CEO Rachel Sossoman, 2022 Trailblazer Award Recipient
October 5, 2022 by Keely Knopp
Mercy Urgent Care is pleased to announce that President and CEO Rachel Sossoman has been honored by Business North Carolina as a recipient of a 2022 Trailblazer award.
Each year, the magazine’s Trailblazer awards recognize business professionals under the age of 40 who are making a positive impact in North Carolina cities and towns that have fewer than 100,000 residents. Sossoman is among 20 other statewide Trailblazers, each of whom are profiled in the October issue of the publication.
“I’m honored to receive this award, but the team at Mercy — the leadership team, the staff — they are really the ones who are blazing the trails,” said Sossoman. “With Mercy launching four new service lines in 2022, it’s not anything I could do alone. We are able to take care of patients in the spirit of Mercy thanks to our entire team, each of whom believe in the mission and work that we do.”
Under Sossoman’s leadership, Mercy Urgent Care launched three new patient services in 2022 alone: MercyMe, a membership program offering comprehensive health care plans starting at $29 per month; Mercy Mindful mental health services; and Mercy Motion physical therapy evaluations and treatments. A fourth new service, ultrasounds, will be available by the end of the year. A complete list of services offered can be found at mercyurgentcare.org.
Sossoman joined the team at Mercy Urgent Care in 2015 as its human resources director, later taking on the role of chief administrative officer. She was named president and CEO in July 2021. Sossoman was instrumental in the February 2020 opening of Mercy’s eighth location in Waynesville, and she helped expand the reach of the $10 million organization from an average of 60,000 patients to 70,000 in 2021. Under Sossoman’s leadership, Mercy Urgent Care was able to host multi-day, volunteer-led, offsite COVID community vaccine clinics for the underserved, many of whom were also uninsured.
A 2021 nominee for the Asheville Area Chamber’s WomanUP Executive of the Year, Sossoman frequently serves as a spokesperson for the urgent care industry. She has spoken at the Urgent Care Centers Congress as part of its presentation, “Expanding urgent care into rural markets, increasing access to care where it previously didn’t exist” and at the Urgent Care Association presentation on “21st Century Leadership,” among other presentations. Most recently, she was invited to participate on a panel at the upcoming Becker’s Healthcare Annual CEO Roundtable. Sossoman has been published in the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine in an article on multigenerational organizational culture.
To read Sossoman’s profile piece in Business North Carolina magazine, visit businessnc.com.
