GRMC CEO Robert WhitakerBy Mary Alice Murphy

Robert Whitaker arrived in Silver City as Gila Regional Medical Center's new permanent chief executive officer a few weeks ago. He has hit the ground running, meeting with local physicians, hospital staff and community members.

"Why excites me most to be at Gila Regional? The people, the community, the geography, the opportunities we have with this facility, its medical providers and staff," he replied. "We have a great medical staff here. I've enjoyed meeting the physicians and I still have a few to talk to, but what a great group of physicians."

When asked what his plans are, he said: "I want to build on the momentum that we've had over the last year or two. I'm still meeting with physicians and hospital staff. This is a community hospital; this is our hospital. I want input from everyone. I want to listen."

He said his first week is already a blur to him. "There are so many things that we are doing clinically and financially with a lot of organizations outside our heath system here. To get my hands and head wrapped around it all, it's taken a couple of weeks. There's a lot happening. What I've heard from quite a few people is that we are doing good things. We get letters from patients frequently on what good care they have had here, whether it was an inpatient stay or something like the Cancer Center or radiology. I would like to start working on a few things. It's important for people to realize the good things in your life and that translates into the good things we're doing at the hospital. It keeps us going."

"We have lots of good people here. We want to recognize everyone for the good work they do," he continued. "We have a lot of people who have been here for years and they stay with us.We have people travel to come to this hospital. That's important as well."

Whitaker noted that the hospital has a few renovations happening at this time. "And a few service projects that we are working on. The goal for the moment is that things we have in place are going smoothly. Over the next few months, we'll think about things we can do and things we might want to do differently. We'll put together plans and talk with our board and let them know of opportunities to grow."

He said staff has done a great job of taking care of the facility. "Some we plan ahead of time, and take care of. Some happen unexpectedly, and we repair them. And yes, there are things that will need improvement."

"As a company, Health Tech cares about the facility, the community and the good things that are happening," Whitaker said. "There was a lot of heavy lifting by them and by our staff to get us to where we are now. Health care is complicated. Even us in the administration, we scratch our heads. We have to work through process, systems and regulations. You need a good team of people with experience and skills to make things better."

To a question about any problems at the facility, Whitaker said sometimes an organization can get into its own way. "Not that it's a problem, but it's up to me to make sure we're all going in the same direction. We come from different cultures, different upbringings and different understandings. We all have different ideas, but at the end of the day, we all have to be headed in the same direction. That's important. If we get in the way of ourselves by lack of planning, lack of preparation, indecisiveness, we have to work to fix it."

On the issue of an older facility, he said the way medicine is practiced today, the way that technology has come into hospital systems, "there are some inefficiencies in the hospital facility. In health care, things can change in two or three years, so having a modern up-to-date facility would provide more efficiencies, better work flow, better patient flow."

"But we already have technology in our operating room, with scopes and shoulder positioning, and in radiology, and to be able to look inside a part while they are operating on it, with imaging systems that help with that guidance," Whitaker said.

He had closed on a house for his family that morning and would be moving into it with the bare necessities until his family moves down at winter school break. He said his two daughters are having mixed feelings about leaving friends, but they have been here several times and have met students their own age. "And they are resilient."

"I am grateful to be here, not just in this hospital, but in this community," Whitaker said. "So many good things are happening. To see progress being made is positive, and my goal is to keep that going and to make Gila Regional a truly regional medical canter, so that people can depend on us for great quality health care."