GREENVILLE – Wayne HealthCare celebrated Rural Health Day and hosted its Employee Appreciation Gift Pick Up on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at its Greenville campus, proudly carrying the banner of Rooted in Rural, Driven in Care.
“We’re celebrating National Rural Health Day here at Wayne HealthCare,” said Jeff Subler, Wayne HealthCare President/CEO. “I’m proud of our employees and want to celebrate with them and provide some gifts, some goodies, to celebrate that and all their hard work.”
Subler emphasized the growing attention at the state and national levels to rural healthcare.
“Rural healthcare has been in the news for the last many months at a federal and state level, and we want to stress the importance of that as well to our state and local legislators,” he said.
He had just returned from Washington, D.C., advocating on behalf of rural healthcare providers.
“I was in D.C. on Tuesday doing just that and got a good reception,” Subler shared. “But this is where the rubber hits the road as far as healthcare. This is where we can make the most impact in our community, and we want to celebrate that.”
The Wayne HealthCare staff joined in the celebration.
Wayne HealthCare staff from numerous departments participated, including Jeff Subler, Jeff Subler, Wayne HealthCare President/CEO; Terri Flood, VP of Business Development; Kimberlee Freeman, VP of Patient Care Services/CNO; Alex Pohlman, VP of Operations; Nicole Gillespie, VP of Financial Services/CFO; Rachael Brown, Outpatient Rehab; Dr. Alisha Reiss, Chief of Staff and General Surgeon; Dr. Chad Weber, Orthopedic Surgery; Dr. James Bembry, OBGYN; Michael Karns, RN Surgical Navigator; Sarah Bubeck, Director of Perioperative Services; Kailey Hammelgarn, Surgical Technologist; and many more.
Wayne HealthCare is a regional leader in joint replacement and has earned a strong reputation throughout the Miami Valley and beyond for its state-of-the-art joint replacement program. Through its partnership with Orthopedic Associates, the hospital has become a destination for both partial and total knee replacements using Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgical Technology—offering increased precision, accuracy, and improved patient outcomes.
The team of board-certified orthopedic surgeons includes Dr. Weber, Dr. Hatic, and Dr. Reed.
The hospital recently celebrated its 500th total joint replacement of 2025, a milestone that far surpasses previous years.
“We’re on pace to do 1,100 orthopedic cases, and we just did our 500th total joint out of those this year,” Subler noted. “We have a great orthopedic program, and we are celebrating that as well.”
Dr. Weber credited the program’s explosive growth to the quality of care provided.
“We went from doing 160 joints a year to 500,” he said. “We have people coming from all over the place to come here for great care. They come here for their surgery, and then they end up coming back for therapy because they like this area.”
Terri Flood said the program’s success stems from the personal, patient-centered experience.
“With this personalized experience people are having when they come here for orthopedic surgery, it’s top of the line,” Flood said. “They’re telling us time after time—and their surgeons are telling them—‘I want you to go to Wayne HealthCare.’ When they come here, they feel that warm embrace. They feel like an individual because we are dedicated to them and their families while they are here.”
Flood credited RN Surgical Navigator Michael Karns for being instrumental in guiding patients through their surgical journey. Karns, in turn, praised the entire orthopedic team.
“It’s a pretty big accomplishment,” Karns said. “We are going to finish well over 500—we might even reach 600 this year—and we were barely over 200 just the last couple of years. We’ve had strong buy-in from the doctors in the program, and we’ve created a center here that delivers high-quality care. People want to come back, and the doctors want to bring their people here.”
Director of Perioperative Services, Sarah Bubeck, emphasized the collective effort.
“None of this would be possible without the team—from the sterile processing department to the operating room team, to the pre-post team,” she said. “Our radiology department, therapy department, and inpatient unit have all been taking care of these patients.”
A hub for comprehensive care, Subler encouraged community members to explore the services Wayne HealthCare offers.
“If you haven’t seen our facilities—they’re top-notch,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize how much we provide here and can provide here. We want to be that first stop. And we have great partnerships for the next level of care, from cancer care to orthopedic surgery to neurology. Any service you need—we can start here.”
