Annual Community Network Leadership Team Retreat 2026

8:00 -9:00 a.m. - Registration/Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:30 a.m. - Welcome and Introductions: Teresa Newman, Director Rural Health Resources UnityPoint Health-Des Moines

Speakers: Jenni Friedly, Senior Vice President Chief Operating Officer, UnityPoint Health and Jenn Crimmins, Executive Director of Rural Health Partnerships, UnityPoint Health Des Moines

9:30-10:45 a.m. - Keynote Speaker: Sam Glenn (Using Attitude as Daily Strategy)

10:45-11:00 a.m. - Break

11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon - Speaker: David Stark, Chief Government Affairs and Philanthropy, UnityPoint Health (Legislative Update)

12:00-12:45 p.m. - Lunch

12:45-2:00 p.m. - Speaker: Emily E. Reiners, Shareholder, Brick Gentry P.C.

(What Rural Hospital Boards Need to Know & How Hospital Leaders Can Keep them Informed)

2:00-2:30 p.m. - Rural Leadership Awards

2:30-3:15 p.m. - Optional networking opportunity

Speaker information:

Jenni Friedly: Jenny is a senior healthcare executive currently serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at UnityPoint Health. She brings more than two decades of progressive leadership experience across hospital operations, multi-market oversight, and system-level transformation. 

Jenni is known for her steady leadership style, strong governance partnership, and ability to lead organizations through complex operational and financial challenges while maintaining a focus on quality, culture, and community trust. 

Throughout her career, Jenni has held senior executive roles including Market President for UnityPoint Health – Waterloo, President of UnityPoint Health – Marshalltown, and Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at UnityPoint Health – Allen Hospital. In these roles, she led hospital turnarounds, post-bankruptcy recovery, large-scale capital projects, service line realignment, and physician integration initiatives. She has extensive experience working with governing boards, physicians, and community stakeholders, and is recognized for transparent communication, accountability, and results-driven execution. 

Jenni has overseen major capital investments, including serving as executive sponsor for a hospital replacement project, and has led operational transformations that resulted in sustainable financial recovery and improved performance. She has also been a system leader for surgical and procedural services strategy, driving standardization, efficiency, and physician engagement across enterprise operations. 

She holds a Master of Science in Nursing from Allen College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Upper Iowa University and is a graduate of the UnityPoint Health Executive Leadership Academy. Jenni currently serves on multiple boards and community leadership roles and is committed to strengthening organizations that serve their communities with integrity, accountability, and excellence. 

Jenn Crimmins: Jenn is a healthcare leader who believes that the future of rural healthcare is built through relationships, trust, and a genuine understanding of the communities we serve. On October 18, Jenn stepped into a new role with UnityPoint Health as Executive Director of Rural Health Partnerships, focused on strengthening relationships with rural affiliate hospitals and connecting people, ideas, and resources to support sustainable rural healthcare. Jenn brings more than 18 years of healthcare leadership experience to this work, with a career grounded in collaboration and partnership. 

Most recently, she served as Vice President of Clinic Operations for UnityPoint Health–Fort Dodge, where she worked alongside hospitals, clinics, physicians, healthcare teams, and community partners across North Central Iowa. 

Her experience also includes home health, hospice, post-acute care, network development, and long-term care—giving her a broad perspective on the many pieces that come together to serve rural communities. 

What shapes Jenn’s perspective as much as her professional experience is her personal connection to rural Iowa. She lives in Fort Dodge with her husband, Ben, and their four girls. Her family is deeply connected to the community, and Jenn is involved in organizations including Noon Rotary, the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, her local parish, Meals on Wheels, 100 Women Who Care, and the St. Edmond Booster Club. 

Jenn understands that rural healthcare is about much more than hospitals and healthcare delivery. It is about the people who live in these communities, the leaders who care deeply about them, and the relationships that allow communities to solve difficult problems together. Jenn received her undergraduate degree from University of Iowa in Business, her Master's in Healthcare Administration from the Des Moines University and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

David Stark: Joining UnityPoint Health in 1996, Stark is an Iowa native. He currently serves as the Foundation/Government Affairs Executive for UnityPoint Health and served as President/CEO for UnityPoint Health - Des Moines. 

Stark received his undergraduate degree from Iowa State University in Management, his Master's in Healthcare Administration from the University of Iowa and is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. 

Keynote Speaker - Sam Glenn: Sam Glenn is a two-time Speaker of the Year, bestselling author, and performance artist known for combining motivational speaking with live painting to inspire audiences of all sizes, from small meetings to stadium events with up to 75,000 attendees.  

Once homeless, depressed and ready to give up, Sam used one thing that changed everything - ATTITUDE. 

Sam was homeless and most nights slept in his 1982 Buick Regal or on whatever floor space someone would lend him. He was riddled with depression and negativity. 

The turning point was over a cup of coffee when a good friend gave what Sam refers  

to as, "A positive kick in the attitude." 

This wake-up call challenged Sam to employ a new attitude, not as a mood or feeling, but with strategy. As a result, the shift elevated Sam from sleeping on the floor to speaking in front of 75,000 people at stadium events. 

Today, Sam has authored more than 30 books, has been named Speaker of the Year, and has spent three decades helping leaders and organizations use attitude as a competitive advantage. 

“Attitude is NOT your mood, it’s your message.” - Sam Glenn 

Emily Reiners: Emily Reiners is a Shareholder of Brick Gentry P.C. The majority of Emily’s practice is focused on the representation of healthcare clients. She also handles a wide variety of matters for governmental entities and provides services in the areas of contract/business/commercial/transactions/corporate law.  Emily is a trusted advisor to her healthcare clients, including hospitals, medical groups, physicians, mental health providers and wellness practices. With over 20 years of legal experience, Emily has built her career helping healthcare providers, businesses, and governmental bodies cut through complexity and find practical, workable solutions - not just legal answers. 

Whether it’s navigating the fine print of a physician employment agreement, structuring a multi-entity business model, or guiding a city through compliance and governance issues, Emily brings a collaborative, grounded approach focused on helping her clients move forward with clarity and confidence. Emily’s clients don’t come to her for theory - they come to her for options, strategy, and resolution. 

Emily has worked with a variety of clients from solo mental health counselors to multi-site health systems, startups to cities and she understands that legal support is most valuable when it aligns with the real-world challenges leaders face. 

Emily received her undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Northern Iowa before attending Drake University Law School. Emily began her practice at O’Connor & Thomas, P.C. and then for 15 years served as Assistant General Counsel for UnityPoint Health and Legal Counsel for Critical Access Hospital throughout the State of Iowa. Emily joined Brick Gentry P.C. as a Shareholder on July 1, 2025.  

View the full retreat agenda here.