Meet the Leadership Team
Dr. Amy Hester
PhD, RN, BC, FAAN
Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer
Amy has 30 years of nursing experience including over a decade of med/surge and neuro nursing followed by unit management and hospital administration. In 2015, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science and has since published and spoken extensively on the subject of falls and injury prediction and prevention. She retired from UAMS in 2018 after 26 years of service to dedicate her time fully to HD Nursing. She is an adjunct faculty at UAMS College of Nursing. As an entrepreneur, she mentors others to help them with their own endeavors. Amy also serves as the Chair of the HD Nursing Board of Directors.
Dr. Erin Bush
PhD, RNC-MNN
Chief Operations Officer
Erin brings over 25 years of professional experience in nursing, education, and leadership to HD Nursing where she helps prevent falls and deliver safe outcomes across the continuum of care. Her true passion is to support vulnerable patient populations. As a bedside nurse, she cared for high risk obstetric couplets earning a national certification in maternal-newborn nursing. She led a multi-state tele-health consortium as a clinical educator that bridged clinical gaps for underserved rural residents in the south. She’s also passionate about conducting research on better ways to bring families and long term care residents with dementia together using simulated presence. She earned a BSN and a Master of Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Matt Duckworth
Chieft Financial Officer
Matt Duckworth is the CFO for HD Nursing and has acted as CFO or Advisor to some of the southeast US’s top-performing businesses, including the region’s second-largest health & fitness chain and one of the region’s largest funeral home chains. During his career he has partnered with multiple leadership teams to achieve rapid, profitable growth while staying focused on customer success and healthy team culture. Matt is a former Adjunct Professor in Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and has contributed to two published books, The Minimum Wage Millionaire by Bill Edgar and Bonds: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth by Stan & Hildy Richelson (Bloomberg Press). Matt holds a Master of Business Administration, has passed FINRA Series 7, 63, and 65 securities certifications, and holds an Advanced Certification in Value Investing from Columbia University.
Mike Kennedy
Vice-President of Business Development
Mike has thirty years of leadership experience in the healthcare field and has held senior executive leadership positions throughout his career. Prior to joining HD Nursing, Kennedy was the Chief Operating Officer of Virtual Me, a Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine company. Mr. Kennedy was the founding partner of Vertex Care Management. The company was focused on identifying and managing populations with depression, anxiety, and other co-morbidities. Prior to Vertex, Mike spent eight years at Healthways as a Senior Account Executive in the Western Health Plan Market.
Mike was also responsible for all business development activities for Status One Health Systems, Inc. Mr. Kennedy has also held positions as Vice-President of Contracting and Operations for Salick Health Care, Corporate Director of Managed Care Contracting for the PeaceHealth System. Kennedy served as Executive Director of Select Care Health Plans in Washington State and has held positions in medical group practice administration at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. Mike has a Bachlor of Science in Economics from Colorado State University.
Dr. Patricia Quigley
PhD, MPH, APRN, CRRN, FAAN, FAANP – Clinical Advisory Committee
Dr. Quigley is a nurse consultant, retired Associate Director of the VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry and is both a Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Nurse Practitioner in Rehabilitation. Her contributions to patient safety, nursing and rehabilitation are evident at a national level – with emphasis on clinical practice innovations designed to promote elders’ independence and safety. She is nationally known for her program of research in patient safety, particularly in fall prevention. The falls program research agenda continues to drive research efforts across health services and rehabilitation researchers.
