KIM FORD A

If you’ve ever stepped foot in the ValleySim Hospital, chances are you’ve passed by Kim Ford, instructor of Healthcare Management Technology and Medical Office Administration.

After earning her Medical Assisting degree from Gaston College, Kim held a variety of positions, from working in an OB-GYN facility to teaching senior citizens how to use computers. She loves teaching people of all ages. Her career game changed when her husband, who enrolled in a Master’s program at Appalachian State University, met several instructors from CVCC. Over time, these instructors became friends with the Fords, and they learned of an open part-time position at the college. Kim decided to apply, got the job, and made the move to CVCC, where she held the teaching position for the next two years.

In January 2003, Kim advanced as a fulltime faculty member for the Medical Office Administration program. When a partner employee retired, she interviewed Laura Richard, current Department Head at CVCC, and grew eager to help Richard land the job.

“She’s so much better at management and numbers,” Ford says. “I’m not a math person!”And while Kim taught at CVCC, she also decided to get a Healthcare Management Technology degree, following in her mother’s footsteps. “It was neat to watch Mom study—she had three kids, was very meticulous, and came back to college—why can’t do it? So did.” Now, the family legacy continues. Although her oldest daughter got into Appalachian State

Kim’s connections to CVCC begin much earlier than this job, however. Her mother was an adult learner who enrolled while the college was still Catawba Valley Technical Institute (CVTI). Kim shared that her mother worked in the same career all of her adult life but received a promotion and returned to school to boost her career skills. Her mother double-majored in Business Administration and Accounting.

University, she decided she wanted to be closer to home at CVCC. This was a blessing in disguise, as Kim’s father started declining in health, and her daughter took care of him. She always told him, “I’m going to be a nurse, Papaw.”

“You’ll be a good’un,” her grandfather would reply. Not only did Kim’s daughter get the chance to share her talents with her family members, but also, she continued the legacy her grandmother started. With hopes to graduate this May, her daughter is currently enrolled in CVCC’s LPN-RN Bridge Program.

Her youngest daughter entered her senior year of high school in 2020, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. After discovering she could graduate high school that December, she started CVCC a semester early with sights set on the Cosmetology program. After finishing her cosmetology degree in 2022, she found quick success working at a salon in Lincolnton.

“Some people ask me what would be doing if I weren’t teaching at CVCC,” Kim says. “My answer? don’t know. feel like we are all put on this earth to do something, and I think this is my calling.”

It takes a special person to commit so much time and energy to education, especially healthcare education. Kim Ford embraces this calling every day, motivating her students and future healthcare professionals to reach their full potential.