Amery Hospital & Clinic’s leadership team

Debra Rudquist joined Amery Hospital & Clinic in October 2014 as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that time, she held many health care leadership positions at Allina Health and Fairview Health Services – most recently functioning as the system-wide Cardiovascular Vice President for Fairview. At Allina, she held a number of operational leadership and business development positions including executive director of ambulatory services. A registered nurse by background, she has an undergraduate degree from the College of St. Catherine and a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota. She is also a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Dr. Richards joined HealthPartners in 2009 as an emergency medicine physician and medical director in western Wisconsin, and helped grow the community emergency medicine practice across five hospitals. From 2022-2024, Dr. Richards also served as the Regional Medical Director for Primary Care, an eye-opening experience to the challenges and complexity our wonderful physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants manage with great skill every day. In Dr. Richard's current role as Vice President of Medical Affairs for the HealthPartners hospitals and clinics in Hudson, New Richmond and Amery, he gets to work with our medical staff and other leaders to help drive operational excellence and quality of care, and ensure we're doing everything possible to keep patients closer to home.

Dr. Richards and his wife Susan have been residents of Hudson since 2006 and have had the pleasure of raising their four sons there. They enjoy spending time at their cabin with family and friends, and take advantage of the hiking, biking, paddleboarding and boating there, while also enjoying hikes in the many state and regional parks near their home. Dr. Richards’ personal hobbies include woodworking, working outside, alpine skiing and mountain biking.

Anthony Gould joined Amery Hospital & Clinic in 2007 as a staff physical therapist. In 2011, Anthony became the Director of Rehabilitation Services, and most recently, in 2019, he became the Director of Ancillary Services. In this role, he oversees Diagnostic Imaging, Laboratory, Nutrition Services, Rehabilitation Services and the Wound Healing Center.

Anthony completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, his master’s in physical therapy at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, his doctorate in physical therapy at The College of St. Scholastica, and received his master’s in business administration at St. Mary’s University.

Kevin Just joined Amery Hospital & Clinic in June 2022 as the Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. Kevin has over 20 years of experience working in the nonprofit social service sector, including 19 years at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he was employed previously. Roles included various frontline and leadership positions, primarily in mental health and addiction services, along with solid organ transplant.

At Amery Hospital & Clinic, Kevin oversees all inpatient medical units on Main and West campuses, including the following: med-surg (including high ops), OR, obstetrics and labor and delivery (L&D), and the emergency department, along with behavioral health on West Campus. He also has oversight of our outpatient behavioral health programs and our chemo/infusion areas.

Kevin completed his undergraduate degrees (BA in psychology, BA in communications studies) at Concordia University – St. Paul, his post-baccalaureate nursing degree at St. Catherine University, and his master’s degree in nursing administration and leadership at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Dr. Steven Long joined the Amery Hospital & Clinic leadership team in 2023 as the Clinic Medical Director, having worked as an osteopathic doctor in our Wound Healing Center since 2020. In his medical practice, he enjoys performing in-office procedures, seeing patients of all ages and emphasizing preventive medicine. His overall philosophy of care is to treat the patient as a whole person, and he believes strongly in the absolute necessity of patient education. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Rocky Vista University in 2016, and completed his residency with the Eau Claire Family Medicine Residency program in 2019.

Kierstin joined Westfields Hospital & Clinic in 2024 as the human resources director. She has worked in health care human resources for over 25 years and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Marquette University in Milwaukee.