HVMC open house introduces community to new CEO, services

KINGSPORT — A Holston Valley Medical Center open house Thursday night introduced community members to the hospital's new chief executive officer, Kevin Rinks, along with other staff and services available at the Ballad Health facility.Rinks — who's been in the role since March — said the event was a way for friends and family to visit and ask questions in a nonintimidating space, especially since hospitals are often anxiety-inducing. From 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Holston Valley staff from different departments set up tables, activities, robotic demonstrations and informational brochures to explain their work. "It's a celebration of skills in our people," Rinks said. "It's a way, again, to open the door, come in, learn something about your local hospital." The da Vinci 5 robot demonstrates its precise ability by grabbing rubber bands on a surgical model. The robot is controlled by humans and can even communicate the feel of different weights to operators. JOY MAZUR/SIX RIVERS MEDIA Rinks added that his first six months have been about understanding the medical community and the changes it's undergoing. A West Tennessee native, the executive recently served as the CEO of St. Vincent's Southside Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, and was appointed after a nationwide search. "There's a lot of our community that supports this hospital here, but in the grand scheme of healthcare in any community, there's rapid change going on," Rinks said. "So I'm trying to connect with and understand that change in Kingsport, make sure they know me and that people can reach out to me." Rinks added that the hospital is working to recruit physicians and has more than 40 job openings for different specialists. In addition to a focus on cardiology services, he added, the facility is also recruiting for oncology care and just added some gynecologic oncology specialists. "If we drew a big circle around Kingsport, we get patients from all directions from [the oncology] service," he said. In response to concerns about upcoming Medicaid cuts affecting rural healthcare, Rinks said it's hard to say exactly what's going to happen. Other Ballad Health executives, including Ballad CEO and Chairman Alan Levine, have said that cuts to the federal program over the next decade will be a major blow to the healthcare system."I think all of us are trying to be diligent in our understanding and make sure that we're always operating efficiently so that we can deal with hard times," Rinks said. "Or that we're prepared to reinvest for good times." In the future, Rinks said he's looking forward to connecting with more providers in the community. "If you can get care where your support network is, nine times out of 10, that's better," he said. "Hometown care is the best care." An operator demonstrates an Ion robotic bronchoscopy, which allows surgeons to locate and biopsy nodules in the lungs.