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Manchester’s Unity Hospital CEO Martha Henley has been named one of the “177 Women Hospital Presidents and CEOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Henley, who has served as the CEO of Unity Hospital located at 481 Interstate Drive, Manchester, since 2015, said she is humbled by the honor, but thinks of it as more a recognition for the hospital and its team.

“You cannot lead without surrounding yourself with great people, and I have been blessed to do that,” Henley said. “We have a strong team here and it has taken many years to build that. I looked at it as the hospital got the recognition, because you rise or you fall based on those people. It was very humbling.”

The oldest of six children born into a farming family in Noah, Henley said the story of how she became a hospital CEO is a little different than a lot of others.

“I worked my way up the ranks,” she said. “I started out as a scrub tech in surgery at the county facility in 1991.”

Originally interested in a more clinical career path with a goal of becoming a clinician, Henley worked in many areas of the old county hospital.

“I rotated through every area of the hospital for two reasons- there were staffing shortages and everything was kind of slow and I wanted to get full-time status,” Henley said. “So I worked in the lab, I was trained as a phlebotomist, I worked in the admitting department, labor and delivery at that time.”

Henley then realized that change was needed, and the best way to make changes happen would be from a leadership role. Changing career paths, she completed her Masters of Healthcare Administration at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville after receiving her undergraduate degree in Business from The University of Phoenix.

Henley said a lot has changed regarding local hospital services since the days when there were two small community hospitals in Manchester.

“You couldn’t grow with two facilities,” she said. “The town wasn’t nearly as large as it is, it wasn’t as booming. In 2015 after 24 months of negotiations a group purchased both and at that point I was named CEO.”

Henley said in that time the hospital has worked to improve the facility and provide more services for members of the community. These include reopening the Intensive Care Unit to partnering with HCA TriStar to offer cardiac telemedicine.

“A great thing that we have been allowed to do as our board and our leadership is to reinvest in the hospital,” Henley said. “If you had stepped inside this facility three years ago, you would have seen a very different facility from the outside to the inside.”

Henley said Unity Hospital has received a 5-Star rating by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and is also recognized as a top hospital for patient experience.

“Those are some great accomplishments and I really think that COVID-19 helped people to realize that they have a lot inside their small town, they have a lot inside their local hospital,” she said. “It kind of pushed them to give the facility another chance and our team stepped up, our nurses stepped up.”

Henley said she tries to share her story with local high school students participating in the CNA program to let them know that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

“I spoke with one group and I actually explained it to them, I said I actually have that certificate that you are applying for,” she said. “I took that health occupations class at Coffee County High School. I did that and it worked out very well.”

“Everything is a stepping stone and for me, I know I feel very comfortable in the operations of a hospital because I have already been in every step,” Henley said.

Outside of the office, Henley plans on keeping her local roots, and is currently building her forever home with husband Brett Henley.

In a world where more and more rural hospitals are closing their doors, Henley said she would love for local residents to know what having a local hospital means for the community.

“When you are faced with life or death having that access is…you don’t know that you need it until you do,” she said. “It is a necessity and I think there has been a lot of changes that have happened at Unity and I would love for people to know all of the services that we have to offer.”