You may have noticed that changes are afoot at Tribal Health! Please join us in celebrating the recent changes to our executive team:
- Our President Morgan Haynes is now Chief Executive Officer.
- Our Chief Nursing Officer Whittney LaCroix (Sicangu Lakota) is now President.
- Our former CEO Dr. John Shufeldt is now Executive Chairman of the Board.
Why the change? One reason is that Morgan is responsible for Tribal Health’s year-over-year growth and is already leading our long-term strategies as we expand across the country. If you’ve seen her in action, whether she’s motivating teams to perform at high levels or building connections with facilities of different sizes and challenges, you’ll recognize her energetic brand of leadership as a driving force behind Tribal Health’s rapid growth.
Whittney LaCroix is a nursing leader who’s a top expert in Indigenous health – but she’s also working with facilities and communities to better understand their healthcare needs and devise powerful solutions. She’ll continue as Chief Nursing Officer in addition to her role as President. Working together, Morgan and Whittney are an unstoppable force that can unleash Tribal’s full potential for healthcare transformation.
Ready to get to know them better? Here are 10 things you might not already know about Morgan and Whittney.
#1. Morgan is a born innovator who launched a Critical Care Response Team program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCRT program deployed small teams to facilities whose staff needed training in critical care protocols. In doing so, the program markedly increased COVID-19 survival rates on Native American reservations.
#2. Morgan was named to 40 under 40 by Phoenix Business Journal and Staffing Industry Analysts, and as one of the Top 50 Women in Healthcare – twice!
#3. A staunch advocate for education, Whittney launched a free STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematic) digital education program for all Native American service communities. Her goal: to connect more Native students to healthcare careers, which can benefit patient outcomes as well as community health.
#4. Morgan really wants you to work for Tribal Health!
#5. Whittney is a member of the Rosebud Tribe and an expert in Native health. She’s developed clinical programs across emergency medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, elder care, long-term care, and other disciplines.
#6. Whittney was named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ Global Power 150 Women in Staffing in 2022, which recognizes female staffing leaders whose ingenuity and dedication are recreating the future of staffing. Just last week, Modern Healthcare included her on their first ever 40 under 40 list!
#7. Morgan launched our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program and is a co-host of The Tribal Health Podcast, which offers conversations with leaders in Indigenous health.
#8. When Whittney served as Deputy CEO at Rosebud IHS, the hospital obtained Joint Commission Accreditation for the first time in over two decades. As Director of Nursing of the White River Health Care Center, she led efforts that earned a 5-star quality rating by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) and a zero-deficiency survey from the South Dakota Department of Health.
#9. Morgan recently completed an Executive Master’s of Business Administration program, where she traveled overseas to Ireland to study international business.
#10. Whittney partnered with the American Cancer Society to expand Medicaid access in South Dakota as part of her commitment to increasing access to quality care.
So please join us in saying hello to Morgan and Whittney, our new CEO and President – and stay tuned as we move forward into an exciting future of healthcare innovation!
