Fire Starter Hall of Fame

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Audrey Meyers is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Valley Hospital and Valley Health System. She began her career at Valley in 1980 as a Planning Associate. As President and CEO of Valley Health System, Ms. Meyers is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 451-bed Valley Hospital (the second busiest in New Jersey based on admissions), a home care agency and the operations of six urgent and primary care centers.

The Valley Hospital has achieved a number a prestigious distinctions since Ms. Meyers' appointment as President and CEO in 1999:

• Improving from the 78th percentile to the 98th percentile in the important "Likelihood of Recommending" question on patient surveys,
• Recognized four consecutive times by JD Power and Associates as a Distinguished Hospital,
• Recipient of The Magnet Award, the nursing profession's highest honor,
• One of the 50 Best Places to Work in New Jersey from 2005 to 2008 (Valley Health System),
• The Governor's Award for Performance Excellence – Silver Level,
• The highest designation for quality and clinical excellence for cardiac surgery from the Society for Thoracic Surgeons,
• First in New Jersey to receive Disease-Specific Care Certification for cancer care from the Joint Commission,
• Named twice to The Leapfrog Group's Top Hospitals List and the only New Jersey Hospital named in 2007,
• Designation as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence,
• Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission.

Ms. Meyers has achieved Fellowship status in the American College of Healthcare Executives. In 1998 she was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Healthcare Executives of New Jersey in recognition of her significant contributions to the healthcare field. In 1999 she received the Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent's Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Ms. Meyers is a trustee and officer of the New Jersey Hospital Association. In addition, she serves as a member of the Nominating Committee for the Metro Council of the American Hospital Association.

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Roddey E. Gettys began his career at Palmetto Health Baptist Easley 36 years ago as the Director of Pharmacy. He transitioned to Vice President for Palmetto Health Baptist Easley in 1977 and assumed role as Chief Operating Officer in 1988. During Mr. Gettys career as COO, he transformed a traditional leadership organizational structure into a new self-directed leadership team structure which has remained in placed since 1996. Under the leadership of Mr. Gettys, Palmetto Health Baptist Easley became the first hospital in South Carolina to go "tobacco free" in January 1998. Mr. Gettys implemented a "Primetime" program for 50+ year olds which has more than 2000 members today and was instrumental in forming the Free Medical Clinic for Pickens County. In addition to numerous growth and strategic initiatives to focused on improving the lives and health of all residents of Pickens County, Mr. Gettys can be quoted as saying, "I love being in the healthcare industry because I love people. I love to help people and our industry is about helping people during their most difficult times in life." Recognized throughout Palmetto Health Baptist Easley as an approachable, fun and caring administrator, he demonstrates a commitment to support, grow and retain the great leaders and staff who call Palmetto Health their "home away from home."

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Steve Simonin is and has been the CEO of Wright Medical Center in Clarion since 1996 and the driving force in its quest for excellence. From 1993 to 1996, he was the administrator of two hospitals in South Dakota. In January of 2007, Wright Medical Center was contracted to provide leadership to a competing hospital in the same county; Belmond Medical Center. In 2000, he was awarded the ACHE's Early Career Healthcare Executive Regent's Award. He earned both bachelor (Business Administration) and master (Hospital and Health Administration) degrees from The University of Iowa.

Over the past couple of years, Mr. Simonin has led Wright Medical Center to win several national awards. Two Summit awards from Press Ganey for top inpatient scores were awarded in both 2006 and 2007. The Wright Medical Center leadership team won the HealthLeaders award for Top Leadership Teams in 2007. In the fall of 2007, Wright Medical Center won a bronze award from the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence. Wright Medical Center works closely with the Studer Group and was instrumental in creating the Rural Partnership with the Studer Group.

"For my whole career I've been looking for a mentor to help guide me in the right direction with how I feel organizations should be run. My previous style of leadership was weighted heavily towards the financial and with healthcare, I somehow felt that wasn't right. Quint Studer showed me that with the right balance towards quality and service and at the same time, making the organization the best place to work, practice medicine and ultimately receive care – I found my way. By rediscovering purpose, I was able to light the flame of passion in those I work with. Along the way, my desire to learn and grow as a leader increased as I met and learned from some of the best – Gail Boylan, Lynne Cunningham, Zani Weber and others. My journey was and is simply awesome."