In a state as large as Maine, Tim Churchill knows how challenging it can be to make sure residents in every county have access to quality health care. “Mainers expect and deserve excellent health care,” he says. “Being able to help work towards that goal, particularly in our rural communities, has really been rewarding.” The Maine native spent the first 20 years of his career in Philadelphia and other areas of Pennsylvania before returning home in 1996 to become president and CEO of Western Maine Health and its flagship, Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway. Three years later, Churchill helped make the hospital a member of MaineHealth. “That decision has immensely benefited the hospital and region, in terms of access to health care,” he says. “I think our membership brought added value to the MaineHealth system as well.” Churchill’s efforts to increase rural coverage have also resulted in Stephens Memorial Hospital gaining recognition by The Leapfrog Group as a top rural hospital. The medical professional, who also became CEO of Franklin Community Health Network this year, says, despite strides that have been made, he continues to focus on the “critical shortage” of primary care physicians and nurses in rural Maine. Solving this issue will be difficult, he says, but more than worth it. “Though certainly very challenging, complex, and sometimes frustrating, the opportunity to play a role in helping to try and ensure that access to appropriate, high-quality health care is available for people in the communities we serve is a professionally satisfying experience.”