Nantahala Health Foundation has hired Lori Bailey as executive director of the organization. The new nonprofit health foundation formed after the February sale of Mission Health to for-profit HCA Health.
All six regional Mission hospitals needed to reform their hospital foundations to support the community instead of the for-profit health system. Angel Medical Center did not have an operating foundation so Nantahala Health was formed. The organization covers Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, as well as the Qualla Boundary.
Bailey will start on September 1. She has worked for 12 years in various public and not-for-profit roles covering the Asheville and broader Western North Carolina region, according to a press release.
The foundation also announced two new board members Kelly Brown (Jackson County) and Roger Plemens (Macon County) who will act as Treasurer.
That brings the board total to ten not including Bailey. The full board is: Jane Kimsey, Chair (Regional Representative/Macon County), David Garrett, Vice Chair (Regional Representative/Jackson County), Sonya Wachacha, Secretary (Qualla Boundary), Lisa Leatherman, (Regional Representative/Macon County), Alison Cochran (Swain County), Jason Johnson (Cherokee County), Angie Knight (Graham County) and Debbie Mauney (Clay County).
