Community Leadership Award, Honorable mention: Jernigan

Serving those in need is part of the job description for J. Michael Jernigan. But his work in fulfilling that mission extends far beyond his office.

Jernigan, 60, is president of managed-care company AmeriHealth Caritas' Southern region as well as CEO at Select Health of South Carolina, a for-profit HMO he founded in 1995. Select Health focuses on the state's low-income families through its Medicaid managed-care plans as a part of the AmeriHealth Caritas family of companies, which focus on the underserved and chronically ill. In addition to his day job, Jernigan volunteers for several Charleston not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the community.

Most recently, he's been devoting much of his time to his role as president of the Coastal Carolina Fair, a large, all-volunteer fair held outside Charleston that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for charities serving the city and the surrounding counties, and provides entertainment to over 200,000 people every year. For the past 57 years the annual fair has raised money for charities such as the Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Carolina and American Lung Association of South Carolina, among many others. The Exchange Club of Charleston, which runs the fair, donated more than $800,000 in grants to 94 charities this past year.

Barbara Bond, executive director and CEO of the Charleston Ronald McDonald House, recommended Jernigan for the Community Leadership Award recognition because she said he works his connections tirelessly to help her organization raise funds and provide emergency housing for families in need. “As a business partner of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Mike has done much more than deliver a company check,” Bond wrote in a letter of recommendation.

Charleston's Low Country Food Bank and the Children's Hospital at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, are also benefactors of Jernigan's time and resources. Dr. Charles Darby, executive director of the hospital's Center for Child Advocacy, said the hospital depends on philanthropy and volunteers, and Jernigan has always been there, often first, to answer the call. “Mike is the kind of person who is generous and helping, but he doesn't hesitate to get in and volunteer his time as well,” Darby said.

Jernigan acknowledges that donating his time and resources to the Charleston community is also good business for his company and the healthcare system at large: Healthier, well-supported communities help keep costs in check, improving everyone's bottom line. So it's important that executives make an impact in the communities they serve, he said.

“I think we all as Americans want our local communities, our state and our nation to be healthier places, and we need to personally contribute,” Jernigan said. “Healthcare leaders are in a unique situation to understand some of the long-term changes that we can make.”

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