ICAHN announces ‘4 Under 40’ winners

Shown are Jessica Barkley (left), Katie Clark-White, Kevin Goss, and Allison Sours, with Dr. Dan Doolittle of Integritas, sponsor of the "4 Under 40" award banners.

The Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) announced its “4 Under 40” Hospital Leadership winners during its Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony, held November 18 at the I-Hotel and Conference Center, Champaign. These winners include: Jessica Barkley, RN, BSN, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Quality Officer, Carlinville Area Hospital; Katie Clark-White, Nurse Practitioner, Lawrence County Memorial Hospital; Kevin Goss, Vice President of Operations, Jersey Community Hospital; and Allison Sours, Vice President of Quality, Graham Hospital.

• Jessica Barkley has been a fixture at Carlinville Area Hospital & Clinics (CAH+C) since she was hired as a night shift medical and surgical nurse in May 2010. During that time, she was first promoted to Quality/Infection Prevention Director and assigned to create those departments. Her scope later expanded to include Risk Management and Compliance Officer responsibilities after she pursued and received certification in compliance. For several years, Jessica has been a part of a succession plan to the CNO role and received that promotion toward the end of 2020. Because of her success in developing a robust quality program at CAH+C, Jessica has remained in the CQO role and is serving in both the CNO/CQO capacities. In addition to everything she has provided to the clinical departments of the hospital, Jessica is a wife, mother of three, and an active and well-known community member. She leads local efforts toward the Macoupin County Relay for Life, is an active leader of the Carlinville High School Soccer Booster Club, and she has even found time to coach youth soccer for many years. She has also volunteered as school nurse. Beyond all the above, Jessica led a multi-month program to prepare CAH+C to develop an orthopedic service that included Total Knee Replacement. She led a multi-specialty, multi-organization team consisting of 25 people that developed the plan, led the review and purchase of various equipment, conducted review/revision/implementation of various procedures, facilitated staff training sessions, and performed several real-life ‘practice’ total knee replacement surgeries. For the first time ever in March 2021, CAH+C performed its first Total Knee Replacement, and the services have grown rapidly from that point.
• Katie Clark-White has served Lawrence County Memorial Hospital for more than seven years. As a Nurse Practitioner, Katie is known to take on any project that will benefit her patients, her community, and her organization. She is also an Accountable Care Organization provider champion and community drug coalition president. She has also developed a very successful rural health clinic practice. While the ACO concept is new to most physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and healthcare staff, Katie has educated all healthcare partners on the importance of the ACO. For her and her team’s efforts, LCMH received the “Go Getter Award” for its ACO, the Illinois Rural Community Care Organization, and additionally received the prestigious Lilypad Award for being a “Top Clinic in the Midwest.” At the community level, Katie has also been instrumental in autism awareness, has participated or led several autism support groups, and has reached out to and assisted many families that are in need of autism and other resources and education.
• Kevin Goss, Vice President of Operations, Jersey Community Hospital, has the ability to help you see the best in any given situation, and he brings the right people to the table to tackle any issue or project. He loves what he does and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and work alongside other staff. He’s an active listener who offers thoughtful solutions. Because of these attributes, the role of Vice President of Operations was expressly created for Kevin. During his first 18 months at JCH, Kevin’s leadership qualities, his ability to take on the big jobs and get them completed, his tenacity, and his ability to simultaneously handle numerous important projects proved that he needed a larger platform. Kevin spearheaded the redesign of JCH’s current space to make way for a hyperbaric chamber, a wound care clinic, and a pain management clinic which facilitated a huge growth opportunity for JCH within its current footprint.
• Allison Sours, Vice President of Quality, Graham Hospital, has been the driving force in initiating change in all aspects of quality at Graham Hospital. She revamped the Quality Council model for performance improvement, empowered directors to identify PI issues and openly share them, and she identified the need for transitional care support and surgery quality coordination. Allison manages the Wound Clinic, School of Nursing, utilization review, therapy services, population health, transitional care, and surgery scheduling. In addition to her VP of Quality role, she will acquire the CIO position in January. Previously, she was GM at IDC Engineering. She is the founder of the Tremont Street St. Jude Run, treasurer for Pekin Amateur Hockey, VP of Morton Lacrosse Club, and VP of Bradley University’s EMBA Alliance. Allison chairs or is active in over 20 committees at Graham Health Systems. Under Allison’s management, the Wound Clinic has received the “Center of Excellence” Award for three consecutive years. In 2017, Allison was awarded one of the Greater Peoria Area’s “40 Under 40” Leadership Awards for her work at IDC Engineering, her work with Bradley University’s EMBA Alumni Alliance, and community leadership in general.

ICAHN’s “4 Under 40” Hospital Leadership Award is open to new and emerging leaders aged 40 and under employed by an ICAHN member hospital or as a member of this hospital’s board for at least two years with a strong record of innovation and outstanding performance.