Polishing a jewel in Tenet’s crown
There’s always been something special about St. Francis Hospital-Bartlett, according to Jeremy Clark, its CEO.
Clark says it’s more than just the youthful energy and enthusiasm that makes the hospital – currently celebrating its 10th anniversary —a unique source of pride for the firm that owns it.
Although there are more than 80 hospitals in Tenet Healthcare Corporation’s national chain, “there has always been a buzz about St. Francis-Bartlett within the company,” Clark said. “It was one that people were always talking about because of the growth it was seeing and the care and service it was delivering to its patients. It was a real honor for me to be selected as this hospital’s CEO in 2012.”
Clark is proud of the role he has played in its recent growth, as well. He points to a newly completed two-year expansion that effectively doubled the size of the hospital, adding operating suites and a cardiac cath lab and an expanded ICU, and increasing the number of licensed beds to 196, with 33 beds in the ER. The hospital recently added the latest Intuitive da Vinci® robotic surgical system and also has gained national certification for its chest pain center.
Such strides have not gone unnoticed. As a result, Clark and his crew have been collecting awards and recognition from such organizations as the American Heart Association; the Leapfrog Group, which issued one of only four “A” grades awarded to Memphis hospitals; and Consumer Reports, which assessed St. Francis-Bartlett the highest safety score of any Memphis-area hospital.
“Given the high-quality hospitals that are in this area, this is real kudos,” Clark said. “It’s exciting for me to see that the hard work we’re putting into the quality of care we’re delivering is paying off.”
He says overall development of services is also exciting.
“We’re growing our robotic surgery program and attracting some of the top general surgeons, urologists and OB/GYNs in Memphis to practice at this hospital.”
With about 500 physicians on staff, St. Francis-Bartlett employs between 50 and 60, and Clark is actively recruiting more.
“It’s important for people in this community to have access to good primary care. So over the next 12 months,” he predicted, “you’re going to see us employ more physicians, and a lot of them are going to be in primary care centers in areas throughout northeast Shelby County and beyond. We’re talking to a lot of physicians right now who are not only excited about what we’re doing, but want to become employed with St. Francis.”
When he assesses the hospital’s potential and develops future strategies, Clark speaks from experience: His initial love affair with the hospital industry developed during his college internship in hospital administration at the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md. Since then, the native of Birmingham, Ala., has worked with Merit Health
Systems and Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Washington, D.C., and earned his MBA from Duke. He went on to serve as vice president and chief of staff to Trevor Fetter, Tenet's president and CEO, along the way serving as associate administrator at Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham and as chief operating officer at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Clark joined Tenet in 2004, and as chief of staff at its Dallas home office, he assisted in strategy development and led projects on behalf of the senior leadership team. As he observed, “I learned a lot through interacting on a daily basis with some really incredible people — but I always knew I wanted to be back in a hospital.”
The opportunity to take the helm of the dynamic young Bartlett hospital was an answer to that wish. Clark finds, however, that its youth also creates a challenge.
“There are a lot of great hospitals and healthcare systems in this town. We cannot afford to be just as good as, we’ve got to be better. So we’re constantly trying to develop services and improve the quality of care that we deliver to set us apart, and it’s exciting to see some of those results coming to fruition."
There’s no secret behind the hospital’s success, Clark said. It starts with attracting great and talented people at all levels, including top area physicians, and building strong relationships through visibility and interaction daily, throughout the hospital. Hard work and cost-effective data-driven decisions also lead to better patient care, he believes.
His strategy seems to be working — fueling plans to continue developing the hospital’s cardiovascular program and attracting more leading physicians to provide better community access to care through both primary care and urgent care centers.
In the longer term,” Clark said, “I really see us becoming a premier healthcare organization in a city already full of really great healthcare institutions.
“It’s a very challenging time for healthcare, and we’re certainly not immune to those challenges, but at the same time it’s a very exciting time for this hospital. We’re growing; we’ve invested well for future growth. We’re part of a growing and vibrant community that has been incredibly supportive of this hospital, and the quality of care that we’re delivering and the service that we’re providing to both patients and physicians makes us a really great place to practice."
Clark and his wife, Amanda, enjoy spending time with their 2-year-old daughter and they love to travel; a trip to Portugal is on their agenda.
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