New BTV Senior Director of Healthcare Services Takes the Reins
Bright-eyed and intelligent with an energetic yet sharply focused demeanor, Vickie Prince hit the ground sprinting in July 2024 as Butterfield’s new senior director of healthcare services. Her years of experience range from upper-level healthcare system management to hands-on clinical care – and she now leads a seasoned team that supports the BTV Health Care Center skilled nursing facility, the Special Care Center for residents with cognitive disorders, the Assisted Living residential setting and day-to-day services provided through the Resident Care office for all independent living residents.
Vickie grew up in Sheridan, Ark., a small town located west of Pine Bluff and due south of Little Rock. Born in Fayetteville, N.C., her relocation to Fayetteville, Ark. from her most recent home in Jonesboro, Ark. feels like a fun coincidence. Vickie’s husband, Cole, 10-year-old daughter Evelyn and 8-year-old son Henry have all enthusiastically embraced their move across the state, settling in quickly over the summer. “The area is just beautiful, with a great reputation. I am looking so forward to seeing the fall colors and exploring as a family,” she said. “This has been a big move for us, but it has given me a chance to get out of my comfort zone, stretch my world and grow as a person. I am excited to use my experience in new ways as I plug into a well-known and established environment.”
Vickie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and then earned her master’s in physical therapy, both from Arkansas State University. She laughs when asked how she chose her particular course of study, “I ripped my gluteus maximus during high school cheerleading tryouts, and ended up doing three months of physical therapy.” She had also already been suffering from the continuous wrist pounding required to do acrobatic tumbling and accepted that surgery was likely in her near future. After working with a physical therapist, however, both of her physical issues were resolved. The healing results of her intensive therapy ensured she still got to be a cheerleader – and it inspired the basis of what a future of helping others could look like for her.
Vickie’s career growth trajectory evolved at an unusually rapid pace, but not before she experienced what felt like a demoralizing setback following graduation. “To be honest, I got overextended. When it came time for me to take my board exams to become a licensed physical therapist, I failed twice,” she said. She buckled down, kept working and finally passed on her third try. “Initially, I was embarrassed and didn’t want people to know how much I had struggled. But then I realized my challenge was something I should share. By telling other people, I could show that I’m not perfect. I could use myself as an example of how important it is to keep getting back up. It was hard, but it was worth it.”
Vickie is a self-professed management learning tools geek. A passion for leadership books and podcasts has helped her appreciate and better navigate others’ varied perspectives and behaviors while fine-tuning and remaining true to her own core values of character, integrity and work ethic. Her husband and mother-in-law offer her a safe space as valued sounding boards, providing life counsel, confidence and unwavering support when circumstances require making the right choices – not necessarily the popular ones.
As Vickie explores and defines the opportunities that come with the newly-created role she has assumed, she recognizes a need to push her old bounds in favor of building a new future on Butterfield’s well-established foundation. She’s ready.
