HOPE Celebrates 20 Years of Service

By Liz Ferrell, Development & Community Outreach Specialist

On Saturday, April 5th, HOPE Family Health threw a party and invited friends, family and colleagues to come to Westmoreland to celebrate a milestone: 20 years of living out a vision and a mission to make quality healthcare available and affordable to as many people in our service areas as possible, and to provide that care with kindness and love.

Under the able leadership of Kim Akins and Kim Riley, a dedicated team of HOPE staff brought their considerable talents to planning the event. The week of the event, people worked to tidy the landscaping around the building and to ensure offices and exam rooms were neat and clean. They planned décor, menus, room layout, audiovisual and technical needs, programs, and displays to encourage donations.

Amazingly, in the midst of a four-day stretch of treacherous storms and dangerous flooding, Saturday’s weather yielded a break in the rain and storms, and people came. Approximately 75 people – patients, current and former employees, professional colleagues, and family – all gathered to enjoy and be part of this special moment.

And folks, it was glorious. Beautifully rendered signage and a balloon arch in HOPE’s logo colors graced the lobby, where folding chairs and a site featuring HOPE t-shirts for sale greeted guests while a slide show of photos played next to the podium. In the pavilion, Nedra Bowman, Audrey McCloud, Reyna Ruiz and a team of HOPE staff created a masterpiece of food and beverages that proved to be as delicious as it was gorgeous. Videos of patient testimonials played. A photo booth and props brought whimsy and laughter to the day. The program, curated entirely by cofounder and CEO Jenny Dittes, featured guest speakers who addressed different phases of HOPE’s existence.

A Legacy of HOPE: The Early Years

Mike Potts, HOPE’s first Board chair, told of the clinic’s early days from its founding in 2005, when, he noted, he set up the computer system because no one on staff was qualified to do so. He described a busy Saturday where he found his work repeatedly interrupted by phone calls from people seeking appointments or advice.

“It became very clear that not only what we were trying to do was needed, but that God was part of this whole thing,” he said. “When we were in that trailer I’d say, ‘This is my last board meeting. We don’t know what we’re doing.’ But we kept persevering…and what I want to say to you today is, never, ever, ever doubt a woman who has a Godly vision. You never know what seed is planted by God, and in God’s time what it will do.”

A Legacy of HOPE: The Middle Years

Board vice chair Cynthia Templeton, a Westmoreland native and an attorney, has served on

HOPE’s Board of Directors for over 18 years. She and her husband are long-time HOPE patients. Cynthia described some of the struggles and challenges of the middle years.

“I can remember times we had Board meetings until 11 o’clock at night trying to figure out how we were going to keep the doors open...But with some luck, prayers and hard work, we made it.”

“We saw the Westside Clinic was going to be available, we knew we liked that facility and that we needed it and wanted it, but we knew we couldn’t afford it,” Cynthia recalled. “But the Lord provided a way, and He put some people in our path who opened up their hearts and their wallets and financial portfolios and made that facility available for us. It’s been nothing but a source of pride, and it’s brought a lot of quality care to a lot of folks.

“And the facility we’re sitting in now – isn’t it great?” she continued. “We saw we needed this facility. We didn’t have a clue how we were going to afford it, and if we got it, we didn’t have a clue how we were going to make the first payment. But through prayer and a lot of hard work by a lot of competent people, this facility became available… It’s a source of pride for this community. It’s just wonderful,” she said, visibly emotional. “I’m so proud of this facility and all of you who have been a part of it…Live long and prosper.”

A Legacy of HOPE: The Middle Years - A Patient’s Story

Jenny then shared the story of a patient named Don. About a year before visiting HOPE, Don visited a local ER, complaining of shortness of breath and pain in his lungs. At the ER his chest X-rays revealed an abnormality, but, like many individuals HOPE has treated over the years, Don had no insurance and no money to receive follow-up care.

By the time Don got to HOPE, his speech was slurred, and he was weak and losing mobility on one side of his body. Within hours of his initial visit, he was back at HOPE, barely able to walk or speak. Jenny told how she arranged for Don to be treated at St. Thomas ER in Nashville, where doctors diagnosed him with metastatic lung cancer; how HOPE helped arrange for him to undergo surgery and rehab at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin; how he learned to walk and talk again; and how, when he returned to HOPE, in spite of being terminally ill, he had grown strong enough to walk in his own strength with the help of a walker. She told the story of praying with Don when she was tasked with giving him his grim diagnosis, and she told about the change in him that she witnessed during the final months of his life – additional months that, with God’s help, HOPE had helped to give him.

“Don’s story is the essence of why we’re here,” Jenny concluded. “HOPE is about providing hope in a situation where it looks like there is no hope. The health care system does not work for so many people like Don; so many people fall through the cracks. We’re here for everybody. But we’re especially here – God has called us to be here – for those people who fall through the cracks of the healthcare system and who are discouraged and can’t get care anywhere else.”

“There are so many people through the years that God brought to us…Often we would diagnose them with something that was terminal because they hadn’t had care, and we were able to be there with them through the final stage of their life. And there were many others we were able to restore to health – to restore to a place where they could get jobs again, they could begin to live a meaningful life.”

A Legacy of HOPE: Today

Brad Tuttle, HOPE’s current board chair, said a story he had recently heard led him to wonder: do we truly believe the things we are praying for will come true?

“Often we pray quick prayers out of habit without much expectation that they will actually come to life,” he said. “But sometimes, when prayer is paired with faith, action and perseverance, amazing things can happen. HOPE Family Health is a powerful example of that. … Through the power of prayer and purpose, look where we are now.”

• Locations: Today HOPE has three locations: HOPE Westmoreland, HOPE Westside, and HOPE Gallatin. Shortly we will celebrate the arrival of a new mobile unit that will allow HOPE to bring care to communities where HOPE does not yet have a physical presence.

• Staff: Currently HOPE employs 88 people, a long way from the staff of five that opened in 2005.

• Services: Services that we offer include medical care, with onsite lab work and chronic care management; behavioral health services; an onsite pharmacy, with a prescription assistance program and a clinical pharmacist available during your visits; imaging, including onsite mammography; dental care through a contracted provider; and enabling services such as transportation assistance and insurance applications.

• Reach: HOPE serves patients in 38 zip codes in Tennessee and nine zip codes in Kentucky. “People drive in from as far away as Antioch, Murfreesboro, Ashland City, Springfield and Old Hickory in Tennessee, and from Bowling Green, Tompkinsville and Franklin in Kentucky,” Brad noted.

• Impact: In 2024 alone we had almost 27,000 unique visits with 5,600 patients. We care for everyone, insured and uninsured alike. Our current payor mix is approximately 19% TennCare, 25% uninsured/self-pay, 30% commercially insured, and 25% Medicare.

• Finances: In 2005, when HOPE started, the first year the annual budget was approximately $350,000. In 2025 HOPE has an annual budget of approximately $13,000,000 for this year.

• Diversity: “Something especially powerful that we embrace is diversity, in every sense of the word,” Brad said. “Since we began tracking in 2015, we have had thousands of visits with patients who speak other languages than English…including Russian, Korean, sign language, different variations of an Indian language, Zapotec, and of course, Spanish…plus some I can’t pronounce.”

Brad concluded, “HOPE is here to ensure that every person, regardless of where they come from, what language they speak, or whether they can afford it, gets the healthcare they deserve.”

Patient Danny Patterson – who happens to be the father of HOPE staffers Nedra Bowman and Nora Anderson – shared his experience with HOPE.

“About four years ago my wife and I were having our healthcare through an office in Gallatin. Our provider decided he wanted to go a different direction in his career, so he left. We were given to another doctor in that office, and it just didn’t go well for us. So we started looking and thought, ‘Why not try HOPE?’ And I’m glad we did. We were given to Kristen Kovach, and she’s a wonderful provider. She’s very knowledgeable and very concerned about your healthcare, and we both appreciate that. And, of course, having the pharmacy right here is convenient for us. … But the main thing is, they take care of us.”

Mr. Patterson concluded, “You have two employees that I’m very proud of: my two daughters both work here, and we’re so proud of them. We’re proud that they work here with this fine group of people.”

Closing Remarks and Prayer

Jenny closed the program with some words on the concept of hope.

“What is hope?” she asked. “Hope is the belief that even though things aren’t good now, they can get better. Hope is noticing a whole group of people left out by the system and forgotten by society, and stepping into the gap to care for them. Hope is providing health care that is holistic, that takes care of the body, mind, soul, and spirit, that recognizes if a person doesn’t have hope for their future, they’re not going to want to get better…Hope is seeing a better future and knowing that, whether or not you succeed, you have to try to make it a reality.”

“That’s my challenge to each one of us as we leave this place today. What’s happened here within our walls doesn’t have to be only here. No matter where you live, where you work, where you go, you can hold onto that philosophy and that reality – that no matter how things are now, they can get better. We don’t always know if we can get there, but we’re gonna try, we’re gonna work hard to get there. We’re stronger than we realize.”

Board Secretary Chris Ford, a staff minister at First Baptist Church on Winchester Street in Gallatin, noted, “We’re not here as an endpoint. This is just the beginning of something else to come.” Then he prayed a prayer entrusting to God the next chapter in the life of HOPE Family Health. And all the people said, “Amen.”