A sacred obligation: Growing up in Midwest has shaped new President/CEO’s outlook on Reid’s mission

Monroe, Wisconsin, looks like a lot of other small, rural communities across the Midwest.

Rolling hills. Plenty of farmland. Wooded areas perfect for hunting and hiking.

A town with a population just north of 10,000, Monroe is the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone else and values such as hard work and being neighborly are common.

Sounds a lot like Wayne County, doesn't it? That's certainly the impression Ben Wells had when he and his wife, Carolyn, first visited the area in the summer of 2024.

"We drove through Richmond, and we were very impressed by Reid and the campus," Wells said. "We have a beautiful facility, beautiful area, and the people are very nice. You could tell everyone has those Midwestern values - hard work, personable, just good down-to-earth people."

At the time, Wells was being recruited to potentially fill Reid Health's vacant Chief Financial Officer position. As it so happened, he and Carolyn were already looking to get back to their roots in the country's heartland.

Carolyn grew up in Vincennes, Indiana, while Ben was from that small Wisconsin town that so closely resembles the communities that make up Wayne County and its neighbors.

"We have three young boys, and I wanted to give them a similar type of upbringing that I had," Wells said. "Rural community, you know your neighbors, the community appreciates the work you do.

"We've lived by the beach in Florida and in downtown Oklahoma City. That's all fun for a time, but Richmond is a more desirable place for us to raise our family."

Now serving as Reid's President/CEO, Wells continues to be guided by those same traditional values that shaped him growing up.

"People's lives are in our hands," he said. "That's a pretty heavy responsibility. It's something you think about all the time -- whether you're at church or watching a football game -- are we doing a good enough job for the organization and our community?

"We want our patients to know if they come to Reid, they're getting care at an organization where we're going to fight for every patient. You're more than a number here. We don't want healthcare to be transactional.

"When I've looked over my career, the most meaningful years have been when we were really making the most impact on the community, in our organization, and on our people. And that's a pretty strong motivator."

Wells officially joined Reid in July 2024. Seven months later, he was named Acting President/CEO after Craig Kinyon, who had served as President/CEO for nearly 17 years, requested an indefinite leave of absence. Wells then was announced as the eighth leader in Reid's history in September.

"Ben treats everyone with great respect and care," said Mark Harrington, Chair of the Reid Health Governing Board. "He holds the team accountable for their actions while training them on how decisions impact one another.

"He listens well, is able to summarize different points of view into action plans, and he collaborates well with his colleagues. His experiences in different hospital settings and vast knowledge of how different departments work together bring about great results for the hospital."

Working in healthcare runs in Wells' family -- his brother is a nurse manager for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one sister is a nurse, his mother-in-law is a nurse, and his father-in-law spent his career as a radiologist at a southern Indiana hospital -- but healthcare wasn't his initial choice.

He grew up working on Wisconsin farms and had thought that might be his calling.

"But my family didn't have a farm, and the costs of getting into farming were hard," he said. "I was 18, and I thought it might be a good idea to begin thinking differently about my future. I re-evaluated my options and started thinking about paths that were a little more realistic for me. That's when I got more serious about school."

After studying business administration at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, he'd go on to earn a master's in healthcare administration from Auburn University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Before coming to Reid, Wells had more than 15 years of experience working for healthcare systems in Oklahoma, Illinois, and Alabama.

"Ben has already shown he leads with clarity, collaboration, and a steady vision," said Rohit Bawa, MD, Chair of Reid Health Physician Associates' Network Operations Council.

"He understands the challenges and opportunities facing physicians and providers, and he has consistently engaged with us in ways that amplify our voices. His ability to build trust and align teams will be a real strength as he leads Reid Health forward."

For Reid to be successful, Wells believes the organization will have to continue to be a willing partner to the other community leaders and businesses throughout its service area.

"Reid needs a strong community, and the community needs a strong Reid," he said. "We're going to be intentional about our role in that relationship, how we can be a good partner in that, and how that can benefit everybody."

Wells likes to take time to visit with hospital staff, checking in to see how things are going.

"I've seen him out rounding at least once a week. He even comes to our floor just to chat," said Traci Heiser, LPN, 4 North. "He'll ask about our families and kids/grandkids, and we've talked sports, which is always fun. It's nice to see admin on the floors. It shows they care about what's going on outside of the office."

"I'm always impressed with the high quality of our staff and how involved they are in the success of our patients," Wells said. "We're here to serve our patients, and pretty much every conversation I've had, it all kind of returns to that mission. Our leaders don't take lightly the responsibility we're charged with.

"At the end of the day, it's people taking care of people, and that's a pretty sacred obligation. And we want to be the best at it."

"People's lives are in our hands. That's a pretty heavy responsibility. It's something you think about all the time -- whether you're at church or watching a football game -- are we doing a good enough job for the organization and our community? We want our patients to know if they come to Reid, they're getting care at an organization where we're going to fight for every patient. You're more than a number here. We don't want healthcare to be transactional." -- Ben Wells, Reid Health President/CEO