FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BAMBERG, SC—Palmetto Care Connections has named Kathy Rhoad, FACHE as director of public relations and program development.
Rhoad has more than 30 years of marketing and public relations experience with twenty-five years in healthcare marketing and strategy. At Palmetto Care Connections, Kathy leads public relations and program development to enhance rural telehealth initiatives throughout South Carolina.
“Kathy has a passion for rural healthcare that she has exemplified throughout her career,” said Kathy Schwarting, MHA, chief executive officer of Palmetto Care Connections (PCC). “Having worked with her previously, I know first-hand of her dedication, commitment and success in achieving goals for the growth and development of an organization. Palmetto Care Connections is extremely fortunate to have her on the team.”
Established in 2010, PCC is a non-profit organization that provides technology, broadband, and telehealth support services to healthcare providers in rural or underserved areas in S.C. PCC is the leader of the Palmetto State Providers Network, a broadband consortium which facilitates broadband connections throughout the state. PCC co-chairs the South Carolina Telehealth Alliance, along with the Medical University of South Carolina, partnering with healthcare organizations and providers to improve health care access and delivery for all South Carolinians.
Prior to joining PCC, Kathy was Interim Associate Vice President of Strategic Planning and Marketing at the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, serving on the senior leadership team, coordinating strategic objectives, including the construction of a new freestanding emergency department in Bamberg County, and supervising Marketing, Public Relations, Physician Relations, Employer Relations, Community Outreach, Volunteers, Risk Management, Compliance, Contracts, Regulatory Relations and the Tri-County Health Network.
Previous positions include director of marketing and public relations for Bamberg County Hospital and Nursing Center; physician recruiter and marketing specialist for Low Country Health Network serving Bamberg, Barnwell, Allendale and Hampton counties; public information officer at Denmark Technical College; and public relations specialist at Newman, Saylor and Gregory, a full-service marketing agency.
Rhoad has a master’s degree in advertising and public relations from the University of South Carolina College of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Virginia.
A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), Kathy is a graduate of the South Carolina Hospital Association’s Management Academy, and a graduate of Leadership Orangeburg County. She completed the American Hospital Association’s Society of Healthcare Strategy and Market Development online Strategic Planning Certificate series.
She has been published in the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development’s “Spectrum” magazine, “Modern Hospital” magazine, and she presented at Becker’s Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Her current community involvement includes: CASA Family Systems Board of Directors; Home Federal Savings and Loan Board of Directors; Bamberg County Chorale; Apollo Music Club; and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Rhoad is a member of Church of the Redeemer in Orangeburg where she sings in the choir.
She and her husband William D. “Billy” Rhoad, IV have been married for 30 years. They reside in Bamberg and have two grown children.
# # #
