David Jahn, President & CEO of Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital

09/15/21 • 25 min

David Haynes sits down with David Jahn, President and CEO of Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital. David has been with War Memorial for 15 years, and prior to that he was CEO and CFO at Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital in Manistique (his hometown) for 22 years.
David has his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from Lake Superior State University. He is currently a member of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association Board of Directors and the Vice-Chairman of the Michigan Center for Rural Health Board of Directors.
In this episode, David Jahn discusses healthcare in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, and the difficulties that are being faced not just at his facility but in hospitals throughout the UP, including nursing shortages and strain, the impacts of COVID, new partnership opportunities with downstate universities to help attract and recruit more doctors, and funding difficulties from decreasing Medicare reimbursement rates.

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Interview with Don Wotruba, Executive Director of the Michigan Association of School Boards

In this episode, David sits down with Don Wotruba, UP native and Executive Director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, one of Lansing's biggest educational associations and one of the most powerful in the state.
In the podcast, Don discusses the educational policy work he is currently involved in--including managing the difficulties with mask mandates and other COVID-related policies that are controversial within communities and the tough decisions school districts are having to make.

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Discussion with Marquette Mayor Jenna Smith and City Commissioner Cody Mayer

David Haynes sits down with Marquette Mayor Jenna Smith and Marquette City Commissioner Cody Mayer to discuss the challenges currently faced by rural cities like Marquette, and what their thoughts are on where the future is headed for rural cities in the Upper Peninsula.
Jenna Smith began serving on the Marquette City Commission in December 2017. She was born and raised in Marquette, and went on to attend the University of Michigan where she earned a degree in Psychology and Environmental Studies in 2008. Smith was appointed Mayor in 2017, and then elected as Mayor in 2018.
Cody Mayer was elected to the Marquette City Commission in November 2020. Cody was raised in Sault Ste Marie, and is a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Cody attended Northern Michigan University where he received a degree in Public Administration. He has served as an enlisted soldier in the Michigan Army National Guard since December 2014 and currently holds the rank of Sergeant.
In this episode, Mayor Smith and Commissioner Mayer discuss the challenges of funding and revenue, affordable housing, and the lack of childcare in Marquette and other communities. They also discuss the future of development for properties like the old hospital building in Marquette. This is a great discussion with two of Marquette's youngest and brightest leaders!

The Rural Insights Podcast - David Jahn, President & CEO of Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital

Transcript

David Haynes:
Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to this edition of Rural Insights podcast and video. This week we're pleased to have David Jahn with us. David is the CEO of War Memorial Hospital in Chippewa County and is a national expert on rural health issues. We'll be talking to him about that. Chippewa County and Sault Ste. Marie, our second largest county and city in the upper peninsula, serve an amazing amount of people and they're an important part of the peninsula in healthcare. So, D