The Face of Alabama Healthcare
Get to know the CEOs guiding Birmingham through today’s ever-changing medical system.
BY SARAH BRUEGGEMANN | PHOTO BY EMILY HOOTEN

Garry Gause
President and CEO, Brookwood Medical Center

Getting there: “I had a younger sister who was severely debilitated, so from an early age I was directly involved in doctor’s visits and caring for someone who couldn’t take care of herself. I volunteered in hospitals to get to know the system better, then got my undergraduate degree and graduate degree in hospital administration. My first CEO job was in Cullman, Alabama. I went from Cullman to Decatur to Huntsville to Olympia, Washington, and then back to Birmingham and Brookwood in 1999.”
Goals: “We’ve made a considerable amount of progress regarding customer satisfaction and addressing community needs in the last 10 years. My hope is that in the next 10 years we’ll use all the things we’ve accomplished to take on the changes that will be inevitable with healthcare reform.”
Recent changes: “We have recently added a comprehensive wound care center, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and several new surgical techniques, including GYN oncology services. We’re getting ready to start a construction project that will add a new women’s hospital. We’re also expanding our mental health services, addressing tremendous needs in our community and the U.S. as a whole.”
Toughest part: “It gets harder and harder to make sure you provide services when there are less resources and an increasing population.”
What’s rewarding: “It’s when someone leaves the hospital better than when they came. We want patients not just to return to their previous existence, but to return better and excited about the future.”

The Face of Alabama Healthcare
Get to know the CEOs guiding Birmingham through today’s ever-changing medical system.
BY SARAH BRUEGGEMANN | PHOTO BY EMILY HOOTEN

Mike Warren
President and CEO, Children’s Health System

Getting there: “The major expansion/replacement project at Children’s is what brought me to the hospital. At a cost of more than $400 million, this will be the largest single medical project in the history of Alabama. I put to use the experiences gained from 25 years in senior leadership positions at Energen and Alabama Gas. I was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Children’s for nearly 20 years and chaired the Board for two of those years.”
Goals: “We, of course, want to finish our project on time and on budget. But at the same time, my hope is to use this once-in-a-career opportunity to help Children’s prepare for the new world of healthcare that is coming. We will be much better as an organization for having gone through this complicated, multi-year process. With a new state-of-the-art campus we will be even better able to provide safe and effective care to meet the expectations of our patients, families and physicians.”
Recent changes: “A major improvement brought about by the expansion/replacement facility is that pediatric cardiovascular surgery will now be done here. Children’s will become a truly comprehensive pediatric center.”
Toughest part: “I thought the utility business was highly regulated, and I also thought leading a publicly traded New York Stock Exchange company was challenging—then I came to healthcare!”
What’s rewarding: “This is an exciting time to be at the hospital. It has been wonderful to meet  so many bright, dedicated and mission-committed individuals. It is fun to come to work every day and find what new challenge or opportunity awaits.”

The Face of Alabama Healthcare
Get to know the CEOs guiding Birmingham through today’s ever-changing medical system.
BY SARAH BRUEGGEMANN | PHOTO BY EMILY HOOTEN

Keith Granger 
Interim CEO, Trinity Medical Center

Getting there: “I got into healthcare as a high school volunteer at a hospital in Dothan, Alabama. I studied at UAB and received experience in the operating room and cardio cath lab. Thirty-four years later, I’m serving as interim CEO at Trinity and have committed to being here for a minimum of six months. I was brought in as part of the effort going on at Trinity to make it a premier system within our region. In December 2008, my prior hospital (also owned by Community Health Systems) was identified as being the number one hospital in the country for clinical process measures as identified by Medicare and Medicaid Services. That is what I hope to do for Trinity.”
Goals: “There is certainly the business side and the regulatory side, but the most important part is what happens at bedside. Our patients and their families are foremost in my mind every day. I hope that I can join our team of very highly skilled medical staff and wonderful employees and help accentuate the good work they are doing.”
Recent changes: “One of the very first events upon my arrival was the national recognition that Trinity received for its cardiology program. We are looking to expand a number of our service lines, including the areas of gastroenterology and orthopedics.”
Toughest part: “Being new, it’s difficult to try to remember 1,500 new names. In our industry right now, the toughest thing is to forecast the future of healthcare and predict how revenues and reimbursement can be met without jeopardizing the quality of service. As the reform initiatives roll out, we often find ourselves waiting for the next shoe to drop. Most of our revenue is connected to state and national, so we are dependent on government. In making long-range plans you have to keep that in mind.”
What’s rewarding: “It’s seeing employees getting a chance to develop to their full potential; it’s meeting with a patient or family and seeing the results of outstanding care; it’s being able to demonstrate those results. Proving scientifically that your infection rate is improving, mortality is better, readmission is lessened: That’s rewarding.”

 

The Face of Alabama Healthcare
Get to know the CEOs guiding Birmingham through today’s ever-changing medical system.
BY SARAH BRUEGGEMANN | PHOTO BY EMILY HOOTEN

Keith Parrott
President and CEO, Princeton Baptist Medical Center

Getting there: “I come from a family of Baptist ministers: my dad, father-in-law, grandfather, uncles and cousins. I didn’t see myself as a full-time minister, but I was exposed to people dedicating their lives to helping others. After undergrad I started in Houston with an entry-level position on the front line. Then I went to school at night to get my master’s in health administration, and I worked with Memorial Hermann in a variety of roles. When the Princeton CEO position came open, the Baptist hospital was appealing because I was a preacher’s kid.”
Goals: “My first order of business was to stabilize our financial situation. Princeton had a rough year financially before I got here. If we aren’t operating in the black it’s hard to meet our mission. Our next goal is to complete a $70 million renovation. We plan to break ground early 2010. We have a great medical staff, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, and we want to continue raising our quality of care by integrating everyone who touches a patient. We also want to be a partner and translate some of our success to the local community, making the West End a healthier place to live.”
Recent changes: “In July, we became the first hospital in Birmingham to receive full accreditation as a chest pain center
from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. We’ve merited the America Heart Association’s Gold Performance Award. Also in July, we were accredited by Medicare as a Bariatric Center of Excellence. We’ll probably do more than 400 bariatric operations this year.”
Toughest part: “There is less and less black and white in healthcare and much more gray. As a society we want everyone to have the best in healthcare, but we haven’t faced the reality of what it will cost. There is a daily balance of having finite resources and wanting to provide infinite services.”
what’s rewarding: “In my role as administrator, I’m not directly touching patients. But every week I get letters and e-mails from patients and families who have received care. We are a truly Baptist institution, not just a place of technology. People write about getting a nurse that didn’t just heal them, she prayed with them. She met their spiritual needs.”