Metro Health Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations Jim Childress has been named to the Michigan Board of Nursing.
Childress will serve a three-year term on the governor-appointed board, which establishes qualifications for nurse licensure, education programs, continued training and discipline in the state. He is one of eight public members on the 23-member board, which oversees the practice of more than 150,000 registered nurses, nurse specialists and licensed practical nurses in the state of Michigan.
Childress joined Metro Health in 1984 and oversees all facets of marketing, public relations, advertising and communications for the regional health-care organization. He recently led a highly successful branding campaign to reposition the hospital in advance of its move to Metro Health's new environmentally friendly health village in Wyoming.
Prior to joining Metro Health, Childress served as consumer affairs director and bureau chief for WOOD TV. He also served as a reporter, producer and photographer for Capital Broadcast News in Washington, D.C., and in other markets in Michigan and Florida.
Childress, who has resided in Grand Rapids for 30 years, was raised in suburban Detroit and lived, worked and studied in Kalamazoo for a decade. He brings broad knowledge of the state to the Board of Nursing. He holds a master's degree and a bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University.
Active professionally and within the community, Childress spent nearly two decades on the board of Priority Health. He served as vice president of the Northview Board of Education and on the board of the Northview Education Foundation. He was a founding board member of the Western Michigan Ronald McDonald House and has also served on the advisory council of the American Marketing Association and on other boards and committees.
During his career he has been recognized 12 times with an Apollo Award from the Michigan Hospital Public Relations Association. He has also received the Advancement of Justice Award from the Michigan Bar Association and the Outstanding Speaker Award from the American College of Healthcare Marketing Symposium.