by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | July 18, 2022
From the July 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
At the beginning of 2022, Angie Orth became president of Cone Health Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville, North Carolina, after holding the position on an interim basis since August. Orth has years of experience in rural health, working to help to keep patient care in the community. Having served as CEO of Randolph Health in nearby Asheboro, Orth lead efforts to return the system to profitability and improve patient safety, with the system successfully acquired.
Healthcare Business News caught up with Orth to discuss her long career, the challenges of rural healthcare and the lessons learned during the pandemic.
HCB News: Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in healthcare?
Angie Orth: I started in the healthcare industry back when I was really young. I had just graduated high school and I was fortunate enough to have been offered a part-time position as a cashier at Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, which is one of the hospitals within Cone Health. That was back in 1983. So, I entered the industry really by obtaining a part-time job. Just being in and around the hospital, and seeing and being inspired by clinicians and physicians who just really dedicated their life to taking care of people, really inspired me to stay with it, and to obtain the credentials, to continue to pursue what turned into a very lengthy career.
I was actually a cashier where many, many years ago, patients made payments and would come by when they were leaving the hospital, and we would give them an estimate on what their bill might be. Those days have changed, but that was the entry for me into the industry. I wasn't in that position very long. I actually moved into a full-time position shortly after I started college. I went to school to get my bachelor's degree while I was working full time and registered patients in the admitting department. Then I advanced my career from that position.
HCB News: Can you tell us what your career has been like up to this point?
AO: I’ve really been fortunate to have had many years, and many of those years have been with Cone Health, working in a variety of sectors within the healthcare industry. I've spent a lot of my career in operations, working in the hospitals and operating the actual hospital itself. But before I came over to operations, I spent a lot of time in registration. I was a financial counselor at one point where I helped patients obtain Medicaid and Social Security Disability. I then moved on to working as a director of the family practice residency program, which is where family practice physicians work in the clinic. I went on to manage multiple physician practices at another healthcare institution.
