April 13, 2023

Five past and present presidents of the Nebraska chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association gathered at the recent annual meeting. From left, Virgil Guthrie, Kyle Teel, Jim Ulrich, Troy Bruntz and Sean Wolfe. All pictured are or were Community Hospital employees when serving as HFMA president. Virgil and Kyle are grandfather and grandson.

When it comes to Community Hospital‘s leadership involvement in the Nebraska chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, you could say it has been a family affair. Not only are we talking about our workplace family, but literal family as well. Take a look at this generational lineup of past and future presidents of the organization:

Virgil Guthrie was the CFO of Community Hospital from 1970-1993; and was president of the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA in 1977-78. He is retired and lives in McCook.

James Ulrich was the CFO of Community Hospital from 2000-2003 then transitioned to the President and CEO of CH until 2016. He was president of the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA in 2005-06. He is currently CEO of York General Health Care Services.

Troy Bruntz was the CFO of Community Hospital from 2003-2016 and then transitioned to the President and CEO which is his present role. He was president of the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA in 2014-15.

Sean Wolfe was the Controller at Community Hospital from 2008-2016 and then transitioned to CFO which is his present role. He was president of the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA in 2020-21.

Kyle Teel is the Controller at Community Hospital and has been at the Hospital since 2016. He is the incoming president of the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA for the 2023-24 year.

That’s a great line-up of Community Hospital employees! But the interesting thing is that two of them are related. Kyle is the grandson of Virgil Guthrie.

When Kyle told his grandfather he was going to work for the Hospital, he told him to make sure got involved in HFMA.  Community Hospital’s legacy of involvement and leadership in the Nebraska Chapter made getting involved very easy.  Kyle’s first HFMA meeting was his second week on the job with CH, and quickly was involved in Chapter committee leadership, co-chairing the communications committee and being elected to the board a few years later.

The Nebraska Chapter invited the Guthries, Virgil and his wife Eunice, to attend for this very special officer installation, seeing Kyle follow in his grandfather’s shoes of becoming Chapter President. It occurred during the Nebraska Chapter’s annual meeting held March 23-24.

“Having grandpa there was very impactful, I think both for him and for me,” Teel said. “When I first let him know my career path led me to healthcare about eight years ago, one of the first things he said was, ‘Make sure you get involved in HFMA.’ At the time, I had no idea just how good that advice was. The impact HFMA had on him is longstanding. He talks about it to this day. And I can say without a doubt I would not be who I am today without the Association and the Nebraska Chapter.”

“Community Hospital has a strong culture of encouraging our staff to be involved and leaders of their professional organizations,” said Wolfe. “For a small rural hospital to have five past presidents of the Chapter over the last 50 years is a legacy we are proud of. Going through the leadership ranks of a very high performing organization like the Nebraska Chapter of HFMA provides extremely valuable experience that can directly be applied in the day-to-day hospital leadership roles we are in.”

The National HFMA magazine will include a “Chapter News” feature story about Community Hospital’s five HFMA presidents in the May issue.