Health Care: MARY N. MANNIX

The leader of one of a decreasing number of independently owned health systems, Mannix manages a staff of about 2,500 at Augusta Health, one of the largest employers in the Shenandoah Valley. The health system, which includes the main Fishersville hospital campus and 18 urgent care, family practices and other outpatient facilities, received its fourth consecutive “A” safety rating in May from The Leapfrog Group, which assigns letters based on hospitals’ record of patient safety.

A surgical ICU nurse at the start of her career, Mannix previously served as president of the Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Pennsylvania before joining Augusta Health in 2008.   

In 2022, the system opened a new primary care clinic in Harrisonburg, and it released its three-year community needs assessment, which showed that 27.4% of residents surveyed are having a hard time getting appointments when they need them, and mental health is a particular concern.

ONE THING I’D CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: I have often encountered the phrase, “That’s not how we do things in Virginia.” I think that mindset can be self-limiting and rooted in looking back vs. looking ahead.

FAVORITE SONG: “Lovely Day,” by Bill Withers