By Derek Maul
Born: St Louis, Missouri, 1962
Raised: Freehold, New Jersey
Moved to Florida: 1978
Lake Brantley High School,
Seminole County: 1980
Florida State University: 1984
Moved to Brandon: 1988
Member: St. Andrew’s United
Methodist Church
Brandon Regional Hospital’s Melonie Hall is a self-confessed overachiever.
As director of marketing and public relations for Brandon’s biggest employer (1,600 on staff), Hall has more than enough work to keep her busy.
“I like being stretched,” she said. “I don’t like being bored.” Being stretched this year has involved co-chairing the 2008 Leadership Brandon class; board work with Camp Rotary Florida, Young Life, and the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce; extensive leadership roles at St. Andrews’ United Methodist Church and active membership with the Brandon ‘86 Rotary.
Then she sets the alarm for 4 a.m. every morning so she can work out at the YMCA at 5 a.m.
The energetic Hall has been with Brandon Regional Hospital (BRH) since October of 2007, when she left her position as The Tampa Tribune’s southeast advertising manager in order to take a new challenge in the heart of Brandon.
“I was impressed with leadership style of CEO Mike Fencel,” she said.
“I can do any job if I have a great boss, I wanted to work here in Brandon, and it felt like a calling. I’m getting to help people here.”
Helping means getting the word out. “I get to share the good news about what happens here every day,” Hall said. “Lives are being saved. They don’t see themselves as heroes but I’m truly in awe and I love to tell people those stories.”
“I think my role is educational. A key element in hospital marketing is to let people know and to help with prevention. We’ve seen an increase of people getting to hospital on time.”
BRH, she said, sees hundreds of patients every day. “We average 200 a day in the Emergency Department,” she said, “Sixty percent of those are admitted. We have 367 beds, but that will be 407 after the neuroscience floor opens in December.”
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hall spent most of her growing up years in Freehold, New Jersey. In 1978, after a year as an exchange student in Finland, she moved to Florida and graduated from Lake Brantley High School in Seminole County (1980).
“I graduated from Florida State (1984) in hospitality administration,” she said, “and found out that I loved marketing. By then I’d spent several years in guest relations with Disney.” She was hired by Club Corporation of America to work in marketing.
After four years at their Knoxville Headquarters, she moved to the regional office in Tampa, eventually helping open the Hunter’s Green Country Club.
Later, after a couple of years at home with her daughter, Hall was hired by the Tampa Tribune.
“I’ve lived in Brandon since 1988,” she said. “I love this community; I love my church; I’m here; I’m committed. I think great things are on the horizon for all of us. I love the way we rally around each other as a community.”
It’s one of the reasons she is committed to Leadership Brandon. “It’s a concentrated effort to see how we can make Brandon a better place,” she said. “You see about 30 individuals come together to learn more about community, and improve leadership skills and to contribute.”
“Relationships, networking – the community instantly becomes a better place. They make you believe anything is possible. ”
Even over-achievers have to relax. Hall says she does that by reading, baking, spending time with her family and working out at the YMCA.
And, with seven of HCA’s (Hospital Corporation of America), 170 plus facilities located in the United Kingdom, Hall is hopeful there will be some travel in her future “I love to travel,” she said, “especially Europe.”
