Susan Abel ,
Director of Operations & Engagement

Susan Abel brings more than a decade of healthcare experience in Abingdon to her role as the Wellspring Foundation’s director of operations and engagement.

As administrative manager of the Dr. S. Hughes Melton Family Medicine Residency Program at Johnston Memorial Hospital from 2017 – 2022, she oversaw the program’s daily operations and financial management, including long-term planning, project development and management, trainee and faculty recruitment, and other activities for maintaining accreditation compliance. This included identification of opportunities for growing collaborative relationships between faculty, staff, residents and leadership teams.

In this role, Abel led the program through its transition from American Osteopathic Association accreditation to the newly formed single-accreditation system with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. She also created, managed and integrated resident schedules, developed graduate retention strategy for potential program faculty and the Ballad Health service area, and managed the full residency recruitment cycle.

Abel also served as the marketing coordinator for Johnston Memorial Hospital and the Northeast Market for Mountain States Health Alliance (now Ballad Health) from 2010 – 2017. In this role, she helped launch multiple new service lines, from an interventional cardiac lab to rural-based community initiatives. Abel also helped manage marketing budgets for each hospital, supported the JMH Foundation with various fundraising initiatives, and coordinated community scholarship, donation and sponsorship opportunities.

A native of Savannah, Georgia, Abel earned her bachelor’s degree from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, and is a member of the Sigma Kappa Alpha Honors Society. She is affiliated with the Association of Hospital Medical Education and the Association of Family Medicine Administration, served on the Johnston Memorial Hospital Incident Command Team – COVID-19 response, and is a recipient of the Difference Award from Mountain States Health Alliance / Johnston Memorial Hospital.

Abel is active in the Abingdon community and at her church. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two children and tending to the family mini-farm, and is an avid volleyball fan, having played and coached at numerous levels.