Blogs

July 16, 2012 - Promotions within VVRMC

Jul 16, 2012 by Marc Strode, CEO
Folks,
It is with great pleasure that I report to you this morning that we have filled two critical leadership roles within our organization.  Having capable persons in both spots are real important to our long-term success.

Tom Grimert, who has served as our interim-CFO since early April, has accepted the full-time position.  His official start date is today.  Tom has done an exceptional job in helping us prepare and navigate our operating budget, a rather difficult task for someone coming last-minute.  Tom is a character guy.  He fits in very well into our culture.  He is honest and dependable and believes in accountablity.  You do what you say you are going to do.  All traits we all ought to have in our personality toolkit, but especially important for the guy in charge of all our finances.  I have had the opportunity to work with Tom for about 10 years at Methodist, so at least for me Tom is a known comodity.  I trust that he will do very well at VVRMC and do right for us as a team.  Previously, Tom was the Controller for the Methodist Healthcare System, a position he's held for just over 10 years.  He has been with Methodist since 1991.  Tom got his Masters in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University (go Tigers!) as well as his undergrad degree in business.  He also holds an MBA from UTSA. 

Tom is no doubt drinking from a fire hydrant!  Please help make him fell welcome on his new team as he soon will call Del Rio home.

Dr. Teofilo (Teo) Sanchez, effective August 1, will become the medical director for our emergency department.  This will be a full-time role for Dr. Sanchez.  While our search for our next medical staff leader spanned both coasts, the answer was rigt here in front of us!  Dr. Sanchez was one of the few shining stars during this transition from EmCare to Level 5.  I was very pleased when Dr. Sanchez threw his name in the hat.  We included our other medical staff leaders in the decision-making process and have their support as we move forward.  Our emergency department has come a long way both in quality and service, and we believe that Dr. Sanchez is the right guy to help take us to the next level in performance.  While he doesn't "officially" start until August, he has already taken the bull by the horns and jumped into operations and decision-making feet first. 

He is originally from San Antonio, where he currently lives, and has four kiddos 11, 9, 7 and 5 years old.  Dr. Sanchez received his undergraduate degree from Incarnate Word College (now University) in science and then received his medical degree from UTHSC in Houston.  His medical education also took him to the UTHSC in San Antonio and Texas Tech HSC in El Paso.  While he practices in emergency medicine now, he also has training in anesthesiology and gneneral surgery. 

He's been with us over a year so again, we know what we are getting and we like what we see.  Please give him a high five next time you see him and welcome him into his new role.

Keep the Spirit,
Marc