Watch Jill Cochran, Ph.D., talk about her career and Health Care Hall of Fame recognition here.
She has a long career as a nurse invested in helping the community, but now, Jill Cochran, Ph.D., can add “hall of fame” member to her growing list of accomplishments.
The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) faculty member and nine other state health care professionals were inducted into West Virginia Executive magazine’s Health Care Hall of Fame. The 2024 recipients attended an awards program on Feb. 27 in Charleston, W.Va.
Cochran began working with mothers and their newborns in the late 1970s. She has worked as a nurse in various areas of West Virginia, most recently as a nurse practitioner in the Rainelle Medical Center emergency department and as a family nurse practitioner at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic from 1999 to 2021. She has been an associate professor of clinical sciences at WVSOM, specifically teaching pediatrics, since 2010.
“I feel honored and privileged to be thought of, let alone be a recipient of this award,” she said. “At my age, and having 40-something years’ experience in health care, this is probably one of the coolest things I’ve received. Especially being a nurse, because sometimes our work is not recognized since there are so many layers above and below us. To be picked from those layers is validating that your career has been worthwhile.”
Cochran has built a career that extends beyond a health care facility or clinic.
“I have built my community from the office. People see me at Walmart and ask me a medical question and I give them an answer. I am who I am no matter if I’m with my kids or someone else. If patients recognize me and need something related to health care, I’m going to help them. Community members expect me to be there for them and to stand for what I said in the office,” Cochran said.
She explained that building trust among patients in a small town and witnessing firsthand the impact she may have had on someone’s life is invaluable.
“I’ve spent some of my career working with childhood obesity. I’ve been in Kroger and had patients try to get into another checkout line so I don’t see what’s in their cart,” she said. “These people trust what I’m telling them, and that can be an overwhelming feeling, but that’s what drives me. The community comes to you for answers.”
Cochran knew she wanted to be a nurse after spending part of her childhood in hospitals due to heart issues.
“I was in a large hospital and I was scared to death. I remember that the nurse gave me shots every night. I remember she tried to do what she could to minimize the situation,” she said. “Ever since then I wanted to be a nurse and I wanted to be part of the people who took care of others.”
Cochran is involved in translational research projects focused on diabetes, childhood obesity, the health care needs of children and care of children in rural Appalachia. As a WVSOM faculty member, she conducted clinically based research through the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute in addition to teaching students how to observe trends in caring for patients.
“Other schools may do basic science or bench research, but WVSOM excels in translational research. These projects may not make the journals, but they impact people. Our translational research faculty may not be finding a cure for cancer, but they can understand how we can better work with patients with fussy babies, lack of resources or over-the-counter medicine management,” Cochran said. “Thanks to translational grants, health care professionals can look out of the box or out of the exam room to connect the dots within community-based research. It’s research from the bottom up.”
One program that was implemented as a result of Cochran’s research was the Robert C. Byrd Clinic’s “telesoothe” program, which began in early 2020 with in-person visits that utilized an infant simulator to demonstrate swaddling to family members. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many parents were isolated from their usual support system or extended family and weren’t able to visit a clinic, so the program was offered through telehealth.
WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., praised Cochran and discussed the important contributions of all health care providers.
“Whether you’re a physician, nurse practitioner, health care administrator, clinical faculty member or a member of the community who provides health care knowledge to West Virginians, these health care professionals are the individuals making a positive health impact in communities throughout the state,” he said. “I could not be happier for Dr. Cochran, who not only is an inspirational faculty member at WVSOM but is someone who is completely committed to helping better patients’ lives.”
The Health Care Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have had a positive influence in the state, whether by starting a unique business to meet a need, developing devices to improve medical treatment, acting as a trailblazer in the profession, leading efforts to treat underserved populations or finding new ways to address West Virginia’s health issues. Inductees can be on the front lines as doctors and nurses or work behind the scenes in roles such as researchers, entrepreneurs or volunteers.
This is the fifth year the magazine has honored health care professionals, and a WVSOM alumni or administrator has been recognized each year. Each Hall of Fame award recipient’s story can be found in the Winter 2024 edition of West Virginia Executive magazine.