Leaders
Paul S. Black
Paul Black is a 1975 graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting. Paul is a Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years of healthcare administrative and financial experience. Paul began his career in 1975 as an auditor for the Medicare program. Prior to accepting the Chief Financial Officer position at Winston Medical Center in July of 2011, Paul was co-owner of Rural Health Management, Inc. where he served as a consulting controller / chief financial officer at various small rural hospitals across Mississippi. Immediately preceding his move to Louisville, his responsibilities included concurrently serving as the Chief Financial Officer for three separate facilities in central and south Mississippi. On April 22, 2014, Paul was named Interim Chief Executive Officer of Winston Medical Center and effective January 1, 2015 he accepted the permanent position of Chief Executive Officer of Winston Medical Center which he held until his retirement on June 30, 2023.
Patrick Chapman
Dr. Patrick Chapman of Ripley was named the CEO of the Tippah County Hospital on January 4, 2016. Dr. Chapman is a lifelong Tippah Countian and has advanced degrees in counseling psychology and healthcare administration. For the previous 14 years he served as Program Administrator for North Mississippi Primary Health Care, Inc. in Ashland, Mississippi.
Becky Currie
Becky Currie is starting her fifth term in the Ms House of Representatives in January 2024. She is a registered nurse since 1979. Worked in Labor and Delivery, the Emergency Room and now works with Home Health. Her passion in the Legislature is Public Health and Medicaid. She is married to Bruce Currie a physical therapist and they have two children and three grandchildren.
Gerard R. Gibert
Gerard Gibert founded Venture Technologies, a Technology Solutions and Cloud Services Provider in Ridgeland, MS, in 1986. He served as CEO of Venture from inception until its sale in January 2019 to ConvergeOne (CVON), a $2 billion technology solutions provider based in Minneapolis, MN.
A regular speaker to civic, academic, and political audiences, Gibert earned a bachelor's degree in Business with a major in Accounting from the University of Mississippi. From 1980-1985, he worked as a senior consultant in the Management Information Consulting Division of Arthur Andersen & Co., the business unit that evolved into Accenture, a global professional services firm specializing in digital, cloud and cybersecurity services and consulting.
Prior to Venture's sale to ConvergeOne, Gibert engineered Venture's acquisition of five companies between 2014 and 2018, increasing annual revenues to $225 million with a team of nearly 300 across 11 states. The Mississippi Business Journal listed Venture as the 30th largest private business in Mississippi at the time of sale.
Gerard hosts MidDays with Gerard Gibert, which airs on SuperTalk Mississippi, each weekday, 10 am to 1 pm. Heard statewide, MidDays features interviews with state and federal elected officials as well as civic leaders, business executives, and policy advocates from across Mississippi. Each show includes Gibert's insightful, often controversial commentary on political, economic, and cultural issues shaping the state and nation.
2023 - Marquis Who's Who in America Honoree
2023 - Top 50 Most Influential Leaders in the State - Magnolia Tribune
Corey Miller
Corey Miller was named State Economist for Mississippi and Director of the University Research Center in November 2020. He has more than twenty years of experience as an economic researcher and his research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed economics journals. His areas of specialization include regional economics and agricultural policy.
Mr. Miller serves as the chief economist for Mississippi with responsibilities that include economic forecasting, monitoring collections of state general fund revenue, and socio-economic policy analysis. He serves as chair of the Revenue Estimating Group and works closely with the Legislative Budget Office, Department of Revenue, and other state agencies.
Mr. Miller also constructs and maintains the state's Leading Economic Index, which is used to forecast economic trends and assess the Mississippi economy. He continues to serve as editor of Mississippi's Business, a monthly publication that tracks the performance of the state and national economies, as well as the Mississippi Economic Outlook, a quarterly publication that describes the latest forecasts for the state and national economies. He also produces a monthly podcast that summarizes these publications.
He is a native Mississippian and earned a bachelor's degree in agribusiness and a master's degree in agricultural economics, both from Mississippi State University. He also completed additional Ph.D. courses in economics at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Immediately prior to his selection as State Economist, Mr. Miller served as an economic analyst for URC for nearly seven years. Prior to his tenure at IHL, Mr. Miller served as a research associate and an instructor for twelve years in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University.
He and his wife live in Flowood, Mississippi.
Robin Mixon
Robin Mixon is administrator of North Mississippi Medical Center-Eupora and North Mississippi Medical Center-Hamilton. She is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Administrators and the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Mixon, who joined the hospital's staff in 2004, became a licensed nursing home administrator in 2013 and was promoted to associate hospital administrator and nursing home administrator in 2014. She assumed the role of NMMC-Eupora administrator in 2018 and added leadership responsibility for NMMC-Hamilton in 2023.
She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in management from Mississippi University for Women and a master's degree in health administration from Trident University International. She is a licensed preceptor under the Mississippi Board of Nursing Home Administrators as well as a certified health safety professional and a certified rural health care professional. Mixon is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American College of Health Care Administrators, the Mississippi Rural Health Association, the Rural Health Alliance, and the Mississippi Public Health Association. In 2022, Mixon was named one of the Mississippi Business Journal's Distinguished Leading Business Women and a Business Women of the Year finalist in 2023. Mixon is an active member of Eupora Rotary Club, Eupora New Century Club, and Vibrant Church in Columbus.
Richard Roberson
Richard Roberson is President and CEO for TrueCare - a non-profit Mississippi Provider Sponsored Health Plan which is poised to contract with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid to provide care coordination services to eligible Medicaid beneficiaries through its strategic alliance with CareSource, one of the nation's largest non-profit managed care plans offering services to over 2 million members. TrueCare aims to improve the healthcare outcomes for its plan members while partnering with Mississippi healthcare providers to streamline the delivery of care by leveraging data and predictive analytics to support patients and providers and transform care management.
Through February 2023, Richard served as General Counsel and Vice President of Policy and State Advocacy for the Mississippi Hospital Association. In that role, he handled in-house legal issues for MHA and coordinated the Association's government relations and health policy strategies with an emphasis on federal and state regulatory and reimbursement issues and with a particular focus on Medicaid issues. During his tenure, MHA advocacy efforts achieved a positive impact of over $1.5 Billion for Mississippi hospitals. Richard was also actively involved in the creation of MHA-led transformational healthcare programs such as: IntelliTrue, a new statewide HIE which currently connects health plans, hospitals, CMHCs and clinics, and the creation of a Medicare ACO which has returned over $37 Million in shared savings to its hospital members and provider sponsored health plan statutory language which enabled the creation of Mississippi True, now d/b/a TrueCare. These initiatives will improve healthcare quality and better position providers for the transition to value-based programs.
Prior to joining MHA in 2015, he practiced for 3 years in the Jackson, Mississippi office of Bradley Arant a national law firm currently with offices in 11 cities. In addition to his government relations practice and representation of telephone and solar energy clients before the Mississippi Public Service commission, his healthcare practice primarily focused on Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement, certificate of need and other regulatory and audit issues for a variety of healthcare clients including hospitals, physicians, dentists, pharmacies, physical therapists, hospice and nursing homes.
Before entering private practice, he spent over 15 years in Mississippi state government, several of which were spent with the Office of the Attorney General and over 9 of which were spent at the Mississippi Division of Medicaid where he served as legal counsel and as Chief of Staff/Deputy Administrator for the Division of Medicaid. By improving administrative efficiencies, investing in home and community-based programs and reducing fraud, waste and abuse, Medicaid was able to turn several years of budget deficits into budget surpluses.
Richard was an editor for the Medicaid payments chapter for the American Health Lawyers publication titled, Representing Hospitals and Healthcare Systems Handbook. Richard has also served as an adjunct faculty member for the University of Mississippi School of Health-Related Professions where he taught doctoral and masters level classes on healthcare policy. He has also been a frequent presenter on various health law topics for national and regional conferences and has testified before the Mississippi Legislature on numerus occasions.
He received his B.A. from Baylor University and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi and currently resides with his family in Jackson, Mississippi.
Allison C. Simpson
Allison C. Simpson
Allison is a member of Butler Snow's Health Law group. Her practice focuses on addressing healthcare providers' regulatory issues, including reimbursement, audits, licensing, certification, provider enrollment, medical staff matters, certificates of need, and compliance with both state and federal laws. Allison also represents clients in transactions for the purchase, sale and lease of practices and facilities, focusing on the regulatory compliance of the transaction and in drafting and advising clients on contracts to be in compliance with anti-referral laws. Allison is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Martindale-Hubbell and Super Lawyers for her work in health care law. She received her J.D. from the University of Mississippi and obtained her bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University.
Drew Snyder
Drew Snyder is Executive Director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. He was appointed by Governor Phil Bryant in January 2018 and reappointed by Governor Tate Reeves in January 2020. He has served in both the public and private sectors, focusing on improving quality and value and delivering public services more effectively. As Executive Director, Snyder manages a team of more than 900 employees and has helped create long-term sustainability for the Division of Medicaid, driving a fiscal turnaround that has transformed the agency from experiencing habitual budget overages to instead achieving consecutive balanced budgets and more stability in its public appropriations. Under his leadership, the Division of Medicaid is focused on better life outcomes for the people it serves and has increased its service offerings to beneficiaries by improving program integrity and identifying process improvements. Snyder has also led a robust overhaul of the agency's digital operations, creating opportunities for increased insight and new efficiencies in program management. These changes have allowed the agency to better-prioritize its resources and capture cost savings. Prior to serving as Executive Director, Snyder served Governor Phil Bryant as Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy Director and Counsel and also served as Assistant Secretary of State of Policy and Research to Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. From 2007-2012, he worked as national counsel on complex civil litigation for private clients in the healthcare industry. In September 2020, he was named a fellow to the 2021 class of the Medicaid Leadership Institute by the Center for Health Care Strategies. He is a member of the Uniform Law Commission and previously served on the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees. Snyder is a native of Eupora, Miss., and is admitted to the Mississippi Bar. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi. He and his wife Camille live in Jackson and have one son.
Shawn Stack
As HFMA's Director of Perspectives & Analysis, Shawn is responsible for developing policies and positions on topics important to the Association's mission into recommendations for content strategy and product services for HFMA membership. He serves as a subject matter expert and consultant to the membership on healthcare policy, finance and revenue cycle operations.
Shawn previously worked as a consultant with HMA/Burns and Associates, where he served as Senior Consultant. Prior to that, Shawn was Director of Healthcare Policy and Economics for The Ohio Hospital Association and Director and Assistant Director of Access and Revenue Cycle at a major academic medical center and designated cancer hospital.
Shawn is a graduate from Kent State University and holds an EPIC Resolute Certification.
Scott Waller
Scott Waller is President and CEO of Mississippi Economic Council, The State Chamber of Commerce, the state's largest broad-based business organization.
Under Waller's leadership, MEC plays a pivotal role in providing background and support for major legislative initiatives. Most recently, MEC played a vital role in changing Mississippi's state flag and increasing funding for the state's office of workforce development.
His team's work was honored in August, as the National Association of State Chambers (NASC) named MEC as the State Chamber of the Year, making it the nation's top state chamber in 2022.
Over the years, MEC has been instrumental in providing important input for legislative initiatives boosting transportation infrastructure, tourism, workforce development, education, economic development, legal climate, and the improvement of tax policy. In 2014, the prestigious State Tax Notes publication recognized Waller as one of its persons of the year for his work with the Mississippi legislature on the Taxpayer Fairness Act.
He was named one of Mississippi's 50 Most Influential leaders in Mississippi in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Prior to joining MEC, he spent over 20 years as a newspaper journalist, including four years as Business Editor of The Clarion-Ledger. A Mississippi State graduate, he is the former owner/editor of the Madison County Journal and was co-owner of a residential construction company.
Waller serves on Mississippi's State Workforce Investment Board. Nationally, he serves as Chair of the NASC Center for State Chamber Action and is on the NASC board of directors. He serves on the U.S. Chamber's The Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100, the Chamber's Institute for Organization Management National Board of Trustees, and the National Transportation Investment Advocacy Council.
He and his wife Kim live in Madison and are active at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church.
