School of Communication
Face to Face with...
Brent L. Larson
Executive Director
Allegan General Hospital Foundation
B.A. Communication Arts and Sciences, 1979
M.A., Organizational Communication, 1996
Brent is Executive Director of the Allegan General Hospital Foundation in Allegan, Michigan, continuing a communication career of more than 25 years in health care. He completed two WMU degrees, a Bachelor's in Communications (with a Business minor) in 1979, and a Master's in Organizational Communications in 1996.
Brent started his career in 1979 as executive director of CFC-TV, a non-profit agency serving churches and other community organizations in Grand Rapids through cable television production and programming. In 1983 (attributed with gratitude to the helpful counsel of now-emeritus WMU communication faculty member Tom Pagel) Brent decided to pursue a communication career in health care, and landed a position as the first dedicated staff person for public relations and fund development at a small rural hospital in Carson City, Michigan. He built on his health care communication experience over the next twelve years with positions in the public relations department of Bronson Healthcare Group, the parent organization of Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo; as director of development for the Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, the area's graduate medical education campus; and in Battle Creek, Michigan as manager of public relations for Battle Creek Health System.
Brent's focus changed to home health and hospice care as he returned to Kalamazoo in 1995 as community-relations manager for the Visiting Nurse Association of Southwest Michigan. In 1998, Brent began work in philanthropy and fundraising as a senior development officer for the Borgess Foundation. Concurrently, he learned new skills through his parallel role as a legislative advocate, handling government affairs on the state and national levels for Borgess' regional health care system. In yet another healthcare communications opportunity, he served for three years in senior health and residential care as Vice President for External Relations for Heritage Community of Kalamazoo.
In 2002, Brent was selected by area professional communication colleagues to receive the Tony Griffin Golden Word Award "to recognize the exemplary practice of professional communication and to honor an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the field in Southwest Michigan."
Updated 05.26.2009