Hodshire (right) at nurse Julie Walters’ retirement party. Courtesy | Kyrsten Newlon

Jeremiah “JJ” Hodshire ’99, president and CEO of Hillsdale Hospital, won a national leadership award for his work in the community.

Hodshire, the recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, has served as CEO for the last six out of his 16 years at the hospital. He said he sees this award as a result of his advocacy for rural healthcare. 

“I firmly believe in what I learned at Hillsdale College: All forms of government are local,” Hodshire said. “All forms of healthcare are local. You can control that at the local level. We have autonomy over it. Selling your hospital to a large institution is not the answer. Having a large institution who does not have the same values that our community has coming in and taking over healthcare is not at all.” 

Congress established the award, named for a former U.S. secretary of commerce, in 1987 to create competition among companies and organizations in order to improve them. It awards “the highest level of national recognition that a U.S. organization can receive for performance excellence, particularly in relation to resilience and long-term success,” according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. The award is conferred by the President of the United States to role-model U.S. businesses through an independent board of examiners and presents those businesses’ practices to others. 

“I asked the question, I pulled my team together and said, ‘How can we make a difference nationally?’” Hodshire said. “So, we started a national podcast to elevate the awareness to communities throughout this country that rural healthcare is being compromised right now and that we must stand and defend rural healthcare.”

Podcast “Rural Health Today” has hosted political figures such as Richard Bernstein, the Michigan Supreme Court Justice, in order to elevate the importance of rural healthcare, Hodshire said. 

Diane Philipp, a member of the board of trustees at Hillsdale Hospital, said Hodshire has transformed the hospital into a more patient-centered institution. 

“Under his leadership, the hospital has modernized its services, including expanding its healthcare offerings and improving its medical technologies,” Philipp said. “He is credited with enhancing the hospital’s financial stability, while prioritizing quality care for the local community, even amid the challenges posed by state and federal healthcare reforms and budget constraints.”

When asked about Hodshire’s award, Philipp said he has received several awards in the past, including the National Rural Health Leadership award, Community Impact award, and Michigan Health Leadership Excellence award.  

“JJ’s commitment to Hillsdale Hospital’s success is significant and is often recognized regionally and nationally,” Philipp said.

Greg Bailey, partner at accounting firm Bailey, Hodshire, and Company and the president of the Hillsdale Hospital Board of Trustees, said he is grateful to the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program for recognizing Hodshire’s impact on the healthcare industry. 

“Advocating for rural health has become JJ’s passion, and not just because he receives a paycheck from the hospital,” Bailey said. “He grew up in this community, and he knows the struggles that rural health faces. He fights every day to even the playing field.”

Hillsdale Hospital has a full continuum healthcare system, Hodshire said. From hiring a neurosurgeon and a vascular surgeon to adding urology and women’s health departments, Hodshire said he has developed a hospital that can truly serve its community. His passion for cheaper and more efficient rural healthcare stems from the impact it has on rural communities.

“Local access to healthcare means that you have access to it,” Hodshire said. “And without that, we find populations of patients who are sicker, a patient who waits longer to receive their care. Therefore, the cost is much higher for patients that lack transportation, that can’t get to other places.”  

Not only does a local hospital save lives in the community, but it is also an economic engine for the town, he said.

“We are pumping back a hundred million dollars into the economy, whether it is local or state economy, with the services that we purchase from our vendors, with the employees that we employ here, with the local products that we purchase from local vendors,” Hodshire said. “We are the economic engine of Hillsdale County.”

Losing a local hospital also means losing authentic relationships between patients and staff. This is when healthcare becomes cold and institutionalized, Hodshire said.  

“It is not the people you go to church with that are taking care of you,” Hodshire said. “It is not the person that you see in the grocery store. It is not the person that you serve in the clubs with. It is someone you do not even know. Someone that does not have a relationship with you.”

Bailey said Hodshire has focused on five foundational pillars since his tenure as CEO: finance, quality, service, growth, and people. 

“The financial results have vastly improved through enhanced insurance reimbursements, government grants, and prudent fiscal management,” Bailey said. “Quality scores have increased to the highest levels that I have ever seen in my 25-plus year tenure on the board of directors. Growth has been achieved through service lines — hyperbaric chamber, neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and urology, to name a few. The focus on people is evidenced by the numerous workplace awards that the hospital has received.”

Hodshire said his mission stems from his belief that this work is a ministry. 

“My faith is important to my journey here,” Hodshire said. “I believe that taking care of people, which is the service I have always been in, is important, getting back to others and ensuring that our community has access to high-quality healthcare.”