 1998 as Vice President of Professional Services. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Orthopaedic Hospital from July 1996 until May 1998. From February 1993 until July 1996, he served at Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital as Associate Administrator and then as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Jackson served as Associate Administrator and Chief Operating Officer at Richmond Memorial Hospital from 1990 until 1993. Prior to that, he was a Senior Consultant for the Management Consulting Division of SunHealth Corporation.
Professional/Community Activities: Mr. Jackson is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the NCHA Political Action Committee and past member of the NCHA Policy Development Committee. He is currently a member of the Richmond Community Foundation Board, Richmond Community College Foundation Board, Richmond Community College Health Advisory Committee, Community Care of North Carolina – Sandhills Board, the United Way Board, and Rockingham Rotary Club. He is a past chairman of the Richmond County Chamber of Commerce and past president of the Rockingham Rotary Club.
Mr. Jackson is a member of the St. James Catholic Church, past chair of the parish council and charter member of the Knights of Columbus, St. James chapter.
Leadership:
- Jackson coached basketball nine years and was nominated by the Village of Pinehurst for the 2003 National Jr. NBA Coach of the Year.
- RMH supported the L.J. Bell Growing Readers program with ten volunteers yearly from 2003 – 2014.
- RMH received the Governor’s Award for Volunteerism 2001 and 2005.
