Managing the Strain

Greg Seiler M’92 spends his week in two hospitals. No, Greg is not a patient. He is the CEO of San Antonio’s Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan and Methodist Hospital South, located in Jourdanton, Texas. 

Greg’s time is mainly spent at Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, located on McCullough Avenue, near downtown. He visits the smaller unit in Jourdanton, some 50 miles from San Antonio, at least once per week.

Greg earned a Master of Science degree in 1992 from Trinity’s Department of Health Care Administration, and has logged more than 30 years in the healthcare field as an administrator. In spite of hard work and responsibilities, Greg has the highest regard for his chosen profession.

“I think health care is an amazing and rewarding field,” Greg says. “There is the business side, but also the science and service. The satisfaction you get from being in this field is tremendous.”

Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan, of which Greg was promoted to CEO in 2012, is a 378-bed facility. There are 12 operating suites, a Trauma Level IV emergency room, the only stand-alone women’s pavilion in downtown San Antonio, and an intensive care unit, to name a few of the many services. The hospital employs approximately 1,400 people. There is also the free-standing 24-hour Metropolitan Emergency Center at The Quarry.

Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan was the first in Texas, and eighth in the nation, to be sepsis certified, five years after Greg took the helm. Metropolitan was also designated as an accredited Chest Pain Center by the Joint Commission. The hospital has earned an “A-Level” grade over 10 consecutive ratings periods for patient safety from the nationally recognized Leapfrog Group. It also was awarded the designation of Top General Hospital in 2017 from Leapfrog, only one of three in the state. In 2019, the hospital earned a five-star rating from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Greg became CEO of Methodist Hospital South two years ago. The hospital in Atascosa County, south of Bexar County, has only 67 beds. But, Greg says there is a synergy between the two units. As an example, the Jourdanton hospital utilizes telehealth in its ER to treat, and possibly transfer patients to a higher level of care to the San Antonio hospital. The two Methodist Hospitals also share many resources.

Greg, who was born in San Antonio, but raised in nearby Boerne (attending Boerne High School), is an Aggie. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 1985 in biomedical science. Greg visited the Trinity campus his senior year and was impressed with the University’s HCAD program. He applied and was accepted with a starting date of August 1989.

But, something happened to Greg that delayed his entry into the program - he met a girl! So, Greg began his pursuit of a master’s degree in August 1990, two weeks after marrying “the girl in question,” Donna. They have been married for 30 years and have two adult daughters.

Greg cites a number of professors who were instrumental at the start of his career, including Mary Stefl, Paul Golliher, and the late Ted Sparling. In fact, Greg says he had the honor of taking the last class Golliher taught before retirement.

“The camaraderie and learning environment were so conducive to maturation of critical thinking and specific knowledge of health care,” Greg says of his time at Trinity. “That set us up to learn and gain experience. Trinity opened a lot of doors for me.”

Right after his undergraduate days at A&M, Greg went to work for St. Paul Insurance. He moved to Minnesota, then to Atlanta and Orlando, working in the risk management field.
The graduate degree from Trinity propelled Greg to a position in 1992 to vice president of cardiovascular and neuroscience services for Methodist Healthcare, the parent organization in San Antonio. He became the COO for Gulf Coast Medical Center at Panama City, Florida, and held a similar position at Riverside Community Hospital in California. Greg’s last position before starting his current job was CEO at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, Texas.

“There is never a day that’s the same as the day before,” Greg says of his experiences during his career. “There are always challenges. Whether it’s finding nurses, or dealing with something that’s happening with a physician, a patient, or a community matter.”

An ongoing challenge, of course, is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hospitals have been overwhelmed, including Methodist Hospital | Metropolitan and Methodist Hospital South. Greg says the hospital staff is dedicated, and is dealing with the pandemic on a daily basis.

“It’s been quite a strain, starting in March,” Greg says. “At the outset of the pandemic, the biggest concern was that hospitals across the country would not have the protective equipment needed to stay safe. Fortunately, we were disciplined about using only what we needed and we did not have that problem. We could not allow visitors for the longest time, and that was hard on family members, as well as our staff.”

Greg is a very busy administrator. However, he still makes time to give back to the community. His past activities include serving as chairman of the March of Dimes Walk for Babies and as co-chair of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Baron’s Gala. Greg currently serves as a board member of the Prosthetic Foundation and is on the Trinity University Health Care Administration Advisory Council.