LITTLE ROCK - Christy Hockaday, FACHE, a Morrilton native with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare administration in Arkansas and Louisiana, has joined Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield as Vice President of Provider Network Innovation & Strategy. She will succeed Dan Bloodworth, who is retiring in December after more than 32 years with the company.

Hockaday will oversee initiatives to maximize relationships with healthcare providers and achieve mutually beneficial results for Arkansas Blue Cross, its covered members and the providers who care for them. Her recent healthcare management experience in Louisiana includes eight years with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, where she served as Chief Executive Officer of Assumption Community Hospital (an affiliate of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge), Administrator of Shared Services for collaborating partners for the Franciscan system and Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Heart Hospital of Lafayette.

In Arkansas, she formerly served as Chief Executive Officer of CHI St. Vincent Morrilton and held key administrative positions with Conway Regional Health System and Sparks Health System in Fort Smith. Hockaday earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and a master's degree in health services administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives®.