Rick Keeton is a long-time resident of Scott County, Tennessee, a close-knit community with a population of 22,000. Scott County is also home to Mountain People’s Health Councils, Inc., a community health center and member of the Tennessee Primary Care Association where Rick has served as a board member for more than twenty years. Despite intending to retire after his last term, he stayed on after James Lovett, CEO of Mountain People’s, asked him to serve as Board Chairman.
Hearing Rick speak, it’s immediately clear to me how passionate he is about serving his community and ensuring Scott County residents have access to quality healthcare. Rick was awarded the Caryl E. Carpenter Excellence in Community Support Award last year by the Tennessee Primary Care Association, which recognizes an individual for their support of community health centers. “It was quite a surprise—James did not tell me, or that I know of, anyone else that he had submitted me for the award,” Rick explains when I ask what this recognition meant to him.
He continues, “I guess it just shows that if you do go forth and do good things, that sometimes there's a reward at the end. And while we don’t necessarily look for rewards, at Mountain People’s we provide a huge service, we fill a great hole in a rural community that we live in, and to be part of the board and to be part of the organization is indeed something special.”
Rick has lived out the phrase, “go forth and do good things,” throughout his entire career. During his time on the board, Mountain People’s has grown tremendously. The organization was formed in 1973 to help individuals and families that did not have access to medical care or could not afford to go to a doctor when they were sick.1 They now have 6 clinics and serve more than 2,000 patients as of 2023.2
“We're very proud of what we've been able to build,” says Rick. He excitedly tells me they’re now working on a diagnostics center for the community, where they’ll be able to provide MRIs, mammograms, and eventually, CT scans. “You know, a kid gets hurt in a football game. It might take two to three weeks to get them an MRI appointment with specialists in the bigger cities like Oak Ridge or Knoxville, and now within just a day or two, they’ll be able to get an MRI here.”
Being such a small community, they’ve faced difficulties, too. “It's a challenge to recruit [healthcare providers] to this area,” says Rick. “When, you know—we have one movie theater… We're big on supporting our youth and our high school sports in the community, but there's no shopping malls other than Walmart,” he laughs and shakes his head. “Which I guess every good, small community eventually gets one.”
Despite various challenges, Mountain People’s has a dedicated board that’s willing to tackle anything. Their Board of Directors, like all community health centers, is made up of members of the community it serves. In fact, at least half of all board members must be active patients, which allows them to have a direct say in the type of services provided at the clinics.3 Rick tells me many of their board members have been serving for twenty, thirty, even forty years. “Our board members care about people,” he says with conviction. “They care about our patients and will roll up their sleeves to fight to make sure that they get good care.”
For those interested in becoming a board member, Rick tells me they’re always looking for new candidates. “I don't think you can go wrong if you want to be a volunteer,” Rick says. “I can't think of anything else that would be more commendable, because that is a service to your neighbor, your friends, your family—to the entire community.”
At the end of our conversation, Rick shares a simple, yet very important piece of advice. “Try to leave the world in just a little better position than it was when you became involved in it,” he tells me. “It's not a philosophy for everybody, but for some reason, it works for this ol’ country boy here.”
This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.
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