THE CONFIDENCE BUILDER

Carrie E. Willetts

Executive Vice President of Healthcare Integration and Business Development, WVU Health System and President and CEO, Uniontown Hospital

SUPERPOWER: Understanding the future and strategizing accordingly

Early experiences in 4-H and Girl Scouts taught Carrie E. Willetts two things—that she had innate leadership skills within her and that she felt fulfilled by giving back and serving others. Now helping to lead health care integration and business development at WVU Health System and serving as the president and CEO of Uniontown Hospital, she’s found a way to leverage both of those traits.

Willetts loves helping others reach their highest heights, boosting confidence in others, and building an invigorating ecosystem from the top down where health care professionals can do the best possible work and patients can receive the best possible care. “If my leaders are reaching their full potential and those who they oversee and support are reaching their full potential, then the people who are touching the patient are helping the patient reach their full potential,” she says.

This instinct mirrors the leadership Willetts herself has experienced. “I’ve had several opportunities in my career where people saw something in me that I didn’t see myself, and they told me, and they kind of pulled me through early in my career,” she says. “So I try to pay that forward.”

Willetts keeps not only all of the levels of her own organization in mind, but also how the work serves the entire state of West Virginia—a state in which she was raised but has not always lived.

“I am fiercely loyal to West Virginia,” she says. “I love West Virginia. I love the people, I love the authenticity of the people. I love that the people are loyal, that the people are kind and smart. We’re really underrated. It feels really good to be home and contributing to the greater good in my home state. It makes me wonder why I left.”

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Since 2014 WV Living magazine has been honoring West Virginia Wonder Women, amazing women who are raising the bar in their communities, serving as beacons of light in their industries, and forcing change for the greater good. WV Living is proud to celebrate these Appalachian mothers, millennials, and mavens proving that in a time full of uncertainty, divisiveness, and hate, love for one another is all we really need. No need for bulletproof bracelets or a golden lasso of truth—these women are creating a better West Virginia with their can-do attitudes and Mountain State spirit.