Leadership
Harrison Kiser, Chief Operating Officer, Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville
Harrison has worked for Northwest Health for more than five years, serving as practice manager for several of our clinics, assistant administrator at Northwest Medical Center-Springdale and assistant chief executive officer at Northwest Medical Center-Willow Creek Women’s Hospital.
Harrison has a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Memphis and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Lipscomb University.
Tom Sledge, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Northwest Medical Center - Springdale
Tom Sledge serves as chief operating officer for Northwest Medical Center - Springdale. Prior to joining Northwest Health, Tom served as chief operating officer of Weatherford Regional Medical Center in Weatherford, Texas. Before that, he was assistant chief executive officer of Women and Children’s Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Tom has a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice from Stephen F. Austin State University and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Seton Hall University.
Charles Hall, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Northwest Medical Center - Springdale
Charles joined Northwest Health from College Station Medical Center where he served as ACNO. He also served as director of emergency services at Plaza Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
Charles earned his Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) in 2002 from Washington State University in Pullman, WA and his master’s in business administration (MBA) in 2008 from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. In addition to serving in several ED leadership positions in his career, Charles was a Commissioned Naval Officer and Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy from 1994 to 2010.
Karen LaBonte, Market Chief Nursing Officer, Northwest Health
Karen has over 35 years of nursing experience in labor and delivery, surgery, quality and administration. Prior to coming to Northwest Health, she served as the CNO and director of quality at a facility in Maine. Karen earned her Bachelor of Science at the University of Maine Fort Kent and her Master of Science in nursing leadership at Benedictine University.
Juli McWhorter, R.N., Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer, Northwest Medical Center - Willow Creek Women's Hospital
Juli has over 20 years of nursing experience in critical care, cardiac stepdown, cardiac rehabilitation and flight nursing. She has served in various roles in education, director of critical care services and chief quality officer for Northwest Health and assistant CNO at Willow Creek Women's Hospital. Juli has been with Northwest Health for 25 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Sullivan University.
Amy Forrest, R.N., CCO, Compliance/Privacy Officer, Northwest Health
Amy currently serves as vice president of compliance and privacy for Northwest Health and is a certified compliance professional. Graduating magna cum laude from Middle Tennessee State University in nursing, Amy has over 30 years hospital experience, 20 of these in management positions. She has received state and national awards for her contributions to healthcare education, has been published by the National League of Nursing and the American Hospital Association and is named as Who’s Who in Professional Nursing. Amy joined Northwest Health in 1991 and has served as VP with administrative duties of education, risk, quality/patient safety, health information management, plant operations, medical staff/professional services, case management and pastoral care and as director of Human Resources.
Prior to coming to Northwest Health, Amy had varied healthcare experience including chief nursing Officer (CNO) of a psychiatric facility, CNO of Long Term Care facility, community leadership consultant and trainer and director of cardiac/pulmonary rehabilitation, as certified nurse epidemiologist/consultant to Dialysis, Inc. and cardiac intensive care and emergency nursing. Amy served as a department operations coordinator (DOC) of ethics & compliance for Triad Hospitals, Inc from 2003-2007. She has been compliance officer for Northwest Health since 1997 and privacy/security Officer since 2003. Amy lives in Rogers with her husband Michael and has four children.
Dr. James A. Tanner, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Tanner joined Northwest Health from Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida, where he served as senior vice president of physician services. Prior to that role, Dr. Tanner spent five years with Catholic Health Initiatives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he served as chief medical officer and vice president of physician management practice. Preceding his transition into medical leadership roles, Dr. Tanner practiced medicine for 27 years as an OB/GYN.
As Northwest Health’s chief medical officer, Dr. Tanner serves as a key member of the senior leadership team. He is responsible for medical affairs and providing administration and the medical staff with knowledge, experience and leadership from a medical management perspective.
Dr. Tanner earned his medical degree from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, Arkansas. He then completed his OB/GYN residency also at UAMS. In addition to his medical education, he has a master’s of business administration from University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Michael Breault, Chief Financial Officer at Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville
Michael has more than 20 years of hospital financial management experience. Prior to joining Northwest Health, he served as the assistant CFO at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center near Austin, TX. Michael has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas (MN) and a BBA from the University of Michigan.
Kim Arnold, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville
Kim relocated to Northwest Arkansas from Woodward, OK, with her family. She has more than 21 years of nursing experience, with the last 5 years as the CNO at another facility.
Kim earned her Master of Business Administration in healthcare from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK, and her Bachelor of Science in nursing from University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK.
Lisa Martin, Market Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Northwest Health
Lisa has more than 25 years of healthcare leadership experience, most recently serving as chief financial officer at University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana and previously in key leadership financial roles with other agencies.
Lisa earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. She is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Patrick Kerrwood, CEO, Siloam Springs Regional Hospital and Northwest Health Physicians' Specialty Hospital
Patrick has more than 10 years of hospital experience. Most recently, he served as the assistant CEO of Northern Louisiana Medical Center, a 159-bed critical hospital in Ruston, LA.
Patrick earned a Bachelor of Science in management from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University at Shreveport, LA.
Diane (Dee) Murphy, Market Chief Quality Officer (CQO), Northwest Health
Diane currently serves as chief quality officer for Northwest Health. Prior to joining Northwest Health, Diane served as interim chief quality officer of Carlsbad Medical Center in Carlsbad, New Mexico and chief quality officer of Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City, Arizona. Before that, she was director of quality and regional survey readiness coordinator for the Lovelace Health System in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Diane has more than 40 years of leadership experience as a registered nurse. She was a Joint Commission surveyor for more than 15 years and also served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years.
Diane has a doctorate in health administration from the University of Phoenix in Phoenix Arizona, a Master of Science in education from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science in nursing from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
As Northwest Health’s chief quality officer, Diane serves as a key member of the senior leadership team, providing clinical oversight of the quality, risk, infection prevention and medical staff functions for the Northwest hospitals.