HJAR Mar/Apr 2024

DIALOGUE 10 MAR / APR 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS Dianne Hartley, Editor Please tell us a little about yourself — why you chose healthcare administration as a career and a little about your management philosophy. Ron Peterson I actually grew up in Minne- sota. I was born in a small town very similar to Mountain Home, kind of a tourist town and in a rural area. I figured out very quickly in college that Minnesota was way too cold to live in, so I made my way to the south. I'm very glad and have lived in the South ever since. I've been at Baxter Health for about 16 1/2 years now. It's interesting. As a col- lege student, you don't always know what you want to be. When I entered college, I wanted to be a forest ranger; then, I went into business administration. Then, I real- ized that I wanted to do something with a purpose. I didn't want to just make widgets. I also found a way that I could avoid some statistic classes, so I took a concentration undergraduate residency. My mentor went to Xavier, also, so that was kind of what led me down to Xavier. And from Xavier, I did an administrative residency in Fort Myers, Florida, because I really wanted to get out of the cold. I enjoyed that very much and had a great opportunity down there. That was a one- year residency, and I actually spent about 16 months there. I guess I was a little slow but enjoyed it. Then, I started work in Nash- ville, Tennessee, for HCA in the for-profit world and was in their corporate office. From there, I went toWichita, Kansas, then to St. Louis, and then to Kentucky. When I left Nashville, I went back to the not-for- profit side. That's what I've truly loved, and rural healthcare, also. Editor How did those Jesuits affect your thinking or your concept of healthcare? Peterson That's a really good question. I was raised in the Lutheran church. I went to Jesuit graduate school. Right now, if you ask me, I'm a member of the Church of Christ, but I think what the Jesuits and the program director at the time, EdArlinghaus, instilled in me and really brought out was the concept of a calling, a mission. Not-for- profit healthcare is important to America and is important to all citizens. I can go into 100 different reasons why, and I'll be happy to do that if you want. I think that was one of the things Xavier brought tomy attention. When I did my one-year residency down in Fort Myers, Florida, Jim Nathan was my preceptor down there — the head of Lee Memorial Hospital at the time. He really pushed for a for-profit system because in the '80s, there were a lot of for-profit hos- pitals starting and growing in Florida. The not-for-profit world was becoming a minor- ity. So, it was a really good environment to see that comparison and difference. I also saw the difference when I went to work for HCA and just felt that if you really believe in the concept of what not-for-profit hos- pitals do, that's where you want to stay. So, I jumped back over. Ron Peterson, FACHE, is president and CEO at Baxter Health, a fully integrated nonprofit health system focused on providing compassionate care beyond measure to patients of North Central Arkansas and South Central Missouri. The state-of-the- art healthcare system encompasses a 268-bed, short-term acute care hospital, outpatient surgery center, and over 40 primary and specialty care clinics. This allows Baxter Health to offer some of the latest advancements in medicine across a comprehensive array of specialties that include: family medicine, emergency medicine, cardiology, heart and vascular surgery, neurosurgery, general surgery, orthopedics, women’s health, and more. Peterson has worked extensively with state and national hospital associations. His 14-year tenure with the Arkansas Hospital Association earned him the Grass Roots Champions Legislative Award, and he is currently the sitting past chair. He has spent over five years on the American Hospital Association's Regional Policy Board and was recently recognized as its Most Valuable PAC Player in 2021. Additionally, he contributed to the governor's trauma task force during the development of Arkansas' statewide trauma system and served on the Governor's COVID taskforce during the pandemic. Peterson is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a past chair of the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, and an active participant in numerous professional organizations. He holds a master’s degree in hospital and health administration fromXavier University in Cincinnati and a bachelor's degree in business administration, concentration in hospital administration, from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. in hospital administration with a business degree. What that did is allowed me the opportunity to do a three-month residency between my junior and senior year in col- lege. That's what got me hooked on hospital administration — I had a very good mentor, realized the challenges and the struggles, yet the diversity of the people that you work with, the complexities working with physi- cians, seeing how technology was changing. It caught my interest, got me very excited. So, I’ve been able to be in healthcare from that undergraduate degree to a graduate degree, and ever since. Editor You got a master's from Xavier, correct? Peterson That is correct. I went to Concordia College inMoorhead, Minnesota, and then I did a graduate degree at Xavier University. I did work a year in between at the same hospital where I did my three-month