Summit Speakers

Harrison Hayes is Executive Director of the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, where he leads statewide efforts to strengthen Virginia's healthcare workforce and improve access to care in rural and medically underserved communities. Under his leadership, the Authority has expanded its staff and revenue, strengthened health workforce data infrastructure, and advanced innovative training and workforce development initiatives.

Harrison has helped shape state policy addressing critical workforce shortages, including leading Virginia's comprehensive health workforce study, supporting legislation to reduce barriers in nursing and behavioral health, and helping establish the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center. His work brings together government, healthcare, education, nonprofit, and community partners to develop sustainable workforce solutions.

Previously, Harrison served as Director of Workforce Development for VCU and VCU Health, where he developed healthcare career pathways, secured funding for rural workforce programs, and expanded employment opportunities in underserved communities. He has also served on several community and health-focused boards.

Harrison holds a Master of Education in Counselor Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Howard University. He is pursuing a Doctor of Health Science at Old Dominion University. A Richmond resident, Harrison is committed to advancing health equity, strengthening community partnerships, and improving the well-being of communities throughout Greater Richmond.

Lori Rodefeld, MS, is the Deputy Director of the Sheps GME Technical Assistance Centers at the UNC Cecil G Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She also serves as the Director of GME Development at the Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural Graduate Medical Education, where she engages with stakeholders statewide to support the existing 30 rural residency programs as well as 10 GME programs in development. Her career in GME started at the SSM Monroe hospital where she led efforts to create three new programs including the first rural program in her state in over 20 years.

Laney McDougal, MS-HSM joined the ACGME in April 2020 as the Director of Rural and Underserved Graduate Medical Education (GME), in the Department of Accreditation, Recognition, and Field Activities. She leads the ACGME's efforts to advance GME that addresses health and healthcare in rural and underserved areas and oversees the programmatic unit of the ACGME that coordinates these efforts.

Ms. McDougal received her MS degree in Health Systems Management from Rush University, and her BA in Intercultural Studies from University of Northwestern-St. Paul. In her prior role as Director of Accreditation and Improvement in the Office of Integrated Medical Education at Rush University Medical Center, she implemented oversight structures to monitor compliance with ACGME requirements and served as an Institutional Coordinator and accreditation resource. Ms. McDougal has nine years of experience in GME administration and has worked in both dermatology and internal medicine residency programs and led several GME process improvement initiatives.

Stephanie Norris is a regional economist at Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Her research and engagement at the Fed centers on workforce pipelines, labor markets, and higher education in communities across the Fifth District. She directs the bank's Community College Initiative and leads the Survey of Community College Outcomes, a data collection effort designed to capture the role community colleges play in local workforce pipelines. Prior to joining the Richmond Fed in 2020, Norris was the health economist for the Virginia Department of Health, where she worked closely with the Division of Primary Care and Rural Health to understand the economic impact of the healthcare workforce, particularly in rural Virginia.

Dr. Arthur Ollendorff serves as the ACGME Designated Institutional Official and Chief Academic Officer for Carilion Clinic and as Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Professor of OB/GYN and Health Systems and Implementation Science at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. His work focuses on advancing quality healthcare through clinical and academic partnerships, particularly in medically underserved communities. He is a past president of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO), serves as obstetric co-chair of the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative, and is an at-large board member of the National Association of Designated Institutional Officials (NADIO).

Before joining Carilion Clinic, Dr. Ollendorff served as the ACGME Designated Institutional Official at Mountain Area Health Education Center in Asheville, North Carolina; clinical lead for maternal health initiatives with the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina; and OB/GYN Residency Program Director at the University of Cincinnati. He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Meagan Helmick is a dedicated public health leader with over 15 years of experience spanning epidemiology, health education, and rural health systems. Her career includes multiple roles within the Virginia Department of Health, including the Southwest Region Deputy Epidemiologist, as well as teaching public health at several Virginia universities.

Today, she serves as the Health Director for the Mount Rogers Health District in far southwestern Virginia, which includes the cities of Bristol and Galax and the counties of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, Washington, and Wythe.

She holds a PhD in Health Promotion Disease Prevention & Research from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a Master of Public Health in Nutrition and Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Liberty University. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist.

Randall Longenecker, MD, is a family physician who has dedicated his career to caring for rural communities and growing a community of practice in rural health professions education and training. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the University of Wisconsin Family Practice Residency, Madison, Wisconsin, he practiced comprehensive family medicine, including maternity care, for 30 years in west-central Ohio; 15 of those years as Program Director of a rural training track in family medicine. Then for 10 years he served as Assistant Dean for Rural and Underserved Programs at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has published nationally and internationally and is widely recognized for his expertise and research in rural graduate medical education. Having founded The RTT Collaborative in 2012 and served as executive director for 10 years, he remains a consultant for the organization, newly named The Rural Medical Training Collaborative, a national non-profit board-directed cooperative of rural programs devoted to sustaining health professions education in rural places. In retirement he and his wife now live in Bridgewater, Virginia, where he continues to advise, write, research and advocate for place-based education in rural communities.