In April 2022, Jody Mitchell, MD, made a career shift, moving his family from Owensboro, Kentucky, and the job where he led a $2 billion hospital system to join EmpowerMe Wellness in St. Louis.
He serves as chief medical officer of EmpowerMe Wellness, a healthcare organization with a mission to improve the lives of seniors through integrated therapy, diagnostic, pharmacy and care coordination services.
“Leadership at startup companies is fundamentally different than at large traditional companies or hospital systems,” Mitchell said. “In addition to having fewer team members to manage, there is a less formal structure. But the ability of a leader to inspire others to share and believe in the same goals and objectives is the same whether the organization is big or small.”
Founded in 2017, EmpowerMe Wellness expanded in 2022 from serving approximately 300 senior living communities in about 20 states to serving more than 1,000 senior living communities in more than 36 states. Today, it is one of the nation’s largest providers of therapy services to senior living communities.
Mitchell was instrumental in developing a nationally distributed white paper on the prevalence of urinary tract infections in senior populations and the importance of early detection in saving lives and resident quality of life. He served in June 2022 as a keynote panelist at “Dished/Wellness,” a national conference presented by Senior Housing News magazine.
Mitchell’s leadership has been a critical component of EmpowerMe Wellness’ growth and expansion. That includes the 2022 acquisitions of ONR, one of the nation’s largest providers in the senior living industry serving 27 states along the West Coast and southwestern U.S., and Salus Physical Therapy, a Florida outpatient therapy to senior living enterprise, which added 45 communities to EmpowerMe’s portfolio.
In addition, the company built and opened two diagnostic labs, approximately 5,000 square feet each, offering diagnostics exclusively for residents of senior living communities.
“As chief medical officer, I am continually seeking out new technologies to connect disparate data sets into an integrated overview of resident health,” Mitchell said. “Data is an invaluable tool for generating more accurate diagnoses, which result in more timely treatments and, ultimately, healthier seniors.”
For 10 years before joining EmpowerMe, Mitchell had been with Owensboro Health in Owensboro, Kentucky, most recently as medical director of outpatient services and medical director of athletic training services. He also served as Owensboro Health’s medical director of Healthpark, Kentucky’s only facility certified by the national Medical Fitness Association.
