Todd receives MHA Visionary Leadership Award

Published 12:07 am Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Dr. Misty Todd, program director of the Bothwell-University of Missouri Rural Family Medicine Residency at Bothwell Regional Health Center, received the 2026 Visionary Leadership Award from the Missouri Hospital Association (MHA). She was honored Nov. 4 at MHA’s Annual Convention in Kansas City for her role as residency director and expanding access to primary care physicians in rural Missouri communities. The statewide honor goes to just one or two health care leaders each year.

Todd has led the residency since 2022, but has been involved since near its inception in 2019. The program is the first in Missouri built to train family physicians in a rural setting. As program director, she recruits resident physicians and has expanded and recruited physician faculty and community members as advisory members to help residents succeed in Sedalia and the surrounding area.

While overseeing its curriculum, Todd has also expanded procedure training and prioritized high risk obstetric care for the residents. Residents train at MU Health Care and in Bothwell’s clinics and hospital to learn the full breadth of rural family medicine and how to care for people who live in rural communities. Under Todd’s direction, the program has graduated its first two classes and has a 100% American Board of Family Medicine board pass rate and 100% fellowship match rate, which is a rare accomplishment for new programs. The number of primary care faculty physicians at Bothwell has also more than doubled, from just five when Todd started to 12 today. Two of the first residency graduates now practice at Bothwell clinics in Cole Camp and Warsaw, with both serving as residency faculty.

“Recruiting physicians to rural communities is one of the greatest challenges we face, and Dr. Todd has helped turn that challenge into a strength for Bothwell,” said Mike Harvey, Bothwell Regional Health Center interim CEO. “Because of her leadership, families in Sedalia and the surrounding communities are being cared for by doctors who trained here and chose to stay. We’re proud to see her recognized statewide.”

Todd also cares for patients of all ages at Bothwell Cole Camp Clinic and delivers babies at Bothwell Hospital. In response to the widespread challenge of recruiting OB/GYN physicians to rural areas, she reinvigorated Bothwell’s family medicine obstetrics service to ensure comprehensive pregnancy care is available in the area. The team includes four family medicine physicians trained in surgical obstetrics along with seven family medicine physicians who all provide prenatal care, deliver babies and continue caring for those families for years, keeping care close to home.

“Being a rural family physician is my passion, and I’m grateful to be living my dream every day,” Todd said. “I am able to care for patients through every stage of life, often beginning in the delivery room and ending in the nursing home. Being residency director has allowed me to train like-minded physicians for that full range from their first day. Watching them grow into confident, capable doctors who I want to take care of me and my family is the most rewarding part of my work. I’m grateful for the best colleagues who have made our residency thrive. Training physicians is a team sport, and while I’m the director, I can’t do this work alone and have had the backing of everyone at Bothwell and MU from the first day. I’m sincerely grateful to MHA for this honor and to the team who shares it with me.”

To learn more about the residency, visit brhc.org/residency.

Release courtesy of Bothwell Regional Health Center.