Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/699873
t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 6 10 10 TMC SPOTLIGHT Q | Let's start from the beginning. What brought you to Memorial Hermann? A | It was by circumstance, actually. I had been in Houston since '92 and was responsible for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word Health Care System of Houston, which was a large, international health system with facilities throughout the U.S. and in Ireland. Their headquarters were in Houston and they owned St. Joseph's Hospital at the time, as well as a number of other hospitals in Texas. I had just finished merging that system with the San Antonio Catholic system to form an organization called CHRISTUS in 1999. After the merger, the leadership decided to relocate the headquarters to a neutral city that wasn't home to either of the congregations, so they picked DAN WOLTERMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF MEMORIAL HERMANN FROM 2002 TO 2016, SAT DOWN WITH WILLIAM F. McKEON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF STRATEGY AND OPERATING OFFICER OF THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, TO DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE, HEALTH CARE FOR THE UNDERSERVED, AND HOW HE PLANS TO SPEND HIS RETIREMENT. that my tenure would likely be short-term. At the time, I thought I would go back to running national health systems. That was 17 years ago. The reason I was so attracted to Memorial Hermann was that I had watched and observed it over the years, and I held the System in very high regard for their adherence to their mission and values. They always took good care of all people, regardless of their ability to pay. From a values standpoint, they ran first-class facilities. I really liked their leadership— from Dan Wilford to Ken Wine, on down the line. It was something that was attractive to me. So once they approached me, it didn't take me very long to consider it. I liked the idea of seeing what Memorial Hermann was really like from the inside. Dallas. The move would require executives to either relocate to Dallas or be away from family during the work week to work out of the Dallas office. I didn't want to put my family through either option, so I decided to leave CHRISTUS after the conclusion of the merger. My desire was to stay in Houston for one more year so my son could reach a certain age where it would have been easier to move him to a different school. By that time, about a year and a half had passed since the Memorial Hermann merger came together and the new organization was struggling a little bit with operations, strategy and integration. Dan Wilford, CEO of Memorial Hermann at the time, asked if I would come and assist him and the System. I said I would be delighted to join Memorial Hermann, but