Stephen Register
Georgia State Office of Rural Health
Executive Director
NOSORH Member since 2020
What I’m currently reading: Radical Candor by Kim Scott.
What I’m working on right now: Implementing new workforce improvement strategies to improve recruitment and retention of hospital nursing staff, allied health professionals, and provider shortages in the wake of the pandemic.
The SORH work that I am most proud of: The Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant has resulted in only two closures within the last seven years and provided $30,000,000 in funding for upgraded facilities, new service line additions, and increased overall operations in more than 30 Georgia rural hospitals.
3 great things about rural health in my state: Georgia’s recognition and focus on building statewide broadband maps to improve rural healthcare, telemedicine parity law in Georgia, which directly assists in decreasing disparity and increasing access, and the rural communities and families that represent 120 counties in Georgia.
People would be surprised if they knew: I have played professional softball.
What’s your hidden talent? I can juggle.
My Top 3 Goals for 2022: Read the entire Bible, lose 25 pounds, and learn how to play the piano.
What was your first job? Hospital Recovery Room Transporter
Favorite thing about working at a SORH: Partnering with rural hospitals to build outcomes-based strategies that influence the overall health care and economic landscape in Georgia’s rural communities.
What advice do you have for new NOSORH members? You have the opportunity to communicate and strategize with the best rural healthcare representation in the country. You will get out what you put into this wonderful organization and more.