Ozarks Profile: Debbie Hill

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What do you do? |ret||ret||tab|

I am over all of the rehabilitation services at CoxHealth. I have the skilled nursing unit, and then I have all the fitness centers. Currently we have the Meyer Center, the (Cox) North fitness center, Republic fitness center and Willard fitness center. |ret||ret||tab|

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How did you wind up in this position?|ret||ret||tab|

I've been at Cox for 16 years. I've been the director of rehab for 15. I've kind of just kept getting more areas I've had fitness centers for six or eight years when they felt that there was a tie between rehab and fitness and wellness. I started out as a clinical person. I have a master's of speech pathology from Phillips University in Oklahoma, and then I've gone back and I have a master's in health care administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia. |ret||ret||tab|

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What has the addition of the Meyer Wellness Center meant? |ret||ret||tab|

The services that moved to the Meyer Center were services that we had in other places in the hospital system, but because of space issues and not being able to meet the needs of all of our customers, we felt like we needed better space with some other services that we didn't have. Plus, we wanted to build that relationship between rehab and fitness. So that's what's in the Meyer Center now. On the back side, it's outpatient rehab, and on the front side is fitness. It's one more piece in the continuum of care related to medical fitness. Because you don't want to treat people for their illness and then say, "Well, good luck to you. We hope you get back to everything that you wanted to do in life." It's really a proponent of "We'll take care of you while you're ill, and then we'll get you back as close (as possible) to where you were beforehand."|ret||ret||tab|

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What are some of your biggest challenges at work?|ret||ret||tab|

I think one of the biggest challenges in health care is getting people the services they need and providing a continuum of care for the patient. Or, for the person coming into the fitness center, making sure that we're meeting all of their health care needs, wellness, prevention, based on the services we can provide. A big challenge is that people have difficulty understanding what their health insurance covers and most health insurance does not cover wellness and prevention services. |ret||ret||tab|

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On the rehab end, what does insurance cover? |ret||ret||tab|

Insurance typically covers rehabilitation services (and) therapy service, and that's because it falls under the medical necessity (heading). There's a medical condition that causes them to have a need for therapy. Once it gets to the point that it's not a medical service and they look at wellness and prevention as kind of a health maintenance once it gets into maintenance, typically insurance does not cover that. It only pays for when they're in therapy, one-on-one with a therapist. |ret||ret||tab|

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What do you think about attitudes toward wellness and fitness? |ret||ret||tab|

I think they've changed quite a bit. I think a lot of people are very concerned about their health and want to be healthy and be able to do things with their families. And we really see that, especially with the seniors. We see the whole gamut. |ret||ret||tab|

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Tell us about your family. |ret||ret||tab|

I have a husband, Rick Hill, who's a nurse anesthetist. And then I have two teen-age boys, Lucas and Buck, so that kind of keeps me busy. |ret||ret||tab|

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