Flowers Hospital’s new CEO Suzanne Woods said she intends to focus on recruiting new doctors and strengthening relationships with physicians already in the area to meet the needs of a growing population.
“Clearly, it’s physicians that drive quality patient care,” she said.
Woods was recently named Flowers Hospital’s CEO. She had been serving as interim CEO since October 2009.
She talked a little about her vision of Flowers’ future in a phone interview with the Dothan Eagle on Friday.
Woods said the growing population of the area (Houston County grew from 88,787 to 101,547 residents over the past 10 years) would require more doctors to handle health care needs, hence her focus on bringing new doctors to the area. Woods said health care reform will also likely result in hospitals and doctors working more closely together to achieve efficiency.
Woods said there aren’t likely to be any major construction projects in the hospital’s immediate future. She also said it was unlikely that Flowers would be bought out by another hospital or health care company, but that in a rapidly changing economy anything is possible.
Although the proposed medical college in Dothan is a Southeast Alabama Medical Center project, Woods said Flowers doctors will likely have some involvement in the school.
Woods, 39, has worked at the hospital for 16 years, starting as an administrative resident before becoming medical staff coordinator. In 1997, Woods became the hospital’s ethics and compliance officer and became vice president of professional services in 1999. In 2003, Woods became the hospital’s chief operating officer.
Woods is a Dothan native and graduated Northview High School in 1989. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human and organizational development from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in health administration and a certificate in gerontology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is married and has one child.
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