On a day celebrating the discovery of America, Baylor Scott & White Health associates and friends just discovered the successor to its retiring President/CEO Joel Allison. Starting on Monday, January 16, Jim Hinton shall take over the reins of the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas.
If Jim’s name is new in these parts, it’s because he’s coming from Presbyterian Healthcare Services, a private, not-for-profit healthcare system in New Mexico — the largest in the state.
Like Joel, Jim is a long-term type. He joined Presbyterian on January 10, 1983, and was made President/CEO in 1995. And like Joel, he has grown his organization through a dynamic period in the healthcare industry.
According to Baylor Scott & White Holdings Board of Trustees Chair Jim Turner, “During this time of incredible change in healthcare, Jim brings exceptional experience that will help move us into the future. He is one of the few health system leaders in the country who has successfully navigated an organization from a focus on volume to a focus on value; and beyond his impressive accomplishments, those he leads are quick to say he is best known for promoting a caring culture.”
A graduate of the University of New Mexico with a degree in economics, Jim earned his master’s degree in healthcare administration from Arizona State University. In both 2013 and 2014 he was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare. In 2012 Hospitals And Health Network interviewed him as he prepared to assumed the chairmanship of the American Hospital Association.
In addition to his own credentials, Jim’s family is very attuned to the healthcare industry. His mother worked for University of New Mexico Hospital CEO Bill Johnson, who was instrumental in Jim’s pursuing a career in healthcare. One of Jim’s brother is a child psychologist in Tucson and “my other brother is a radiologist.
But please don’t think Jim is a stuffy type. When asked about being a CEO by Autumn Gray of the Albuquerque Journal, Jim replied, “There’s a lot about the image that people have of the CEO that I just reject — like I don’t play golf. But when people hear that, they say, ‘You don’t play golf?!’ I look at CEOs. I look at these very serious, self-important people, and I just don’t want to be that. The way our organization succeeds, and if I’m the happiest, is if the hierarchy is minimized except where you need it to create order. And everything else is the team working together. There’s days where the most important person at Presbyterian is Marty Archunde, who stands out here as the security guard and greets us all on the way in. And other days it’s Carl Lagerstrom who’s doing surgery on some little baby who has a heart defect.
“So I guess I like to have fun, and I think it’s important to have fun at work. Work shouldn’t have to be work.”
While the Hinton family makes the move from New Mexico to North Texas, Joel “will work with Hinton to ensure a seamless transition of responsibilities.”