Four candidates are running for a five-year term on the Texas County Memorial Hospital board of trustees. Learn more about the candidates.
Current board members are Jim Perry, Ross Richardson, Joleen Durham, Jennifer Hugenot and Jerri Crump. Crump’s seat – which she was appointed to after the resignation of Steve Pierce in February 2024 – is open.
Candidates are Chelsye Scantlin, Jerri Crump, Marie Lasater and George Sholtz.
Chelsye Scantlin
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Chelsye Scantlin, and I have been a Texas County resident my entire life. I am a 2008 graduate from Houston High School and received my bachelor’s degree in human services from Drury University in 2018. I have worked at Texas County Technical College (TCTC), located in Houston, MO, since 2013, starting in admissions, and became the executive director of academic operations in 2021. My husband, James, and I met in 2010 and married in 2014; although we do not have any children of our own, we do have our pets and several nieces/nephews that we love dearly. We love to travel, catch a St. Louis Cardinals game or spend time at the river with family and friends.
What is the role of a trustee on the hospital board?
The boards of directors of hospitals are often referred to as trustees because the owners and community entrust them with overseeing the hospital’s best interests. The board of trustees is the governing body of the hospital; they are responsible for developing and reviewing the hospital’s overall mission and strategy. The board guides the long-term goals and policies for the hospital by making strategic plans and decisions. Hospital trustees are charged with duty of care, which means that they must oversee the hospital’s financial health and sustainability, while also making sure the hospital makes the best use of the resources it has. Hospitals provide vital community services, so it’s important for board trustees to ensure the highest quality of care. Trustees represent the hospital within the community; trustees must understand the needs of their community and respond with outreach efforts and education.
What makes you uniquely qualified for this role?
As the Director of the local nursing school (TCTC), I am committed to ensuring that our nursing graduates are educated in the most up-to-date evidenced-based practices and are taught the skills to provide the best quality patient care. I am also driven by adherence to the high standards required by the Missouri Board of Nursing and accrediting agencies. Texas County Memorial Hospital has played a vital role and partnership in the local education of the next generation of nurses, and I would like to return the favor. Because I am immersed in the same process of evaluation, research and communication, I want to ensure that TCMH provides the best high-quality, safe and patient-centered care for this community it can provide.
What is one thing you want to accomplish during your five-year term?
I want to work with hospital leadership to identify areas for improvement in the patient care process and outcomes, focus on evidenced-based practices and ensure that patient voices are heard. Patient needs and concerns must be addressed effectively. Those areas are vital to the success and growth of our hospital.
What service would you like to see the hospital add or improve?
Texas County Memorial Hospital has made tremendous strides in the recent past. People in the county are talking about how the quality of care, the quality of physicians and the quality of the support staff have improved. I feel concentrating on those three main areas will allow the hospital to continue to grow in all areas from recruiting outstanding doctors and nurses to employing qualified support staff to work with the public.
Jerri Crump
Tell us about yourself.
I’ve been married to my husband, Scott, for 24 years, we have five children. I’ve lived here in Texas County all of my life! I graduated from Missouri State University in 1992 with an associate degree in nursing. I’ve had numerous roles in health care over the last 33 years. From nursing supervisor at TCMH, medical-surgical director along with the emergency room director, which was truly a passion of mine.
I was blessed to work as a flight nurse for Air Evac, along with working at Phelps Health as a shift leader in the ER. I love the outdoors, cooking, traveling and taking care of my family. I’m a big believer in treating people with compassion and kindness. I’m a very positive person – we have a choice to make our life and others better! I’m currently serving on the board of directors at TCMH due to the resignation of a previous board member.
What is the role of a trustee on the hospital board?
To ensure quality care for patients along with ensuring safety. Providing oversight for the hospital’s financial stability and sustainability! Representing the hospital within the community and understanding the needs of our residents along with the employees. I will be here to listen to the needs and concerns of our residents and staff.
What makes you uniquely qualified for this role?
I feel that my background as a nurse for the last 33 years gives me an advantage to how hospitals operate. Working with physicians, administration and the public has given me incredible insight! We need someone that has walked up and down the halls of this hospital, seeing the good and the bad. Holding administration accountable and ensuring positive changes!
What is one thing you want to accomplish during your five-year term?
Better retention of physicians and mid-level providers. Open communication with clear and realistic expectations. Addressing any issues in a timely and fair manner. We have to take care of our providers along with ensuring productivity.
What service would you like to see the hospital add or improve?
Mental health. We have a huge crisis that needs a new approach. Improving availability and resources to our residents.
Marie Lasater
Tell us about yourself.
I’ve been a resident of Texas County for 22 years, and this is my permanent home. Many of you know me from my eight years serving as your coroner. As a registered nurse for 46 years, I embrace any position I hold with a healing perspective.
What is the role of a trustee on the hospital board?
As a hospital trustee, I expect the board will oversee hospital operations, and insure our mission addresses community needs while always maintaining ethical practices and meeting legal requirements. I feel strongly that trustees are at the forefront of maintaining transparency and upholding the public trust.
What makes you uniquely qualified for this role?
I feel I am uniquely qualified for this role as I hold a master’s degree in Nursing Administration from the Medical College of South Carolina (MUSC) and I interned with the CEO of that institution. I’m particularly interested in budgeting and obtaining grants to fulfill mission objectives of the organization. While at MUSC, I received an award from the South Carolina Nurses Association for a program I developed to reduce readmissions in congestive heart failure patients that resulted in improved patient outcomes and cost saving to the hospital. I truly believe all hospital systems exist to benefit patients, and they are our first concern.
What is one thing you want to accomplish during your five-year term?
During my five-year term, first of all I want our hospital to continue to maintain the comfort that benefits patients by receiving their care in their own community. An ongoing issue is attracting and maintaining qualified physicians. I look forward to working with the Board on strategies to achieve this goal. I also want to insure the financial integrity the hospital enjoys and protect the organization from risk. Most of all, I want to see patients healed and expressing the wonderful care that they received at TCMH.
What service would you like to see the hospital add or improve?
In the future, I’d like to see the surgical department expanded with more procedures performed. A bariatric department would be sustainable, and medically assisted treatment for substance abuse is greatly needed in our community.
George Sholtz
Tell us about yourself.
I believe in three things: God, family and country. My relationship with God and Family is secure. However, I am losing my country.
It is on a Jet Ski to socialism / communism. And if we cannot stop it we will no longer be the land of the free. Right now, there are not enough brave men and women that will stand up and be counted. We are lacking as a people to stand for freedom, Including freedom for our health choices. We allowed communist pencil necks to tell us what to do and even how to think about our health. Which was seen during COVID, which we all want to forget about now. But we should want to ensure that it does not happen again instead of trying to forget. The Bible says the pig will return to the mire and the dog to its vomit. So we should expect them to try to enslave us again. And we will only have ourselves to blame for allowing it to happen. I feel we need to take responsibility for ourselves and stop relying on the government to tell us what to do. America operates on the consent of the governed. And without bravery we can never have freedom. My background is that I am willing to stand and be counted. I have a good understanding of business, regulations and government. And I think I understand people.
What is the role of a trustee on the hospital board?
The trustee position is defined in the origination of the hospital. However, as a member of this community, I want to see our hospital meeting the needs of as many folks as possible. There are several things that TCMH can be doing to raise community perception. Some may not make money in the beginning but would yield great profits and positive support from the community. Our health system is based on people getting sick and seeking treatment. Why are we not promoting people staying well and preventing illness? Just as Jesus said “you will always have the poor with you” I think that we will always have the sick. But everyone we can encourage to be healthy longer is better for our community. If the course is not corrected soon the choices of health care providers will be limited. The government cannot be allowed to control every aspect of our county hospital. And the TCMH board needs to make sure that does not happen.
What makes you uniquely qualified for this role?
I have no uniquely qualifying attributes for this role. I did graduate sixth grade however.
I am sure there are many folks that have qualifying attributes that are similar to what I feel are important to the role of trustee.
However, the number one thing that I think every trustee board member should have is the willingness to ask hard questions and not be afraid to have unpopular beliefs or opinions. Too many actions have happened simply because no one was willing to ask hard questions. Too many various board members will not object or say anything to something that they know is wrong simply because they are afraid of what others will think.
What is one thing you want to accomplish during your five-year term?
There is not (one thing) I would like to accomplish, there are many.
With encouraging a better understanding of the needs and resources of “TCMH” being on the top of the list. I say this because I am not sure that everyone in the community understands how important the hospital is to our area. Yes, the leadership of the community might say they do, but the general public doesn’t think about TCMH anymore than they did about the Town & Country Supermarket that used to be in Houston. Which is no longer in Houston, because people would rather go to Walmart than shop there. However the Town & Country Supermarket in Mountain Grove is doing fine and they have a bigger Walmart to compete with. Why? How many folks that you know (including your family) will go to OMC or Cox / Mercy or Rolla for services that they could have done right here at TCMH. As for the community leaders that say they understand how important TCMH is. How many of them have their medical procedures done here? Until the entire community (not just those that have no choice) wants TCMH to be their provider for medical services, nothing will get better. What needs to occur is that folks need to choose TCMH for health care.
What service would you like to see the hospital add or improve?
There are lots of things that TCMH does great. The real question is how many people know that TCMH is doing great things? If the tree falls and nobody hears it, did it fall? I say no. Yes, TCMH is having fundraising golf tournaments. How many golfers are getting their health care at TCMH? I submit that most go elsewhere. TCMH needs to show and tell that they can and do provide high quality health care for everyone. Transparency is a vital part of every institution and I am not sure how transparent TCMH is. For instance: The County 911 was sitting on over $1.5 million in CDs and a checking account, with two banks. But unless someone asks for this information, does the community know? And it took several different questions to get the information. How much is unknown about TCMH because no one knows what questions to ask.
