Williams Honored By State Hospitals Association

The Tennessee Hospital Association awarded State Representative Ryan Williams the 2024 Hospital Hero Award at Cookeville Regional Medical Center Wednesday.

The award recognizes lawmakers who prioritize policy issues that contribute to the health and wellness of Tennesseans through support for hospitals. Williams advocated for financial relief for hospitals and secured over $110 million in funding for hospitals across the state. Williams said the work he did was essential to the hospital industry.

“There was a lot of work that we did this year, the $110 million for the last two years is a real dealbreaker,” Williams said. “Particularly on the cusps of all the moneys we saw with COVID and then still trying to keep our hospitals open, particularly in rural areas.”

Williams said he was honored to receive the award. Williams said moving forward there is still more work to be done.

“There were a lot of things this year that we didn’t get done,” Williams said. “Being a rural hospital is much different than being a large metropolitan hospital and the changes that we seek to make I think will impact for the good of all hospitals, but particularly those like ours in small communities.”

Cookeville Regional CEO Buffy Key said hospitals and lawmakers working together give them a voice.

“Coming together and listening to each other to advocate for what is right in healthcare and what is wrong,” Key said. “And as representative Williams stated we are unlike most hospitals and so for us to have a voice at all is significant for us.”