Bruce Felder, a Huntington native and manager of human resources at Cabell Huntington Hospital for the past 13 years, has been named director of human resource services at Marshall University.
Felder’s new position at Marshall took effect July 2.
“The main reason for me leaving Cabell was for the challenge,” he said. “I was comfortable in my role. I was at the peak of my profession there. But, I needed to get out of that comfort zone. I had to ask myself, ‘If you are going to be a human resource practitioner, don’t you want to be a human resource practitioner that has multiple levels of experience?’ So, I jumped off the plane into free fall, and here I am.”
Felder graduated from Marshall in 2002. He was a double major in business management and management information systems (MIS). In 2007, he earned a master of science in strategic leadership from Mountain State University. He is certified as a senior professional of human resources (SPHR).
“All of that training and being certified in your industry really gives you more of a global view on how HR should look and how HR should run,” Felder said. “My focus is going to be, ‘how can we maximize the people and resources to meet the strategic plan and the objectives?’ That’s really what I bring to the table, just a different methodology or viewpoint. But, it’s really HR Fundamentals 101.”
He said he also brings more of a corporate background to Marshall.
“Working in health care at Cabell, it’s very high-volume, fast-paced, with a lot of moving parts,” Felder said. “It’s a teamwork effort and all the parts on the team have to be integrated and playing together. It’s a concept of integration and not isolation and we’re going to focus on bringing all the parts together as a well-oiled machine.”
Felder spent 20 years in the U.S. Army National guard. In 2005-2006, he was deployed for 14 months to Iraq. There, he said he learned the meaning of perseverance as temperatures at times reached 140 degrees.
“I bring that military background and leadership (to Marshall), but again, it’s still fostered around that team concept,” he said. “Everybody’s got to know what the next person is doing in order to be successful.”
He is married to his wife of 13 years, Ja’net Hill-Felder and said he is grateful for her love and support.
Felder added, “With God, all things are possible.”
