Ashdown Alumni Association will posthumously honor Dr. Mike Finley at banquet

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 8:03 AM

After a two year hiatus due to Covid-19, the Ashdown High School Alumni Association will finally have their 14th “annual” banquet.

In an earlier announcement Dr. Mike Finley was to be the honoree, but with his unexpected passing, he will be posthumously honored during the 2022 Ashdown High School Alumni Association Banquet on Saturday, October 22.

Dr. Finley was born in Camden, Arkansas, in 1953. He moved to Ashdown while in 10th grade when his father was hired by Nekoosa Paper Mill. At Ashdown High School, he was an All-State member of the Purple Pride Marching Band and the Panther football team. After graduation in 1971, he attended Hendrix College majoring in chemistry.

He began his medical training at UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock and completed his residency in Family Medicine at LSU Shreveport Medical Center.

In 1994, he established the AHEC SW Family Medicine Residency Program while practicing family medicine in Hope from 1984-2001. He was also an ER physician at St. Michaels from 1988-1999. He began his hospital administrative career in 2001 when he joined CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Health in Alexandria, Louisiana as Vice-President for Medical Affairs. In 2003 he assumed the Chief Medical Officer in Texarkana. In 2018 he became the Designated Institutional Official which provided oversight and direction for educational quality, financial viability, administrative/academic structure, accreditation standards and other regulatory requirements for CHRISTUS Health Graduate Medical Education Residency programs. He was essential in establishing CHRISTUS St. Michael as an affiliate center of excellence in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Heart Institute.

Dr. Finley contributed to the excellence and improvement of evidence-based patient care. His forward thinking led to many advancements at CHRISTUS St. Michael such as the Hospitalist Program, development of the Simulation Center, the Labor/Delivery and Critical Care Programs and the development and growth of many other quality initiatives.

Other achievements during his tenure include being awarded the Top 100 Hospital three times and Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital for two years.

He was married to his beloved Nancy for 28 years. He was the father of four children, PawPaw to seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

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