Change isn’t always the key to growth. When you’re at the helm of an organization that’s already world-renowned, it’s wiser to commit to a proven philosophy that has contributed to strong, steady growth throughout an impressive history of more than 100 years, according to Campbell Clinic CEO George Hernandez.
In his nearly 20 years with the clinic – first as Chief Financial Officer and, more recently, in five years occupying the CEO’s chair – Hernandez has seen it grow from 26 physicians and three offices to 47 physicians and soon to be five offices and two ambulatory surgery centers, largely by focusing on core competencies.
“We haven’t deviated much from the rich tradition that Dr. (Willis) Campbell and his partners started – we’re just doing a lot more of it on a much larger scale,” he said.
Perhaps “marathon scale” would be an appropriate term, in view of Hernandez’s leisure-time commitments. An avid endurance runner, he aspires to run 100 marathons before age 100. He recently completed No. 57 – the Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska – and has run marathons in nearly 25 states, including Massachusetts, where he has qualified five times for the prestigious Boston Marathon.
A modest, self-described “middle of the pack runner, sliding more toward the second third than the top third,” he joked, Hernandez runs for the excitement and the fun and doesn’t pay much attention to his times. Like his career commitment, he’s in it for the long run.
Married, with in-laws in the Memphis area, Hernandez is originally a Northeasterner who earned master’s degrees in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio and business administration from then Memphis State. He served hospitals in California, Washington and Kentucky before relocating to Memphis and ultimately joining Campbell Clinic in 1995 as CFO. After CEO John Vines’ retirement in 2009, Hernandez was promoted to fill his position.
His primary leadership challenge results from the multiplicity of the clinic’s focuses, stressing excellence in orthopedic care, the education of orthopedic surgeons through an in-house residency program, the production of scholarly publications and continuing pursuit of musculoskeletal research.
“The traditional private practice medical group is probably 95 percent focused on just the patient care component, whereas we have to devote our energies to all four of those different activities,” he said.
Pursuing and evaluating different types of technology to fulfill clinical, educational and research needs adds to the challenge, but also offers exciting opportunities to work alongside a large group of renowned, world-class orthopedic surgeons. He believes those opportunities contribute to a distinctive Campbell Clinic culture that engenders self-motivation in its staff.
“From the orthopedic surgeons who work at the Regional One Health trauma center putting people back together who come in with virtually every bone in their body broken, to those who serve 85-year-old grandmothers who need a second total hip replacement following an original 10-year-old surgery, kids with playground fractures and weekend warriors who overstress aging bodies ... the gratification of being part of that team, even at administrative/clerical levels, and seeing the near-miraculous results, is incredibly rewarding.”
Hernandez testifies from firsthand experience: In an effort to understand the organization from every level and to experience physicians’ and employees’ roles from a hands-on perspective, he arranged when he first became CEO to step in as the “not-so-undercover boss” – and serve side by side with virtually every physician at each of the clinic’s locations, doing every job that he was able to safely and legally learn to perform.
“It was a tremendous experience,” he said, “because I got to see firsthand what goes on on the front lines. I learned more than I ever imagined.”
Among the projects he’s currently shepherding is the imminent opening of a fifth Campbell Clinic office in Cordova, while simultaneously developing a master plan for a vacant five-acre portion of its Germantown campus. In late 2013, he also supervised the acquisition of the former Midtown Surgery Center, which was reopened in April as a “100 percent orthopedic surgery center just for Campbell Clinic.”
In addition, “we’re just now embarking on the 13th edition of Campbell’s Operative Orthopaedics, which many people refer to as the bible of orthopedics,” Hernandez said. (The textbook was originally written by Dr. Campbell in the 1940s and is updated every five to seven years.)
Clinic physicians are working with local manufacturing companies to develop proprietary new products and implants; since their 40 residents are required to work with faculty physicians on a project, 40 research projects are in progress at any given time, Hernandez said.
He points to advanced clinical services in which Campbell Clinic physicians are blazing a trail – e.g. the MAGEC (MAGnetic Expansion Control) spinal bracing and distraction system, a non-invasive alternative to the emotionally and physically painful scoliosis treatment regimen that relies on traditional growing rods and repeated lengthening surgeries. Alternative VEPTR (vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib) procedures enable implanted VEPTR devices to be lengthened and the spine straightened incrementally as the child grows.
Campbell Clinic doctors are also leading the way by performing more total joint replacement surgeries for knees, hips and shoulders in their specialized ambulatory surgery centers, often allowing patients to go home safely the same day of surgery.
“We like to take a really strategic approach to our entire growth,” said Hernandez, who analyzes regional demand for orthopedic surgery and national trends that help predict increased demand. Total joint replacements are projected to increase by nearly 300 percent over the next decade, he said.
He stressed the Campbell Clinic’s renewed commitment to seek out and evaluate the needs of its customers: The After Hours Clinic, started four years ago in Germantown to improve patient access, has been so successful that the same program was added in their Southaven office. Recently, Saturday morning hours were added, and evening appointments are now offered at all locations.
Active in the community, Hernandez also serves as a reserve police officer for the city of Germantown. “I’ve got my hand in a lot of things,” he said with a smile.
RELATED LINKS: