The Hancocks of Healthcare — A Nashville Success Story

Kenneth Hancock, known as Kenny, and his daughter Anne Hancock Toomey have forged their paths in the healthcare industry, with Mr. Hancock co-founding multiple ventures and Ms. Toomey co-founding Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, a strategic healthcare communications firm.

"Kenny and Anne represent the best of Nashville's healthcare community," says David Jarrard, president and CEO of Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock. "Kenny is an innovative leader with a strong work ethic founded on a generous and welcoming spirit. Anne couples an entrepreneurial drive with an infectious energy and passion that makes her a force of nature for the health systems she works with."

The roots for success are long engrained in the Hancock's history, providing the framework for Ms. Toomey to follow her father's footsteps.

"I've witnessed my father's entrepreneurial spirit from the time he ran our family hardware business to becoming salesman of the year of the nation's largest orthopedic distributor to founding three healthcare companies here in Nashville," Ms. Toomey says. "I'd like to think even a small portion of his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for solving some of healthcare's most complex problems rubbed off on me somewhere along the way."

Mr. Hancock currently serves as president and chief development officer for Brentwood, Tenn.-based Meridian Surgical Partners, an ambulatory surgery center management and development company. His previous endeavors in the healthcare industry, such as co-founding OrthoLink Physicians Corp., inspired his daughter to also take up a career in the industry.

"My career in healthcare was kick-started by working with him at a surgical hospital company, where I was first introduced to the complexities of this industry we both love and that fuels Nashville's economy," says Ms. Toomey.

As a current partner at Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Ms. Toomey leads public affairs campaigns for hospitals and healthcare systems to help them navigate and address challenges and changes.

Ms. Toomey's sentiments about her father's strong work ethic and powerful presence in the industry are echoed by colleagues and friends.

"Kenny Hancock has been an exceptional leader in the mix of spine and orthopedics and ASCs for nearly two decades," says Scott Becker, JD, publisher of Becker's Hospital Review. "He is both uncommonly smart and has tremendous skills with people. He has the fabulous combination of being gifted intellectually, warm and a leader."

Cathy Kowalski, RN, executive vice president and COO of Meridian Surgical Partners, adds, "I have known Kenny for more than 20 years, working closely together in three healthcare organizations, two of which we founded and led with other partners. What Kenny brings to the table is his innate ability to quickly connect with people, establish credibility and successfully deliver mutually-beneficial opportunities."

The high praise extends to Ms. Toomey, with acknowledgment and applause in her own right.

"[Anne] is a driven leader with exceptional personal and intellectual skills. She is articulate and a fierce leader," Mr. Becker says. "Anne is the epitome of the apple not falling far from the tree."

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