METROPLEX NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Alycia Hooper
254-519-8119
March 6, 2009
For Immediate Release
Metroplex Welcomes First Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
KILLEEN — Metroplex Health System experienced a major “first” on January 5, 2009 – Don Daniels, M.D. joined as the first Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Daniels is a board-certified anesthesiologist who retired from the U.S. Army after 27 years of active duty service.
As CMO, Dr. Daniels has already worked closely with all staff levels, representing concerns throughout the facility. His current initiatives focus on quality review, utilization, credentialing and peer review for the medical staff. “Over the years, I will implement new communication tools so the hospital staff and administration can be on the same level as the medical staff,” Dr. Daniels said.
Dr. Daniels also serves as the medical staff representative to administration in the development of hospital-wide goals, plans, policies/procedures and programs. “We have already set our goals for 2009,” Daniels said. “Our main focus this year is improving quality across the board. We are all working very closely to ensure we meet these goals and continue to improve our services.”
While Dr. Daniels sets forth to reach his goals, he sees his major roles as including:
• Open interaction with all physicians privileged at Metroplex – employed physicians, physicians in private practice and physicians in group practice.
• Liaison for the interface between Scott & White Healthcare, Metroplex Health System and the physicians who practice in relationship to those two organizations.
• Assist in ongoing quality efforts and Joint Commission survey preparations.
• Assist in ensuring compliance of the necessary rules and regulations for providers.
• Work with patient care processes to identify any systemic issues that create barriers to physicians care of patients as well as strive to provide training and education that equips physicians to meet expected standards of care.
In his beginning weeks, Dr. Daniels made his rounds throughout the hospital to meet physicians, nursing staff and ancillary staff. “In order to produce an effective communication plan with productive solutions, I needed to meet all staff,” Daniels explained.
Metroplex President/CEO, Ken Finch said he is excited to be working with Dr. Daniels. “Dr. Daniels has already shown me he will be a great help in working with physicians, staff, the Chief of Staff and administration to address issues which will improve efficiency and quality of patient care.”
Frederick Barnett, M.D., Metroplex Chief of Staff commented, “He is no doubt a valuable asset to our organization. Metroplex continues to expand in size and complexity of services provided for our patients and with this growth comes new and more complex tasks of management skills and proactive planning. Dr. Daniels’ management skills and experience will definitely assist us in reaching our goals as a medical staff and organization as a whole.”
About Metroplex Health System
Metroplex Health System is the primary healthcare provider for West Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties, offering a wide array of medical specialties and wellness services. The 233-bed, multi-campus facility is a not-for-profit Christian organization operated as a community service by the Adventist Health System and Scott & White Healthcare. Adventist Health System manages 37 hospitals and employs over 43,000 people in the U.S. and is the 10th largest hospital system in the country. Scott & White Healthcare is one of the nation’s largest multi-specialty group practice systems with more than 700 physicians and scientists. Metroplex Health System and Scott & White Healthcare partnered in July 2008.
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