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December 8, 2020

Hospital board chairman finishes term, welcomes new chairman and member

The Marshall County Health Care Authority announced the appointment of Roy Rollings as chairman to succeed Mike Alred, who has led the board for more than 8 years..

Also, Andrea Elrod of Arab has been selected as the newest member of the MMC/Huntsville Hospital LLC Board.

Alred replaced Dr. Pete Sparks as chairman in 2012 and has since steered the board through some major developments. The Authority approved construction of the Marshall Cancer Care Center in 2013, a 22,000-square-foot facility located mid-county which is part of the UAB Health System Cancer Community Network. In 2018, the board entered into an affiliation agreement with the Huntsville Hospital Health System, bringing Marshall Medical Centers into a network of hospitals across North Alabama and Southern Tennessee. Alred credits those accomplishments to a good management team consisting of the top level hospital administration working alongside the board.

“It’s been a labor of love,” said Alred, a 16-year board member and retired CEO of Citizens Bank & Trust. “It’s been the civic responsibility I’ve enjoyed most. It’s been a great privilege to serve with the management team and other members of the board. Compared to most communities our size, we have outstanding healthcare and it’s not an accident. It’s a product of the board members who have gone before me and the management team we have.”

Rollings joined the Health Care Authority in 2012. Alred said he has full confidence in Rollings’ ability to step into the leadership role.

“Roy is a true professional,” he said. “He understands the board as well as anyone could and he will make a great chairman. Roy is one of the best volunteers in Marshall County. He is at the top of the list of people as far as integrity and competency. I’m totally confident in him.”

Rollings, a lifelong resident of Guntersville, earned an accounting degree from the University of Alabama. He started his career at McGriff Dowdy from 1983 to 1985. Then he, Lee Woodward and Craig Nolan formed Woodward, Nolan and Rollings LLP in Albertville. In 2013, Rollings and Michael Ferguson formed the Gateway Group, a full-service public accounting firm, located in the renovated Chicken Shack restaurant across from Guntersville High School.

Serving on the board has been a learning experience, he said, enhanced by the quality of people who share a goal of providing the best possible medical services locally.

“I’ve learned a lot about health care in Marshall County,” he said. “We’ve got great staff and have had great management. No one on the board has an agenda and everyone wants to do what’s right.”

Rollings’ two main goals as chairman are to make sure that everything promised in the affiliation agreement is fulfilled and to give management honest feedback from the community about services. He plans an ongoing review of services to ensure they meet the needs of local residents.

“I want to make sure the board and management communicate well and that feedback from the community is encouraged. I just want to be supportive and be a resource.”

Rollings and his wife Myra have been married 37 years. They have three children: the oldest, Thomas, works at FireRock Technologies in Birmingham; John Davis, works for Motto Mortgage in Guntersville; and daughter Emma earned a ministry degree and currently is studying massage therapy at Gadsden State.

Liles Burke recommended Elrod for a position on the MMC/Huntsville Hospital Board. Elrod is the CFO for Alatrade Foods and the Davis Lee Companies where she has served for the past eight years.  After graduating from The University of Alabama in 1998, she worked in public accounting with Ernst & Young, which opened up a lot of doors in corporate accounting and finance.

Elrod sees similarities between her current job and Marshall Medical Centers, starting with the number of employees. Alatrade has 1,700-1,800 employees working in three plants. The two hospitals have more than 1,500.

“Although a completely different industry, as far as being a labor-intensive service provider and even facility-wise, it is somewhat representative of the hospital,” she said. “There are a lot of goals for expansion and growth for the hospital. I have a pretty good appreciation for how to balance that with the people. Recruiting the people to fulfill your growth objectives takes planning.”

Elrod grew up in Choctaw County. She met her husband, Russ Elrod, who is self-employed, in college and the couple has lived in his hometown of Arab for the past 22 years. They have two daughters in the Arab School System. Aubrey is 14 and Hensley is 16.

Elrod is proud to be part of the board.

“I’m excited about getting my feet wet and learning more about the operations,” she said. “I know the quality of service that the community deserves requires constant attention for perpetual improvement and sustainability, and I’m excited to be joining forces with a leadership team that’s dedicated to doing that the right way.”

The Marshall County Healthcare Authority consists of:

  • Roy Rollings, chairman
  • Mike Alred
  • Pat Allen
  • Stan Chaffin
  • Liles Burke
  • Tim McRae