About Us

With over 30 years of communications, government, public relations and management experience in Idaho and Washington DC, Brian Whitlock brings an insider’s view of how government works to IHA as the President and CEO.

He joined the Association in 2015 and leads a team of dedicated professionals in providing voice, value and visibility to community hospitals. He creates sound policies for healthcare at both the state and federal levels, as well as works to evolve our healthcare system to one focused on quality and value for all Idahoans.

Brian’s extensive service, sage advice, and insight on Capitol Hill and in Idaho’s Statehouse make him a trusted advisor to many elected officials and lawmakers. You cannot take too many steps around the Statehouse without someone calling out Brian’s name.

Prior to joining the Association, Brian was the Director of State and Regional Governmental Affairs for the Idaho National Laboratory and advocated on behalf of nearly 4,000 scientists, researchers and engineers in eastern Idaho.

He was a trusted advisor, Chief of Staff, and State Budget Director to Governor Dirk Kempthorne. As budget director, he managed the state’s $4 billion budget impacting every Idahoan through hundreds of programs and state agencies. He also served in senior staff positions for Senator Dirk Kempthorne and Senator Jim McClure.

Brian is a 1985 graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in Broadcast Communications. He and his wife Kelly have three children: Alex, married to Jenni; James, married to Jessica, and Megan.

Stacey Carson joined the IHA team in 1988. As Vice President of Operations, Stacey works with the team to plan, implement and monitor initiatives that align with the strategic plan and operationally supports the team in fulfilling our mission of providing health policy, advocacy and comprehensive member services that strengthen Idaho hospitals ability to best serve their communities. Over her 30-year career, Stacey has participated in many statewide efforts to promote accessible, high quality and efficient healthcare, such as chairing the Idaho Telehealth Council. Stacey also devotes time to IHA’s subsidiary organization, Healthcare Business Ventures.

At the outset of her IHA career, Stacey managed the Cancer Data Registry of Idaho, a population-based cancer registry collecting incidence and survival data on all cancer patients who reside, are diagnosed, or are treated for cancer in Idaho, and promoting the use of cancer registry data to monitor trends and assisting public health officials, hospital administrators, and physicians to effectively plan services and prioritize health resource allocations.

A Boise State University Graduate, Stacey has earned degrees from the College of Social Science and Public Affairs in general studies, and from the College of Health Science in health information management. She also holds a certificate in dispute resolution.

Stacey enjoys camping, gardening, and traveling with her husband, Kip.

Toni Lawson has worked on a broad range of healthcare issues in her 14 years in the policy and advocacy arena. In 2006, she joined the Idaho Hospital Association as Vice President for Government Relations where she has successfully advocated on behalf of hospitals throughout the state of Idaho and the communities they serve.

Lawson’s career in health policy began at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where she coordinated government relations, community benefit programs and new programs to provide language and cultural awareness training opportunities for staff and physicians. Later, she worked as an independent consultant and lobbyist, successfully representing clients such as Nurse Practitioners of Idaho, the Idaho Nurses Association and the National Association of Social Workers.

This experience in public policy led her to Washington, D.C., where she served as Health Policy Advisor for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging and the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. She worked with staff and members of Congress to develop legislation, formulate positions on health policy issues, identify relevant topics for congressional hearings, and act as liaison with other committees, House staff, government agencies and outside groups.

Prior to her shift to health policy, Toni worked as a fundraiser and organizer with a variety of non-profit community organizations. This included nine years in the Basque region of Spain, and work with the Basque peace organization, Elkarri.

Lawson graduated from Boise State University with a Degree in Anthropology.

Tim’s background in healthcare spans 35 years. He relocated to Eagle, Idaho from Nashville, Tennessee in 2005 and spent 11 years in Gooding, Idaho, as both CFO and CEO of North Canyon Medical Center, then two years in the same roles at Humboldt General Hospital in Winnemucca, Nevada. He has a passion for rural healthcare and a vision and imagination for growth and expansion, taking the position that his healthcare organizations would thrive rather than just try and survive.

He joined the Idaho Hospital Association in the fall of 2021 and has set his sights on taking Healthcare Business Ventures (VENTURES), the organizations for-profit, on a fast track of growth and expansion of service partners. As a former IHA Board member while at North Canyon, and before that a founding Board member of VENTURES, Tim truly understands both organizations Mission for Idaho hospitals and the importance of being a trusted resource for our members.

Tim graduated from Furman University with a degree in philosophy and a year later the University of Georgia with a degree in accounting. He and his wife Diana have two children, Brian and Rebecca, and two grandchildren, Braylen and Ayleigha.