President, CEO & Founder of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership
Regional Director in the UAMS Officer of Strategy, Management, & Administration
Executive Director, Rural Health Association of Arkansas
Ms. Mellie Boagni currently serves as the CEO, President, & Founder of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership and as the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Regional Director of Strategy, Management, and Administration with over 23 years of experience in community and organizational networking, grant writing, program development, and implementation. Mellie founded the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership organization in 2008. It began with five critical access hospitals and has grown its membership to 19 rural hospitals, two FQHCs, 92 owned and affiliated clinics, and three medical schools serving rural Arkansas residents. Mellie has obtained over $52 million in grant funds for Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to implement federal and state grants to provide healthcare provider training opportunities, healthcare workforce initiatives, telehealth expansion, SDOH initiatives, chronic disease programs, behavioral and mental health services, and improved access to care throughout rural Arkansas.
Ms. Boagni has served on the National Rural Health Association Congress and graduated in 2019 from the NRHA Rural Fellows program. She currently serves on the board of the Arkansas Department of Health Board of Directors, Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Advisory Committee, NRHA Rural Community Health Initiatives workgroup, and one of three individuals to serve as a mentor in the National Rural Health Association's new Community Capacity Academy. In 2016, Ms. Boagni was acknowledged as a Federal Office of Rural Health’s Rural Health Champion. In 2020 she was awarded the Healthcare Heroes Innovation award by Arkansas Business magazine and one of Arkansas’ Most Powerful Women of 2020 by Arkansas Business and Politics. Ms. Boagni has been recognized as one of 250 of Arkansas’ Most Influential People in 2021, 2023, and 2024.
Under Mellie’s leadership, ARHP has been recognized nationally as a Rural Health Community Champion for Collaborative Partnerships by the Federal Office of Rural Health and as Outstanding Network of the Year by the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association. In 2023, she was named one of 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and Little Rock Soiree magazine.
Mellie Boagni - Contact
Email: Mellie@arruralhealth.org; MBBridewell@uams.edu
Ph: 870-265-6553
