Hi! I'm Michelle

Strategist - Speaker - Facilitator - Thought Partner

With an extensive career spanning nearly three decades, Michelle Rathman, CEO of Impact! Communications, Inc., and the 2025 recipient of the National Rural Health Association President's Award, has dedicated over 25 years to both rural and urban health, with most of her time serving rural organizations.

In her experience as an embedded strategist with rural hospital leadership teams and staff from across departments, Michelle has observed an abundance of wins, losses, fouls, strikes, and a few bases-loaded home runs.

In her role as a field consultant, Michelle Rathman has been on the front lines, addressing the root causes of outmigration. Her practical experience and hands-on approach have enabled her to listen to and retell stories that piece together the challenges of rural health delivery, including filling empty benches, managing the money that flows out faster than it comes in, and now, especially, the impact of policies that threaten even the most stable rural health systems.