(Appleton City, MO) -- Ellett Memorial Hospital announces the retirement of C. Thomas Hollis, chief executive officer of EMH. Hollis has served as CEO since June 2015, and previously served as the chief financial officer for seven years. Melissa Fletcher, chief nursing officer, will assume the role of interim CEO, and Laura Smith, director of infection control, will assume the role of interim CNO.
“We want to thank Tom Hollis for his leadership and wish him well in his retirement,” says Dean Alexander, president of the EMH board of trustees. Hollis will retire in early 2017 and will be available to assist during the transition period. A search is being conducted for a permanent CEO.
Fletcher is an Osceola native and graduated from Osceola High School in 2006. She obtained her Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training through Ellett Memorial Hospital in 2005, and graduated from the Registered Nursing (RN) program at Bolivar Technical College (BTC) in 2013. She will complete her bachelor of science in nursing in Fall 2017 from Cox College, Springfield. Fletcher previously worked for Mercy Hospital, Springfield, for five years as an EMT, and two years in the burn unit, before joining CMH Osceola Medical Center in November 2014. She also is an adjunct professor at BTC. Fletcher joined Ellett Memorial as CNO in August 2016. She and her husband, Jeremy, a lineman for IBEW Local 53, live in Osceola and have three children, Rilan, 8, Mason, 2, and Stoney, 1.
“I have loved working for Ellett Memorial and I am excited for this new opportunity to help the community even more,” says Fletcher. “We have so much to offer the community – especially the new specialists in our outpatient clinic – and we encourage community members to continue to support the hospital and its services.”
Smith is an Appleton City native and graduated from Appleton City High School in 1992. She earned her RN training from Excelsior College in 2013, and has worked at EMH since 2008. She and her husband, Loren, live in Appleton City. They have two children, Andria Boswell and her husband, Daniel, and Coleton Smith, 18; and two grandchildren, Reagan Boswell, 2, and Raylee Boswell, 1.
In addition to providing 24 hour ambulance and emergency services, EMH offers an array of hospital services including: acute and extended care; radiology; laboratory; respiratory therapy; sleep studies; physical, speech and occupational therapy; and more. EMH also owns and operates Appleton City Rural Health Clinic, and provides numerous outpatient specialty clinics for cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, rheumatology and urology.
“We appreciate the support of the community,” says Fletcher. “That support -- through utilizing services and participation in community outreach programs -- not only benefits the hospital, but in turn benefits the community with added services and programs.”
For more information about Ellett Memorial Hospital and its services, call 660-476-2111.
