Mt. Pleasant, MI – April 23, 2026
On Thursday, April 23, Billi Jo Hennika, Chief Operating Officer at McKenzie Health System, was honored as the 2026 Rural Health Professional of the Year during the luncheon ceremony at the 29th Annual Michigan Rural Health Conference.
Since its inception in 1994, the Rural Health Professional of the Year Award has recognized individuals whose leadership, innovation, and dedication have made a lasting impact on rural health care across Michigan. Billi Jo joins a distinguished group of leaders whose work has strengthened access to care and improved health outcomes in rural communities.
A Sanilac County native, Billi Jo, has spent her career advancing health care in the community where she was born and raised. Her leadership reflects a deep commitment to ensuring that high-quality, essential services remain accessible close to home for rural residents.
Over the past several years, Billi Jo has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of health care delivery in Sanilac County. She was instrumental in the design, development, and promotion of the new McKenzie Hospital, currently under construction and scheduled to open next year. This transformative investment will help secure long-term access to care in the region, with a facility designed to meet the evolving needs of both patients and clinicians.
Her impact extends beyond infrastructure. Billi Jo helped bring MRI services to Sandusky, significantly expanding access to advanced diagnostic imaging and reducing the need for patients to travel long distances. She also led efforts to advance telemedicine services within inpatient and emergency department settings, improving access to timely clinical expertise and reducing unnecessary patient transfers.
At the system level, Billi Jo has been a key leader in advancing value-based care through McKenzie Health System’s participation as a founding hospital in the National Rural Accountable Care Organization. By engaging physicians and clinical teams, she has helped translate complex requirements into practical workflows that strengthen care coordination, improve quality outcomes, and support accountability across the system.
Collectively, these efforts have reduced avoidable transfers, shortened diagnostic turnaround times, and improved performance on key quality benchmarks, keeping more care local for Sanilac County residents.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing workforce and financial challenges, Billi Jo has demonstrated steady, collaborative leadership. She has brought together physicians, nursing leaders, EMS, public health partners, and community stakeholders to navigate complex challenges with trust and accountability.
“Billi Jo is one of those leaders who genuinely cares, and you see it in everything she does,” said Dr. Mark Hamed, physician at Mckenzie Health System. “She listens, she puts people first, and she approaches every challenge with forward-thinking creativity. She does the work without looking for recognition, and that type of leadership is rare. That is one example of many of why she is so valued by the community she serves and so inspiring to those around her.”
In accepting the award, Billi Jo reflected on the collective effort behind her work. “This profound award not only reflects personal commitment to rural health care, but also the shared efforts of our community to advance health care innovation and quality,” she said.
Billi Jo’s leadership, innovation, and dedication to rural Michigan make her a highly deserving recipient of the 2026 Rural Health Professional of the Year Award.