VBHS's CEO resigns

HARLINGEN - Valley Baptist Health System's chief executive officer is stepping down.

Jim Springfield, president and CEO of the hospital system since 2003, is leaving to become a consultant on public policy, advocacy and health-plan management, Valley Baptist announced Tuesday in a statement. He will remain with the system as a consultant until mid-November, said spokeswoman Teri Retana.

Springfield's last day as CEO was Tuesday. He will continue to work from Harlingen for the time being, Retana said.

Taking Springfield's place is James Eastham, formerly chief operating officer and executive vice president of Valley Baptist Health System. Both Springfield and Eastham were executives at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston before coming to Valley Baptist.

In a statement, Springfield said he was proud of his association with Valley Baptist and its contributions to the region.

Eastham and Springfield were unavailable for further comment Tuesday.

Valley Baptist underwent significant changes under Springfield's tenure. The system purchased Brownsville Medical Center - now known as Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville - from Tenet Healthcare in 2004, expanding Valley Baptist's share of the health-care market in Cameron County.

The system also invested in Harlingen Medical Center and for-profit ventures, contracted with Cameron County to oversee its indigent health-care program and expanded many of its facilities and services.

With Springfield at the helm, the hospital system also was one of the first in the country to implement the Six Sigma program - a quality-improvement initiative first developed for Motorola - to standardize health care in its facilities. Since adopting the program, the system has received recognition from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other organizations for quality improvements.

The Six Sigma program was at the center of controversy last year after 16 emergency room doctors at Valley Baptist-Harlingen threatened to resign, calling Six Sigma rules too punitive to physicians. After a public uproar, Valley Baptist and the physicians later came to an agreement and the doctors decided to stay.