Amid the recent rise of government influence in health care, CoxHealth administrators threw a huge vote of confidence Teresa Coyan’s way with a promotion last year to manage the health system’s legislative affairs.
Coyan had a year under her belt as physician relations manager, a role she’s held on to, and now she also represents the $1.2 billion Springfield-based health system at the state and federal legislative levels.
“With the advent of the Affordable Care Act and seemingly unrelenting increases in federal and state regulatory changes, there may be no more important time than now for health care systems to have a seat at the legislative table,” CoxHealth President and CEO Steve Edwards says. “The choice to ask Teresa to lead this work … should be seen as a powerful reflection of our confidence in her abilities.”
Edwards also credits the 30-year-old Coyan for assisting in CoxHealth’s selection as Skaggs Regional Medical Center’s strategic partner late last year. As the Branson hospital was courting larger health systems to shore up its financial picture, Coyan coordinated due diligence meetings and site tours between Cox and Skaggs officials in the months leading up to approval by federal regulators in December.
Inside the walls of CoxHealth, where Coyan has worked since 2008, she has founded two peer-to-peer groups. In 2010, she formed and chaired the CoxHealth Young Professionals group to formally connect that generation of leaders. The group now claims 110 members, and out of it grew the CoxHealth Mentoring Program that pairs administrator mentors with younger professionals. Last year, 60 mentorship connections were made.
“I have seen several young professionals who have gone from not having a voice within our organization to feeling confident and valued enough to express their opinions and thoughts at the highest level of the organization,” Coyan says.
In 2012, Coyan joined Junior League of Springfield, and she started in Leadership Springfield, Class 27.
Civic leaders have taken notice of Coyan’s leadership, naming her the inaugural Springfield Young Professional of the Year by The Network, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s networking group for young professionals. Coyan says these efforts, as well as volunteer roles with Female Leaders in Philanthropy, Ozarks Food Harvest and Team World Vision, have made an impact in the community.
“Within the past year, I have been approached by at least a dozen organizations that want to create a similar young professionals program for their organization,” Coyan says of the group she started at CoxHealth. “It makes me most proud to be part of a community that embraces the younger generation and values our thoughts, ideas and dreams.”
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