AdventHealth Dedicates Chapel to Longtime CEO, Jimm Bunch

August 06, 2024 — August 6, 2024 (Hendersonville, NC) – AdventHealth Hendersonville has been caring for the community for more than 110 years. In that time, we have had exceptional leadership that has allowed us to pioneer the unique whole-person care we offer to every person, every time. On August 6, AdventHealth celebrated the impact and legacy of one of those leaders with the dedication of The Jimm Bunch Chapel at our hospital in Hendersonville. The renovations and updates to this place of hope and healing in our hospital have been made possible by generous community and team member donations to the AdventHealth Hendersonville Foundation.

Jimm Bunch had a more than 30-year career in health care, dedicated to caring for people and team members through his work to fulfil our mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ. His career spanned from 1989 to 2020, culminating in his 14 years as CEO of AdventHealth Hendersonville.

The team members and community partners who worked with Bunch through the years will tell you he is the epitome of a servant leader. The list of examples of this servant leadership is long and varied. Perhaps the best example came in early 2020, when Bunch delayed his retirement to help lead the AdventHealth Hendersonville team through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. He selflessly put his plans on hold to ensure our team had continuity of leadership in those early weeks. Our team had the support and guidance they had come to trust in place as they navigated the impact of COVID-19 on our region.

Bunch has maintained a presence with AdventHealth serving as a member of its Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance team. In this role, he coaches and mentors members of leadership and leadership candidates across the AdventHealth system, which includes hospitals and care facilities in nearly a dozen states.

More about Jimm Bunch’s leadership at AdventHealth Hendersonville:

During his time in this role, he has overseen the acquisition or opening of nearly 10 multispecialty medical group facilities, including the construction of the AdventHealth Medical Group multispecialty complex in South Asheville. He oversaw the expansion of The Baby Place and Outpatient Surgery centers at the main hospital campus and expanded the Imaging Center with state-of-the-art CT and mammography technology. Under Bunch’s leadership, AdventHealth Hendersonville earned national recognition for an overall five-star rating in quality from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), began its consistent top ranking of “A” grades from The Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade Surveys and established AdventHealth as a leader in orthopedic care through The Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval for five orthopedic centers of excellence.

Bunch also served as market champion for the implementation and rollout of system-wide service standards through The Whole Care Experience. This foundational initiative to prepare team members for the brand unification to AdventHealth in January 2019, continues today as team members live out our Keep Me Safe, Love Me, Make It Easy and Own It service standards in all aspects of our care.

Bunch worked closely with community partners, serving on various boards and volunteering on multiple projects, including Habitat for Humanity home builds. He has served as Chair of the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the boards of the United Way of Henderson County, Western Carolina Industries (WCI) and the Western North Carolina Health Network (WNCHN).

Bunch participated in international mission trips to Haiti and Lebanon to set the groundwork for the AdventHealth Clinical Mission Integration program, which empowers team members to live out the organization’s mission in the communities where they care for patients, and through domestic and international mission trips.

Prior to joining AdventHealth Hendersonville as CEO, Bunch held executive leadership roles across the AdventHealth system.