Colquitt Regional President and CEO Jim Matney was recently named CEO of the Year by The Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals at its 40thAnnual Conference.
Each year, the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals recognizes one of its member CEOs that embodies the values of conservative financial management, prioritizing patient safety and wellness, and the deep commitment all not-for-profit hospitals share to the communities they serve.
“I am extremely humbled to receive this great honor,” said Matney. “Although my career spans three decades, the past 12 years at Colquitt Regional has been full of growth, excitement, and some challenges. Our organization has grown a lot together and I absolutely could not do my job or receive this award without the wonderful, dedicated employees at Colquitt Regional. I share in this success with them.”
Colquitt County Hospital Authority member and former chairman Maureen Yearta, Ed.D., presented the award, along with Monty Veazey, Chairman and CEO of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals.
“We at the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals are proud to recognize Jim Matney of Colquitt Regional Medical Center as the 2023 CEO of the Year for his leadership and his commitment to his hospital, their patients and employees, and their community,” said Veazey.
Matney has been an active member of the Alliance during his tenure at Colquitt Regional, working on issues like addressing the healthcare workforce shortages, medical needs in rural Southwest Georgia and navigating the unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also played an instrumental role in helping establish the South Georgia campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Moultrie, which is preparing and training the next generation of practitioners who are interested in serving in rural areas.
“Just this year, Jim delivered the keynote address as the first class graduated from the PCOM South Georgia campus,” said Yearta. “In 2019, the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program, established under Jim’s leadership, graduated its first class of family medicine graduates and began developing a psychiatry residency program that launched its first class in 2022. With some of this year’s Moultrie medical graduates moving on to residency through these programs, Jim has helped create a pipeline for rural healthcare professionals.”
Not only has Matney been a key player in expanding graduate medical education opportunities in South Georgia, but he has also exponentially grown the services and offerings at Colquitt Regional.
While serving as CEO of Colquitt Regional, Matney has overseen a major renovation and expansion to key areas of the hospital, brought in numerous new physicians, added much-needed service lines such as psychiatry, plastic and reconstructive surgery, radiation therapy, and gynecologic oncology.
This award comes only three months after Matney was presented the W. Daniel Barker Leadership Award by the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA).
“We are fortunate to have Jim as the President and CEO of Colquitt Regional,” said Hospital Authority Chairman Richard E. Turner, Jr. “We have reached new heights under his tenure and he is the embodiment of vision, determination, and leadership.”
