The Alliance for Healthcare Education has named Shallina Goodnight as its first executive director.

Goodnight brings a wealth of health care experience to the position, having served in a variety of leadership roles across a 20-year health care career at Oxford HealthCare and CoxHealth at Home. Her experience includes leading large teams through the rapid growth of Oxford HealthCare and the transition to CoxHealth at Home.

Her successful leadership through a period of growth and change – as well as her commitment to community health – was a deciding factor in her selection.

“We have high expectations for The Alliance and its potential for providing our students opportunities to gain knowledge and skills that will prepare them for careers in the health care field,” says Dr. Grenita Lathan, superintendent of Springfield Public Schools and president of the Alliance Board of Directors. “Having a highly qualified executive director like Ms. Goodnight will ensure that the vision of the founding partners becomes a reality.”

Goodnight currently serves an administrative director for CoxHealth at Home, overseeing all home health medical supply services across CoxHealth at Home’s regional footprint, which includes more than 7,000 patient services each month.

In her previous roles at CoxHealth at Home, Goodnight led the organization’s name-change transition as Oxford HealthCare integrated into CoxHealth. In the home-health role, she was responsible for brand re-imagining, customer journey distillation by segment, website and collateral redesign, integrated advertising, public relations, and digital media campaigns.

“Shallina has demonstrated success in the health care industry,” says Clif Smart, president of Missouri State University. “We believe in her abilities to lead The Alliance from its startup stage to the future we envision.”

In the newly created role, Goodnight will serve as the executive leader for The Alliance, a transformative health-care education partnership between CoxHealth, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Springfield Public Schools. She will be working directly with the Alliance’s board to determine priority needs and the next steps in the coming months.

“I have a genuine passion for the transformative work that The Alliance is committed to,” Goodnight says. “The success of The Alliance is indispensable for the future of our region, as it has the potential to revolutionize the health care workforce. A strong workforce will, in turn, enhance the health of our community and fortify our region’s economic prowess.”

“Shallina has a commitment to excellence,” says Dr. Hal Higdon, chancellor of Ozarks Technical Community College. “In conversations with her, it is clear she has solid plans to implement an aggressive timeline for getting The Alliance to full capacity in order to bring more health professionals into the workplace in our community. She is the right person for the job.”

The decision was approved with a unanimous vote in Thursday’s board meeting. The Alliance for Healthcare Education Board of Directors includes: Lathan, Alliance board president; Max Buetow; Higdon; Smart; and Rob Fulp.

Goodnight will assume the role effective immediately.