MACON – The Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center in Mercer University School of Medicine recently welcomed Tiffany Nelson as its executive director.
A registered nurse with a passion for rural health initiatives, Nelson has developed and implemented outreach strategies for clinical business involving physicians, acute care and post-acute care facilities. She has served as a liaison between healthcare providers, local government entities and community stakeholders. Additionally, she has facilitated clinical affiliations between small rural hospitals and larger acute care facilities.
“We are pleased that Tiffany Nelson has joined the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center as its new executive director,” said Jean Sumner, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. “Tiffany steps into the role to continue the important work begun by her predecessor, Debra Stokes, and to continue to establish the Center as the state’s primary rural health information resource. Tiffany’s dynamic leadership is energizing, and she is focused on solutions that positively impact health care in rural Georgia.”
Nelson previously served as grant program coordinator for the Georgia Healthcare Association, president of Bonagent LLC, a company specializing in healthcare collaboration to solve issues facing rural providers, and she was regional director for HCA Healthcare’s South Atlantic Division.
As a healthcare collaboration specialist, Nelson coordinated non-traditional partnerships, physician recruitment services, telestroke/teleneurology programs, workforce solutions, revenue cycle solutions, group purchasing options and applied health analytics.
“Together with the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center team, I intend to provide our stakeholders confidence, clarity and shared vision in addressing Georgia’s rural health needs,” said Nelson. “Our team is able, willing and ready to be a trusted and invaluable resource for the state, partnering with rural Georgia to improve health care through reliable research, creative strategies and sustainable solutions.”
Nelson earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Georgia College and State University and Master of Business Administration in healthcare leadership from the University of Tennessee.
She was born and raised in Macon and has resided in Gray for more than 20 years. She and her husband, Jay, have five children and four grandchildren.
About the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center
In 2018, Georgia lawmakers dedicated special funds to establish a new Rural Health Innovation Center tasked with confronting the complex health care challenges and wellness disparities facing rural communities. Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) was awarded the grant funds in 2019 and formally established the Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center on its Macon campus. MUSM boasts a longstanding commitment to serving rural Georgia’s health needs, with a mission to educate physicians dedicated to tackling the health challenges in rural Georgia. The Rural Health Innovation Center serves as a critical resource to rural communities to improve access and effectiveness of health care by offering research, collaboration and training opportunities.
