Becker's Hospital Review

22 CEO / STRATEGY throughout all the organizations is getting organizations focused and helping leadership teams to focus. "As humans, we're not always so great about saying, 'No, we're not going to spend time on this.' But I spend some time with my direct reports reminding them that there are very important projects, wonderful things they could be doing, and those things are going to have to sit on the back burner for a little while." He said COOs are also expected to opine more on external financial circumstances and how that reality is influencing internal decisions. "It's always been important to have a great partnership with your CFO," he said. "But increasingly, we're being looked to to provide some of that financial leadership that historically we haven't." Additionally, he said COOs must ensure their teams are focused on access and selectively expanding the businesses the organization wants to grow. "If we look forward at some of the potential things coming out of D.C., and certainly some of the executive orders that we've seen, we will be challenged to be more efficient — both in our research enterprise and our clinical care enterprise and our education enterprise," he said. "So, making sure the team stays very focused on the things that are going to yield the most benefit to our patients and our organization — I think that we turn that knob from maybe seven or eight up to 10 in terms of focus." Another area Mr. Majzun sees growing in importance for COOs and organizations is technology. "e technologies that we didn't know about two years ago are saving us thousands of hours right now — and very soon, hundreds of thousands of hours — as organizations," he said. "So, things like AI, language models, thinking through how we're applying machine learning and working with our vendors to ensure that they're pushing those things forward — I think there's a ton of excitement in that area, and that is not the role of the CIO. at, to me, is the role of the chief operating officer, to really push that throughout the organization. "Each one of my executives has a digital transformation plan. I think that is one of the ways we're going to continue to drive progress in the industry. And I feel like a kindergartner in the world right now, where I wish I was a graduate student with respect to technology — but I'm spending a lot of time learning about that and actually converting that into action inside our organization." n Tenet-owned Texas system taps market CEO By Kristin Kuchno B ill Waechter has been named market CEO of San Antonio-based Baptist Health System, part of Dallas- based Tenet Healthcare. Mr. Waechter has spent the past 15 years as president of North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, according to a March 26 Facebook post from the health system. In that role, he also oversaw Baptist Children's Hospital and Baptist Orthopedic Hospital, according to the system's website. In his new role, Mr. Waechter will serve as market CEO for all Baptist hospitals, affiliated organizations and Nacogdoches (Texas) Medical Center. Baptist Health System operates acute care hospitals, off- campus emergency departments, micro-hospitals and imaging centers. In July, it opened its seventh acute care hospital, the $300 million Westover Hills Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. n NYU Langone taps next CEO By Kelly Gooch N ew York City-based NYU Langone Health has selected Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD, as the next CEO and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Kimmelman, a researcher and radiation oncologist, joined the health system in 2016 and most recently served as director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center. In his new role, he will succeed Robert Grossman, MD, who is retiring. "We are excited to name Dr. Kimmelman to this position, given his extraordinary talent, leadership experience and strong character. He is the right choice to build on Bob's legacy and lead our institution into its next phase of innovation and impact," Kenneth Langone, chair of the NYU Langone board of trustees and co-chair of the search committee, said in a March 31 system news release. "Finding Bob's successor was a formidable task, given his countless contributions to our institution, but we found such a leader in Dr. Kimmelman, who has demonstrated tremendous leadership throughout his career." Last summer, Dr. Grossman shared plans to retire after nearly two decades with the health system. Upon his retirement, he will become executive vice president to the board, according to the release. Mr. Langone will also retire from his role as board chair around that time but will remain a board member. Fiona Druckenmiller will become the new board chair. NYU Langone Health is a $14.2 billion organization that operates seven inpatient locations, more than 320 outpatient sites, two tuition-free medical schools and a robust research enterprise. n

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