The Alabama Rural Health Association is pleased to welcome six new board members who will begin a three-year term on July 1, 2024. These new board members were nominated and voted by their member peers throughout the state. They are as follows:
Lamont Dupree
Executive Director
North Alabama Area Health Education Center
Lamont Dupree is the new Executive Director of North Alabama Area Health Education Center (NA-AHEC) in Huntsville, AL. He served in numerous positions for NA-AHEC since 2015 including Associate Director most recently. During this time, Lamont oversaw the Center’s community health worker team and network of community health workers during the organization’s regional COVID response in rural Northern Alabama. His passion for students and healthcare led to his selection to Governor Ivey’s Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways, Health Science Technical Advisory Committee where he serves as Chairperson. Additionally, he was also Governor-appointed to serve on the Alabama State Department of Education Course of Study Committee, Career and Technical Education Health Science. Lamont’s wealth of experience, knowledge, and passion for serving rural communities makes him an ideal candidate for the ARHA board of directors.
Mack G. Fitz-Gerald
Director, Clinic Operations
Whitfield Regional Hospital
Mack has over thirty-five years of experience in the rural healthcare setting and currently manages four full-time clinics, including two rural health clinics and two hospital-based clinics. The hospital-based clinics include an oncology clinic and a multi-provider specialty clinic that includes cardiovascular, orthopedics, ENT, pain, and surgery. In addition, Mack launched a fully-staffed mobile clinic that provides on-site healthcare for local businesses. His experience managing all business aspects of rural healthcare clinic operations, first for a privately-owned multi-provider practice and now for a rural hospital, give him a unique perspective into the challenges facing rural healthcare providers.
Dr. Samuel Gillespie
Physician
Lawrence Medical Center
Dr. Samuel Gillespie is one of the 9 providers within our rural health clinics. He is not only an outstanding physician but also a great teacher. He is very knowledgeable in all aspects of patient care from their treatment plan all the way through dealing with insurance and billing. He is also identified as a great leader who all of the staff of the facility admire.
Dr. Tim Littmann
Family Physician
Lake Martin Family Medicine
Tim Littmann, MD, is a family physician at Lake Martin Family Medicine. Dr. Littmann received a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 2011 and a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology in 2014 from Auburn University. He graduated in 2018 with his Doctorate of Medicine from the UAB School of Medicine and completed his residency at North Alabama’s largest primary care practice in the UAB Huntsville Family Medicine Residency Program. During his residency, he was voted best resident teacher by both his students and his attendings. He continues to shape future generations of physicians and works a preceptor for UAB Heersink School of Medicine, Auburn University’s Rural Medicine Program, as well as with Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Littmann developed an interest for rural health while shadowing at Lake Martin Community Hospital as an undergraduate at Auburn. As a member of the Rural Medicine Program, he continued his studies at UAB with a focus in underserved areas. He also serves as a preceptor for rural medical students going to UAB as well as clinical faculty at VCOM teaching rural medicine rotations.
Dr. Zack Studstill
Executive Director
Alabama Dental Association
Dr. Zack Studstill, a native of Andalusia, graduated from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry and practiced general dentistry in Montgomery, AL until December of 2009. He has been involved in leadership positions with the Alabama Dental Association and the America Dental Association, having served on the Board of Trustees of both organizations. As a member of the Council on Governmental Affairs of the American Dental Association, he was given an opportunity to gain governmental affairs experience as the Council developed policy for dentistry on the national level.In 2010, he became Executive Director of the Alabama Dental Association. In his capacity as Executive Director, Dr. Studstill testified before Alabama House and Senate Legislative Committees on policy developed by the Alabama Dental Association’s Council on Legislation. He was appointed by Governor Ivey to serve on the Joint Interim Legislative Healthcare Workforce Taskforce which was charged to address the shortage of health care professionals in rural Alabama. As a part of his duties lobbying for the Association, he developed collegial working relationships with key legislators in the Alabama House and Senate and the Governor.
Dr. Mickey Trimm
Partner & Senior Vice President
Koble Health Services
J.M. “Mickey” Trimm, PhD has spent the past 45 years working in rural healthcare in Alabama. During that time he has worked in almost every segment of the state, from Tuscumbia to Fort Payne, to Brewton to Phenix City. He was a founding member of the Alabama Rural Health Association. Currently he serves as a partner and Senior Vice President for Koble Health Services where he is responsible for expanding behavioral and mental health services throughout Alabama and the Southeast. Prior to joining Kolbe in 2019, Dr. Trimm served at UAB as Associate Professor and Director for the Center for Healthcare Management & Leadership, teaching healthcare strategic management, research methods, information technology, and oversaw the development of the undergraduate internship program that places hundreds of students in healthcare organizations around the state. He is also the owner and principal consultant for TwoMark Health Services, the organization he founded in 1996 after completing his PhD in Health Administration at UAB. TwoMark was created to help rural communities improve their healthcare. Engagements included designing, constructing, and obtaining Certificate of Need applications for hospitals, clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers in rural communities, reviews for Critical Access Hospitals, and community needs assessments.Prior to founding TwoMark, he spent 16 years in the Administration of the Birmingham Baptist Health System, helping build that system to 11 hospitals throughout rural central Alabama.In addition to Dr. Trimm’s PhD in Health Administration, he holds an MBA from Samford University and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Alabama. Dr. Trimm lives in Birmingham and owns a farm in rural Tuscaloosa County.
The Alabama Rural Health Association is a 1,000+ member organization supporting rural patients, providers, and communities throughout the State of Alabama. For more information, visit http://www.arhaonline.org or call 334-697-8541.
Alabama Rural Health Association 