River City Six – Reggie Ripple

Meet Reggie Ripple, vice president of Home & Community Services, which is a part of Hillcrest Health Services.

Tell us a little about your business.

Hillcrest Home & Community Services focuses on providing comprehensive personalized health care and support services to our clients/patients in the comfort of wherever they call home, offering skilled home health, in-home personal care, and hospice services. Physical, occupational, and speech therapy are also offered. Hillcrest Home & Community Services provides care to 11 counties in Nebraska and Iowa. Hillcrest Home & Community Services, under the umbrella of Hillcrest Health Services, is dedicated to enhancing the lives of aging adults, providing services such as independent and assisted living, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, long-term care, memory support, adult day services, certified skilled home health and in-home personal care, telehealth services, and hospice care.

How did you get started in the business?

I cut my teeth in health care as a staff occupational therapist in a large hospital health care system in Tulsa, OK. I was then asked to join the home health sector as a coordinator of the therapy team. I spent around 10 years in this agency. I grew through various roles and eventually ended up as director, overseeing the home health, palliative care, and hospice programs. In 2014, I received the call to join the Hillcrest Health Services team.

Tell us a little about your family.

My wife Tina and I are both occupational therapists and met during our field clinicals in Oklahoma. We have been married 20 years this spring, and we have three amazing children and two Goldendoodles. All three kids are very active in sports, so our leisure time is spent supporting them in whatever is in season at the time.

What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life?

Meeting Tina. She was re-assigned to the same facility at the last minute, and I came from Iowa, so we know fate/faith brought us together. Everything in life since then has been an amazing journey.

What is your favorite thing to do on a day off?

Family time! I also enjoy playing golf when I can squeeze it into the schedule.

What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know?

I was fortunate enough to be part of my college baseball team when it placed third in the NAIA World Series my freshman year. My role was bullpen catcher. I only had one at bat, but I did grace the front page of the Des Moines Register sports section; my seven seconds of fame, I guess.

Who inspires you?

The team I work with every day and the work they do to truly make a positive impact on others.

What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” – John Maxwell

If you could choose any other profession to be successful in, what would it be?

A farmer. It would allow me to be outdoors every day, and I come from a family of uncles and grandparents who were farmers. They are some of the hardest working people I have ever been around.

What is your favorite book or the last good book you read?

One of my recent favorites is Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jockd Willink and Leif Babin.

What is your favorite movie?

All the Marvel movies!

If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so?

Email: rripple@hillcresthealth.com; Website: hillcresthealth.com.