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5 Things You Didn’t Know About…

Posted by California Employers Association on January 27, 2023

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This month, you'll meet Denise Highfill, CEA Board Chair-Elect and COO of Shingletown Medical Center (SMC), and Jessica Hawthorne, JD, CEA Senior Vice President.

Denise Highfill, CEA Board Chair-Elect, Shingletown Medical Center (SMC)

A few fun facts about Denise:: At the top of her bucket list is taking time to read non-medical and non-business books, and if she wasn't working at SMC she would be eating bon-bons on a tropical island!

1. What do you enjoy most about serving on the board?
Helping CEA to be compliant and thrive.

2. What has been most valuable for you as a CEA Board Member?
Learning more about CEA/CAE.

3. What's one of your favorite quotes or mantras you consider "words to live by"?
Respect, Appreciate & Value Everyone.

4. Tell us about your role/business.
I am the Chief Operations Officer in a rural Federally Qualified Health Center in the western Sierras. There is no other healthcare available in the community & surrounding area.

5. What are your top three priorities for your business in 2023?

  1. Find qualified staff that wants to work on-site
  2. Finance our full facility remodel
  3. Unwinding COVID

Jessica Hawthorne, JD, CEA Senior Vice President

Jessica grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her favorite classes in college were sociology, philosophy, and art history. What would she be doing if she weren’t at CEA? She’d be a bartender on a beach and traveling the world!

1. How long have you been with CEA?
Since July 2016

2. What has been your favorite project at CEA so far?
EASE, growing our team, LEAD, collaborating with all departments.

3. When you are at work, how do you motivate yourself?
Working with great people and supporting our members is motivation enough. Exercise and good music can sometimes help too.

4. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

  1. Life doesn't move in a straight line.
  2. Life is like a 6 lane highway and you can only drive in one lane at a time.
  3. If you don't fail, you will never succeed.

5. What, if anything, are you currently binge-watching or reading?
Any historical fiction and podcasts!