Southwell announced that James “Jamey” Pennington is the healthcare system’s new Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO). Southwell includes Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton, Southwell Medical and Southwell Health and Rehabilitation in Adel, and more than 35 outpatient centers and clinics.
“Jamey will direct the planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of our business operations,” said Troy Brooks, Southwell’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “Jamey will provide administrative oversight of IT infrastructure, IT security, applications, informatics, telecommunications, and project management. He will serve as our system’s HIPAA Security Officer and as Chair of the MIS Steering Committee.”
Pennington brings more than 26 years of IT management experience. He has served in IT leadership roles at companies such as GoodLooking Software, based in Austin, Texas, and AllScripts, based in Chicago. He has also served in senior leadership roles at healthcare institutions such as JPS Health Network in Ft. Worth, Texas, Blue Ridge Healthcare in Morganton, North Carolina, and Arkansas Heart Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Pennington most recently served as an IT consultant with Coker Group Holdings, based out of Alpharetta, Georgia, providing CIO and project management support for clients.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Arkansas-Monticello. Pennington is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC).
“We are pleased that Jamey has joined out team, armed with the skills, training, and leadership experience needed in this role,” said Brooks. “As technology becomes more sophisticated and expands, the role of the CIO is as important now as ever for healthcare systems.”
