JULY/AUGUST 2006

Newsmakers

AUSTIN
Pat Hayes, Ph.D., executive vice president and chief operating officer for the SETON Healthcare Network, retired July 1 after eight years in the position. Hayes will continue to work with Seton as a consultant for organizational development and executive coaching. Prior to joining Seton in 1998, Hayes served as president of St. Edward’s University in Austin for 14 years.

Jesus Garza assumed the newly defined role within the Seton organization as executive vice president/chief operating officer. Garza joined Seton in 2002, when he retired as Austin city manager.

DALLAS
Ellen Hollon, M.S., CCLS, director of child life/child development for Children’s Medical Center Dallas, received the Child Life Council’s Distinguished Service Award in May. The award is presented annually to an individual in the field of child life who has significantly contributed to the development of the profession.
            Hollon has been involved in the child life field for more than 27 years. She was a charter member of Child Life Council in 1982 and served in key leadership roles at every level of the professional association, including a term as president.  

In May, Medical City Hospital in Dallas received the 2006 Texas Award for Performance Excellence. Patterned after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the annual Texas Award for Performance Excellence recognizes quality and organizational performance. The hospital was the only health care facility among this year’s four recipients, selected from among 13 applicants. An independent board of examiners evaluated applicants in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results. The evaluation process included individual review, team consensus and an on-site visit by teams of examiners.

Baylor Health Care System has appointed Steve Horn vice president of real estate for the system. Horn will manage the growth and expansion of Baylor facilities and be responsible for campus master planning and space allocation at all nine Baylor Health Care System campuses, as well as oversee acquisition and disposition of owned and leased property to support expansion into new markets. Additionally, he will oversee Baylor’s public safety and parking services departments.
            Horn comes to Baylor with 25 years of experience in strategic real estate management. Previously, he was the senior vice president of Windrose Medical Property Trust in Indianapolis, IN, where he oversaw a portfolio of 74 medical office buildings, ambulatory surgery centers and specialty hospitals. Prior to that, Horn served as senior vice president of the Trammell Crow Company in Indianapolis.

Biggs Porter has joined Tenet Healthcare Corp. as chief financial officer, replacing Robert Shapard who left the company last fall to return to the energy industry. Prior to joining Tenet, Porter was vice president and corporate controller for Raytheon Co., in Waltham, Mass. Previously he was senior vice president and corporate controller at TXU Corp. in Dallas.

EL PASO
R. John Harris is the new CEO of Sierra Providence Health Network. Harris has more than 25 years’ experience in health care, including serving as CEO of seven hospitals. Most recently, he was CEO of Lake Pointe Medical Center in Rowlett. Harris replaces the retiring Thomas Casaday.

HOUSTON
Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital changed its name in May to Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. The hospital celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

The hospital’s chief executive officer, Steve Allen, announced in May that he has resigned to become CEO of Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

CHRISTUS Health is the new corporate sponsor for the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research, a nationally recognized leader in cancer research. The research facility will be renamed the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research to preserve the important legacy of Dr. John S. Stehlin, surgical oncologist and founder of the research organization. In addition, the foundation will retain the organizational structure and 18,000-square-foot laboratory currently located on the CHRISTUS St. Joseph campus.

Drew Kahn has been appointed chief executive officer at Houston Northwest Medical Center. Kahn first joined the hospital in 1993 as home health director, and later was associate administrator and director of business development. In 2004, he was named chief operating officer at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center where he helped lead relief efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He returned to Houston Northwest Medical Center as interim CEO in October 2005.  

Houston Town & Country Hospital has appointed Theresa Allen Eatherly chief financial officer. Eatherly replaces Art Johnson, who left the hospital to enter the ministry. Previously, she was vice president of patient business services and associate administrator of the Harris County Hospital District for eight years. She also has worked in leadership positions for Tenet Healthcare Corp., The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, American Medical International and Lifemark Corp. 

Phillip Robinson has joined Hospital Partners of America as vice president of operations for its Texas region.  Robinson will office at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston. Previously, Robinson was CEO of Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena.

 The Methodist Hospital System has been named as one of "America's Healthiest Companies" in 2006 by the Wellness Council of America. The designation is based upon a set of criteria that includes weaving healthy lifestyles into the organization's culture, as well as validated, quantifiable results of the organization's health promotion efforts. 
            Methodist is only one of two organizations in Texas – and the only hospital – to receive WELCOA's "Gold Award" for 2006. The Gold Award recognizes those companies that have successfully built comprehensive worksite wellness initiatives and are demonstrating and capturing concrete outcomes related to behavior change, cost effectiveness and return on investment.

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS
North Hills Hospital recently named four new directors to its leadership staff. They are Nick Galt, controller; Janet Fain, director of medical staff; Allene Brown, RN, B.S.N., M.B.A., director of education; and Jennifer Duggins, PT, director of therapy services.

RUSK
THA member HGA Architects and Engineers recently won two design awards from the Illumination Engineering Society of America for the firm’s work on the East Texas Medical Centers in Tyler and Rusk. HGA received a Waterbury Award for Outdoor Lighting Design for its work at the ETMC Rusk Outpatient Facility. It also received a Waterbury Award for Outdoor Lighting Design for work on the ETMC Tyler emergency room addition.