Kenneth Poteete ‘71 is retired.
John Douthitt ‘73 passed away on Saturday, March 30, 2019. John was a resident of Pulaski, Tennessee at the time of passing. He spent his childhood in Duncan, Okla. and obtained an undergraduate degree from The University of Oklahoma and received his Master of Healthcare Administration from Trinity University. He served two years in the United States Army, where he was an instructor in the medics and an aide to General Chester Dahlen.
Marcus Fry, Jr. ‘75 passed away on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at the age of 70. He was a loving husband, mentor, and friend and will be greatly missed. He always remembered everyone he met, even what they were wearing when he met them. Marcus is survived by his loving wife of 51 years, Paula. He achieved many accolades in obtaining his education and in his career. He received his bachelor’s of science from Abilene Christian College in 1970 and competed as an N.C.A.A one- mile relay athlete achieving the designation of an N.C.A.A All American two times, as well as the NCAA U. S. Track and Field Federation One Mile Relay National Championship in 1969. He then pursued his Master of Science degree in health care administration from Trinity University in San Antonio in 1975 and Advanced Management Program degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.
Marcus began his distinguished career as a business manager at Central Catholic School District in Abilene, Texas (1970-1971). Other positions he held include: assistant administrator/administrator resident, acting administrator, R. E. Thomason General Hospital, El Paso, Texas (1972-1973); CEO, Merced (Calif.) Community Medical Center, (1973-1974); CEO, Sierra Medical, El Paso, Texas, where he was responsible for the development, opening and operation of 292-bed acute care, full-service hospital (1974-1979); regional vice president, Tenet South Central Region, formerly known as National Medical Enterprises (1979-1980); senior vice president, COO, Tenet International Group, where he was responsible for opening the King Faisal University Teaching Hospital, Saudi Arabia (1980-1982); senior vice president, hospital operation, Tenet Healthcare (1982-1983); senior vice president, acquisition and development, Tenet Healthcare (1983-1984); executive vice president, hospital group, Tenet Healthcare responsible for development of University of Southern California Teaching Hospital (1984-1986); group vice president/CEO, Tenet Healthcare Corporation Sierra Medical Center (1986-1995); and CEO, Sierra Medical Center/Providence Memorial Hospital, where he oversaw the merger of Providence Memorial Hospital into Tenet Healthcare system in El Paso, Texas (1995-1998).
He also received many awards as an American hospital administrator: recipient of the NME Circle of Excellence award for Outstanding CEO Knights of Malta; El Paso Sunturians award for Outstanding Community Leadership; President Achievement Award Federation of American Hospitals; Humanitarian Award from National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly National Conference of Christians and Jews); Tenet Healthcare/National Medical Enterprises Circle of Excellence for Outstanding CEO (1987-1998); Conquistador Award for outstanding service to the City of El Paso; Paso Del Norte Award for outstanding service to the Paso del Norte Region; and the Humanitarian Award from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).
A Celebration of Life service was held on May 18, 2019, at 5:00 P.M. at the El Paso Country Club.
Jim L. Walker '75 passed away on May 28, 2019. Jim was a resident of Chickasha, Oklahoma at the time of passing.
The Honorable Phylis Speedlin-Weathermon ‘77 is a retired judge and justice, having served both as a civil district court judge and as an appellate justice on the Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals. Currently, she works at the law firm of Dykema as a full-time mediator and arbitrator.
Delores Moyer ‘74, ‘78 recently retired. Classmates wishing to get in touch may write to her at 169 Glassboro Drive, Oak Ridge, Tenn. Delores had a successful management/executive and consulting career as CEO/executive director and administrator positions in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and home care entities and is currently enjoying her retirement. She also enjoys volunteering on several boards of directors and as an ombudsman in various health care facilities.
Pat Murray ‘78 has retired after 24 years of serving as CEO of Peterson Regional Medical Center in Kerrville, Texas. He was born into health care, with his mother having been trained as a nurse and his father an orthopedic surgeon. Pat began his professional life at an academic medical center for the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. In the years following, he worked in Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Texas.
Michael Darrouzet '83, the long-time chief executive of the Dallas County Medical Society, recently has been appointed the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) next executive vice president and chief executive officer.
Michael Mullins ‘87 has been named the first president and CEO of the newly created Mountain Health Network, the Huntington, WV-based regional health system formed after Cabell Huntington Hospital's acquisition of St. Mary's Medical Center.
The network comprises Cabell Huntington, St. Mary's, and Pleasant Valley hospitals. Pleasant Valley is based in Point Pleasant, W.Va.
Michael, who has more than 30 years of experience in hospital leadership, arrives from Missouri-based Ascension Healthcare, the nation's largest nonprofit health system and the world's largest Catholic health system, where he served as senior vice president. He also had worked as CEO/ministry market executive for Via Christi, the largest health care provider in Kansas, and St. John's Health System in Oklahoma.
He has worked in leadership, operations support and strategic business arrangements for 12 hospitals across the country in his career, including work in Colo., Tenn., Ind., and N.D. Michael is also a retired captain of the U.S. Naval Reserves' Medical Service Corps, where his 32 years of duty included service during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. His last Navy assignment was a tour as commanding officer of a Commissioned Reserve Medical Unit.
Steve Smith ‘87 has been appointed CEO of the Huntsville Memorial Hospital Corporation. Previously, he served as CEO of Matagorda Regional Medical Center in Bay City and Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital in Nacogdoches. Steve has 39 years of experience in medical center executive leadership and was an employee of Quorum Health Resources. He provided day-to-day strategic and operational leadership for the 58-bed general acute care hospital, freestanding wellness and rehabilitation center, an affiliated multi-specialty provider group, and a primary care clinic. Steve also has experience as CEO of Sugar Land Surgical Hospital and Kingwood Specialty Hospital. He was also the president and chief operating officer of Coffee Health Group and president and CEO of Memorial Medical Center.
Scott Flanders ‘87, ‘91, Ph.D. has joined Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC, as executive director of health economics and outcomes research. Scott is responsible for medical affairs strategy and development of real-world data generation, patient-reported outcomes, pharmacoeconomic models for the company’s flagship product – PROVENGE. Dendreon (www. dendreon.com) is a pioneer in the development of immunotherapies and were the first to develop a therapeutic vaccine to treat advanced prostate cancer, made from a patient’s own cells. Working with patient advocacy groups, physicians and health policy experts, Scott is exploring the value of personalized immunotherapy in prostate cancer and its potential to treat other cancer types. He is inspired by all the men living with prostate cancer and their loved ones. He lives in Chicago, Ill., with his wife, two sons and his dog.
Brett McClung ‘92 has been appointed president and CEO of Jacksonville, Florida-based Baptist Health. Brett has served as the executive vice president and chief operations leader for the north zone of Arlington-based Texas Health Resources since 2013. He has worked at Texas Health Resources and Harris Methodist Texas Health Plan since 1993, serving in several leadership roles, including president of hospitals in suburban and large urban markets and director/network manager of the health plan.
Brett Kinman ‘94 has been named the new administrator at Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center Marshall in Marshall, Texas. Brett oversees operations at the hospital and work with the health system’s leadership to promote patient quality and growth. He previously served HCA Healthcare where he was COO and interim CEO for the Tomball Regional Medical Center in Tomball. He has also worked as CEO for the Forrest City Medical Center in Forrest City, Ark.
Scott Manis ‘94 has been named regional business director of United Allergy Services in Richardson, Texas.
Lee ‘95 and Joseph Cazayoux ‘95 have moved to a new house in Nashville, Tenn.
Laura Irvine '96 was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Integrated Delivery Network Officer at Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas, TX.
Xavier Villarreal ‘97 has been promoted CEO of Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Previously, Xavier was CEO at Medical City North Hills in North Richland Hills, Texas. While at Medical City North Hills, his team increased patient experience scores and achieved a Leapfrog “A” safety rating, increasing from a “C” rating.
Prior to Medical City North Hills, Xavier was vice president and COO of Spohn Shoreline & Memorial Hospitals in Corpus Christi, Texas and CEO of Navarro Regional Hospital in Corsicana, Texas. Xavier also served as CEO of Eastern Oklahoma Medical Center in Poteau while it was a part of Hillcrest HealthCare System.
Xavier and his wife, Tiffany, and children Michael (12), Isabella (9), and Anthony (4) are excited to be a part of the Tulsa community.
Charles Laird '03 was promoted CEO of St. David's South Austin (Texas) Medical Center. Most recently, Charles served as CEO of Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, KS. In addition, he served as COO of Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Houston and COO of West Houston Medical Center. He began his health care career at St. David's HealthCare in Austin as an administrative resident.
Eric Reichle ‘04 has been promoted CEO of The Wellington Hospital - HCA in London.
Trey Abshier III ‘05 has been appointed CEO of Sanford-based Central Florida Regional Hospital. Most recently, Trey served as CEO of Palm Beach Gardens (FL) Medical Center. In addition, he has experience serving as CEO Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Curt Junkins ‘08 has been named CEO of Navarro Regional Hospital – part of Community Health Systems. Curt comes with more than 10 years of progressive health care management experience. Most recently, he served as chief operating officer at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Cedar Park. As COO, he was an integral part of the leadership team, overseeing the daily operations of service lines including radiology, non-invasive cardiology, laboratory, physical therapy, plant operations and food and nutrition services. He also led the design, construction and opening of a joint and spine uni,t positively impacting the growth of Cedar Park’s orthopedic program.
Prior to his tenure at Cedar Park, Curt served as assistant CEO at Brownwood Regional Medical Center. At Brownwood, he managed and coordinated hospital service line development and policy formulation. His experience and knowledge in contracts, physician recruitment and care redesign for quality outcomes also make him a natural fit for the Navarro team as they continue to advance care provided to patients.
Cary Montalvo ‘08 has been appointed executive director, laboratory services of Texas Oncology in Dallas. She has 96 labs throughout the state of Texas, all part of the physician practice Texas Oncology.
Kara Witalis ‘09 has joined BDC Advisors, LLC, a national healthcare strategy firm, as senior advisor. She has led successful provider engagements for clients that have included UCSF Medical Center, John Muir Health, Piedmont Healthcare, Dignity Health and the Children's Hospital of Oakland. Kara’s particular areas of interest include hospital/health system strategic planning and implementation; clinical product-line planning and implementation; organizational process redesign; change management facilitation; and hospital-physician contracting and integration. Before joining BDC, Kara served as a senior consultant for HealthWorks, Inc., a consulting firm which, over the past two decades, has provided strategic and business planning, valuation, contracting and practice integration and litigation support services to more than 200 different provider organizations across the nation. Kara has expertise in trauma system and trauma center development and optimization. She has led regional trauma planning projects, new trauma center projects, and projects to improve existing trauma centers, as well as successfully optimizing an inter-facility transfer center for an established trauma center.
Blake Piro ‘12 has been tapped to serve as associate administrator of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Sunnyvale for United Surgical Partners International in Sunnyvale, Texas
Adam Pegan ‘13 has been named director, management & insights of patient care services at Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, Texas.
Nathan Worley ‘14 has been promoted chief strategy officer at The Hospitals of Providence East Campus in El Paso, Texas.
Preston Clark ‘15 has been named chief strategy officer of Doctors Hospital of Manteca (Calif.). Most recently, Preston served as director of strategy at The Hospitals of Providence Memorial Campus in El Paso, Texas.
Colin Dmochowski ‘13, ‘15 has been named associate consultant with Huron Consulting Group.
JW Newman ‘15 has been tapped to serve as COO of Medical City Fort Worth (Texas) . Most recently, JW served as associate COO at Medical City Dallas. Previously, he was associate COO at Medical City Fort Worth.
Brin Hjalmquist ‘13, ‘16 has been promoted manager of strategy and operations at Seton Healthcare Family in Austin, Texas.
Hanna Batory ‘16, ‘18 has been selected assistant administrator of The Woman's Hospital of Texas, HCA in Houston, Texas.
Andrea Reyes ‘18 has been named planning analyst with Ascension Texas' Strategy and Planning team in Austin, Texas. She was previously the administrative fellow/resident for Ascension Texas (Seton).
You might be interested in
