Ky. Hospital Association presents awards at annual convention

Nina Eisner, Lexington (KHA photos)

Kentucky Health News

The Kentucky Hospital Association honored several health-care leaders in the state at its annual convention in Lexington on May 21.

KHA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, was presented to Nina Eisner and Charles Lovell for untiring and exceptional service.

Eisner has served in clinical and administrative health-care positions for 45 years. In 2002, she became CEO of The Ridge Behavioral Health System in Lexington, She has been a strong advocate for Kentucky’s psychiatric hospitals and their patients and is a long-serving KHA trustee and has served in many other roles with KHA, the association said in a news release.

Charles Lovell, Barbourville

Lovell has been part of the Kentucky and Tennessee health-care landscape for the past 45 years. After serving as an emergency-room nurse in Memphis, he became CEO of several Tennessee and Kentucky hospitals, coming to Kentucky in 2003, to run Caldwell County Hospital in Princeton. He helped build a replacement hospital to serve Caldwell and Lyon counties.

In 2015, Lovell became community CEO at Barbourville ARH Hospital, which added many services and was the 2023 Knox County Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year. Lovell himself was the chamber's Man of the Year. Lovell has also held many roles with the KHA, chairing its Board of Trustees in 2013-14.

KHA’s Award of Excellence, given to individuals who have made significant contributions to health care in Kentucky, was presented to State Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell. 

Bentley, a pharmacist, has represented House District 98 (Greenup County and part of Boyd County) since 2017. He is known for helping his neighbors with health issues, and as a legislator helped pass measures that helped rural hospitals.

The KHA Health Care Governance Leadership Award, for individuals who have had a positive and sustainable impact on the quality of care in their communities through their work as hospital trustees, was presented to Gavin Roberts, chair of the Owensboro Health Board of Directors. The hospital is Owensboro’s largest employer, and Roberts has chaired the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.