3RNET Board of Directors

Judd Mellinger-Blouch, Pennsylvania 

President

Judd Mellinger-Blouch is the Director of the Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center, which is part of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers. The Career Center helps community health centers, rural health clinics and other healthcare organizations recruit and retain physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other primary care providers. Judd has been working in healthcare since 1986, predominantly in areas of public relations, marketing, communications, provider relations, and recruitment. Prior to joining the Career Center in March 2014, Judd was Director of Marketing Communications at the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He holds two degrees from Pennsylvania State University: a Bachelors of Arts in Journalism (1982); and a Masters of Public Administration with a healthcare emphasis (1998). Judd lives in Hershey with his wife Ellen, a behavioral health social worker employed by Holy Spirit Hospital. Their children are Jake Blouch (married to Sophia Barrett), Philadelphia, and Leah Mellinger-Blouch, Hershey. Judd spends his spare time gardening, running, writing and rooting for Penn State.

 
Joni Adamson, Missouri

Treasurer

Joni joined the Missouri Primary Care Association as the Manager of Recruitment and Workforce Development in 2008, after nearly 10 years of service with the Missouri Primary Care Office.   

She partners with an array of local, state, and national organizations, academic institutions, and healthcare professionals to improve access throughout Missouri.  She is regarded by many of her colleagues as a subject matter expert in the areas of healthcare workforce development, trends and analysis, recruitment, and retention. 

She currently serves on the National Advisory Council for the National Health Service Corps; MO Healthcare Data System Advisory Board, and Program Advisory Committee for Concorde Career College.  Additional professional memberships include: Association of Clinicians of the Underserved; Association of Staff Physician Recruiters and their regional affiliate the Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas Physician Recruitment and Retention Network; Society for Human Resource Management; and the American Society of Association Executives. 

She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from William Woods University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Administration from Columbia College.  She is also a Fellow of Association of Staff Physician Recruiters (FASPR).  She stays active in her community through a variety of local Civic Organizations and treasures any and all things that have to do with her family. 

 
Olivette Burroughs, Virginia

Olivette Burroughs serves as the Statewide Health Workforce Manager with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Office of Health Equity (OHE).  In this role, she is responsible for the coordination and assessment of the OHE health workforce recruitment/retention initiatives and incentive programs. She addresses challenges and advance goals identified through the strategic planning processes, with a focus on medically underserved areas of Virginia and the assurance of diverse and culturally competent providers.  She also provides technical assistance to communities and practice sites with information regarding best practices and resource development pertaining to recruitment and retention for all incentive programs.

Prior to her VDH assignment, Ms. Burroughs worked at Henrico County’s Capital Region Workforce Partnership G.O.A.L.S Institute as a Regional Coordinator for Employment, providing health care related training, personal effectiveness and other training opportunities to youth. She also provided ongoing quality assurance of participant reports and WIA outcome management.

Ms. Burroughs has worked as the Director of Medication Assistance at Lackey Free Clinic where she supervised and set procedures for all patient eligibility, data management, IT operation and medication functions. She also prepared and submitted quarterly grant reports, ensuring all grant objectives were met. She also served as a preceptor for area Universities and a liaison with local Community Services.

She worked as an Assistant Planner/Research Manager for the Office of Human Affairs providing statistical compilation and analysis, developed new programs and proposal budgets. In addition, she identified and pursued grant funding opportunities and assisted in the development of short- and long-range programmatic planning for health care related programs. 

Ms. Burroughs also currently serves as an Online Adjunct Faculty at Grand Canyon University College of Nursing and Health Care Professions responsible for teaching eight Health Care Management courses within the prescribed curriculum.

Olivette Burroughs earned a Masters in Business administration with a concentration in health care Management (MBA, HCM) and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Ms. Burroughs also holds a Professional Health Care Instructor Certification (PHIC).

 
Melissa Candelaria, New Mexico

Melissa Candelaria is the Senior Recruiter at New Mexico Health Resources, Inc. (NMHR).  She has been an employee with NMHR since November 1994.  She has over 15 years’ experience as a health professional recruiter.  She has served on the board of directors of the National Rural Recruitment and Retention Network (3RNET). Her experience as a recruiter includes involvement with the various state and federal loan for service and loan repayment programs.  Melissa is a member of the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce and serves on their Health & Wellness Committee. She also has extensive experience in organizing continuing medical and dental education conferences. Ms. Candelaria was born in Ruidoso, NM and raised in Hondo, NM, a very rural area in the southeastern part of New Mexico. She attended Western New Mexico University in Silver City, New Mexico and the Dona Ana Branch Community College/New Mexico State University, as well as Central New Mexico Community College.

 
Stacee Reed, Oregon

Stacee Reed has been working in the healthcare industry since 2006 starting at Mountain View Hospital/St Charles-Madras, where she provided support for administration, medical staff and the Board of Directors. She received her Certification in Physician Practice Management in 2014. Shortly after, she assumed the role of Practice Operations Manager for the newly formed St Charles Emergency Medicine practice, providing operational support to physicians and physician assistants who provide services at St Charles-Madras, St Charles-Prineville and St Charles-Redmond. Experiencing first-hand the complexities of recruiting and retaining specialists and family care providers to rural areas, she has assisted with and led many endeavors to bring physicians to Central Oregon, including building the Emergency Medicine practice from a group of 10 to a group of over 40 providers. Stacee brought this professional experience and broad knowledge of hospital/clinic/patient/community cultures to the Oregon Office of Rural Health as the Program Manager for Recruitment Services. In this role, she continues to place high value on productive and meaningful relationships, meeting the needs of the hiring organization and the provider candidate. Stacee is dedicated to the mission to support providers in the healthcare field and connect exceptional providers with meaningful and rewarding employment opportunities in rural Oregon. 

 
Rachel Ruddock, Michigan

President Elect

Rachel Ruddock is the Workforce Development Manager at the Michigan Center for Rural Health. In this role, Rachel provides assistance to healthcare providers, students and rural healthcare facilities with their employment and workforce needs. Rachel provides technical assistance in the areas of state and federal loan repayment programs, health professional shortage areas and J-1 visas and waivers.

Prior to joining MCRH, Rachel was the Risk Communication Analyst for the Bureau of EMS, Trauma and Preparedness within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Rachel previously worked as a Constituent Relations Specialist in fund development and as a Patient Resource Coordinator for oncology patients at the American Cancer Society. Rachel also served as an AmeriCorps member at the American Red Cross in the areas of Disaster Services, Service to the Armed Forces and Refugee Services. She holds a B.A. from Michigan State University and an MBA in Healthcare Management.

 
Jessica Seel, South Carolina

Secretary

Jessica Seel joined the South Carolina Office of Rural Health in 2018 as the workforce program manager. She currently serves as Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives & Workforce Development.

In her role as Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives, Jessica leads SCORH’s efforts to eliminate barriers to mental healthcare and
reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness and substance use within rural communities. This work includes suicide prevention programs, and collaborations to address substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD). Jessica is the program lead for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a statewide consortium of partners to integrate behavioral healthcare, primary care, and the treatment of infectious diseases associated with SUD/OUD.

In her role as Director of Workforce Support, Jessica works to attract and retain physicians, advanced practice providers, and other essential providers to rural and medically underserved communities. She also connects students and clinicians to state and national programs that support long-term rural retention.

A Columbia native, Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in social work from Columbia College and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining SCORH, she worked in the healthcare field in various capacities including marketing, management and community education.

Jessica serves on the SC Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) Physician Assistant Advisory Council, the board of directors for the Rural Recruitment and Retention Network, and the board of directors for Carolinas Association of Physician Services. She enjoys running, exercising, spending time on Lake Murray and cheering for the Gamecocks.