One Month In: A CEO’s Journey to Columbus County

A First Impression

Back on a Sunday afternoon in November of last year, Carla Parker Hollis and her husband appeared to be just another couple, perhaps visiting a loved one spending a night or two at Columbus Regional Healthcare System. She recalls a friendly welcome by a front desk volunteer and many smiling, approachable staff members as she unobtrusively walked the halls of the facility.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago where Mrs. Hollis now briskly walks the corridors as the new Chief Executive Officer. And although she will be happy to discuss her strategic planning goals for the Whiteville, North Carolina-based healthcare system, she is even happier to share her excitement in joining what she describes as her new family.

And it’s only been one month.

From Radio to CEO

Carla’s road map here to Columbus County first wound its way through several other areas of North Carolina. Although she was born in Marietta, Georgia, she moved to Charlotte as she was finishing high school.

Interestingly enough, her post-college career began in Raleigh in the broadcasting field. As a radio business development manager, she specialized in working with clients in the healthcare space. It did not take long for her to realize that her affinity for the medical marketplace was leading to a different path. She went to work in the marketing department at Heritage Hospital in Tarboro, NC, where she learned just about everything there was to know about the small-town, community hospital experience.

Duke Hospital recruited her away from Tarboro, where Hollis really honed her leadership skills. Over the next 17 years, she garnered more and more operations expertise and even served as an interim CEO for over a year.

Last fall, a professional colleague shared details regarding CRHS’ executive search for its next leader. After a call to the assigned recruiter, weeks of comprehensive interviews and the previously mentioned visit to Columbus County, the search committee felt confident that they had found their candidate of choice.

Time to Roll Up Her Sleeves

Hollis admits there is a lot to do, and that she does not have all the answers — yet. What she does know is that she feels that she has been embraced by what she refers to as the “CRHS Family.” The heightened sense of community, the high level of physician engagement, and the access to technology normally not found in a small town hospital are just a few of the foundations upon which her long-term planning will depend.

Ms. Hollis has identified four key goals for CRHS over the next few years, which are listed below:

1. Improving Health and Wellness. “Preventative care is a passion of mine,” says Hollis. Recent health reports naming Columbus County as the least healthy county in the state, is something Hollis hopes to reverse, sooner rather than later. She concedes that it will require many people coming to the table in a collaborative environment to tackle the tough healthcare issues, and that CRHS will need to take a leading role in facilitating change.
2. Adding new MRI Technology. As early as this summer, CRHS will be investing in the latest Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology to bring the “gold standard of diagnostic tools” to Columbus County. CRHS’ board certified physicians and staff will receive additional training to fully utilize the equipment for even better diagnosis and treatment plans for the many patients for whom MRI presents the best imaging option.
3. Expanding Need-Based Service Options. Already, Hollis sees that expanding primary care service options is something that would provide immediate benefits to the community. Bringing the Cancer Center onto the main campus and systematically reviewing healthcare extension programs will also be on the top of her mind in 2015.
4. Utilizing Evidence-based Strategic Planning Development. Taking a page from her extensive experience within the Duke Hospital system, Hollis is working with the Board of Trustees, area healthcare partners and in-house staff members across all hospital divisions and management levels to answer the question, “What do we really want to accomplish over the next three to five years?”

“I feel like I’ve joined a family,” says Hollis. “I’ve become a part of something that is much more than a hospital. It is a healthcare system that is one part innovative, one part progressive, but above all a community of people that care for their neighbors. To me, CRHS already feels like home.”