THA’s Newsmakers highlights leaders from THA member hospitals and health systems making headlines in Texas health care. Please join in congratulating our August Newsmakers:
Megan Amalakuhan
Westover Hills Hospital
San Antonio-based Methodist Healthcare named Megan Amalakuhan the first CEO of its new Westover Hills hospital. Amalakuhan has served the health system in various leadership roles since 2015. Most recently, she served as COO of Methodist Hospital-Metropolitan, also in San Antonio. The new Methodist Hospital-Westover Hills recently reached the halfway point in its construction and is projected to open in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Maria Garvin
Medical City Las Colinas
Maria Garvin has been appointed chief financial officer for Medical City Las Colinas in Irving. Garvin has more than 20 years of health care experience, including executive and senior leadership positions. Since 2021, she has served as CFO and ethics and compliance officer for HCA Healthcare’s UCF Lake Nona Hospital in Orlando, Fla. There, she implemented various processes involved with opening the new 64-bed hospital, including setting department productivity targets and monitoring ethics and compliance.
Alan Harmatz, MD
Medical City Dallas
Alan Harmatz, MD, has been named chief medical officer of Medical City Dallas. In this role, Dr. Harmatz will oversee quality, patient safety, risk management, infection prevention and medical staff services for Medical City Dallas, Medical City Children’s Hospital, Medical City Women’s Hospital Dallas, Medical City Heart Hospital and Medical City Spine Hospital. Most recently, Dr. Harmatz served as CMO of HCA Healthcare’s Florida Brandon Hospital, where he advanced patient safety, helped grow hospital services and enhanced physician engagement.
Joe Hernandez
Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare
El Paso-based Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare named Joe Hernandez its new CFO. Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare is part of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare. Most recently, Hernandez was chief financial officer and chief staffing officer at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen for three years. Before joining HCA Healthcare, he worked in financial operations with Ardent Health Services, Cigna-HealthSpring, South Texas Health Systems and Valley Baptist Health Systems.
Patty Howard, MSN, RN
HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake, HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland
HCA Healthcare has named Patty Howard, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer of two Texas hospitals. In her new role, Howard will oversee nursing operations at HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake in Webster and HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland in Texas City. She most recently served as vice president of nursing operations for the HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division. Her past leadership roles with the hospital operator include serving as CNO of HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood and HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe, both in Texas.
Rachel Marek, MD
Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands
Rachel Marek, MD, has been selected to serve as chief medical officer of Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. Dr. Marek joined Texas Children’s The Woodlands, which serves communities north of Houston, in 2016 as medical director of pediatric hospital medicine. She is also an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Before joining Texas Children’s The Woodlands, Dr. Marek spent ten years as a community pediatric hospitalist at Santa Rosa (Calif.) Memorial Hospital.
Thomas McKinney, MHA, FACHE
Baptist Medical Center
Thomas McKinney, MHA, FACHE, has been named chief executive officer of Baptist Medical Center in downtown San Antonio. McKinney has more than 20 years of experience in hospital leadership and clinical operations. Before joining the Baptist team, Thomas served as market president of Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Marcos. In addition to oversight of the 170-bed acute care hospital, McKinney also had responsibility for a multi-specialty provider group, additional clinical access points and a charitable foundation. Prior to Christus San Marcos, McKinney was president for Christus Spohn hospitals in Alice and Kingsville, Tex.
Anthony Meador, MBA, MSS, FACHE
Ascension Seton Medical Center
Ascension Texas has announced Anthony Meador, MBA, MSS, FACHE as the new Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Ascension Seton Medical Center Austin. In his role, Anthony will be responsible for overall operational efficiency and financial stewardship of the hospital, including oversight of Surgical and Emergency Services. In the past, he has held leadership roles — including COO and CEO — at army and military hospitals. Most recently, Meador served as vice president of operations for Baltimore-based MedStar Harbor Hospital.
Michelle C. Stemley, DNP, RN NEA-BC
The Woman’s Hospital of Texas
The Woman’s Hospital of Texas has announced the appointment of Michelle C. Stemley, DNP, RN NEA-BC as the chief nursing officer. Dr. Stemley brings over 25 years of nursing experience and most recently served as the Vice President of Patient Care at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center-Fort Worth providing executive oversight of nurses and colleagues, while leading the hospital’s Women’s & Children’s and Perioperative service lines.
Do you have a colleague making news in Texas health care? Send us a nomination for THA Newsmakers!
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