New administrator to take reins at Baptist Women’s Hospital and the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital

MEMPHIS, Tenn., - Baptist announced today that Kevin Hammeran will assume the role of CEO and administrator of Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women and the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital, which opened in January 2015.

Most recently, Hammeran served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at New York Presbyterian and in that role was the chief administrative officer of the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and the Sloane Hospital for Women.

Anita Vaughn, a 43-year veteran of the Baptist system, had served as administrator and CEO of both hospitals and led them to great success, according to Baptist leadership. Vaughn will still play a role in the hospital’s future success by working as a part-time consultant with the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation. Specifically, she will work on projects related to fundraising for the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital and the continuing development of the Universal Parenting Place housed within Baptist Women’s Hospital, while remaining engaged with the community organizations she has led and supported during her career.

“Anita Vaughn’s exemplary leadership skills and exceptional communication with physicians and staff poised the hospital for future success,” said Jason Little, president and CEO of Baptist Memorial Health Care. “We look forward to seeing her talents shine in a new but related role as a consultant with the Foundation, and to seeing Mr. Hammeran lead the two respective hospitals to the next phases in quality care, brand recognition and community leadership.”

Little added that Baptist conducted a nationwide search for Vaughn’s successor, and Baptist leadership felt Hammeran had the perfect blend of relevant experience and measurable successes to assume the role.

In his new role, Hammeran will take the lead in facilitating Baptist Children’s Hospital’s relationship with the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Monroe Carell has provided the Children's Hospital's pediatric clinical staff with additional opportunities for education, skills and training focused on pediatric care. Staff participates in a variety of emergency simulation scenarios.

Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Sloane Hospital for Women, where Hammeran had served as CAO since 2010, provides tertiary pediatrics and maternal-fetal medicine for the New York Presbyterian Hospital at its Columbia University campus. Both hospitals are the principal academic affiliate of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, an alignment that Hammeran played a critical role in facilitating.

During his time at Morgan Stanley and Sloane Hospital, Hammeran delivered performance metrics in operations, quality, productivity and clinical utilization that substantially exceeded nationally recognized benchmarks. He also directed initiatives to reduce expenses, which resulted in more than $15 million in annual savings, and provided year over year improvements in length of stay and efficient use of resources.

Before coming to Morgan Stanley and Sloane Hospital for Women, Hammeran served as executive vice-president and chief operating officer for two different children’s hospitals: Miami Children’s Hospital and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. He also held various key leadership roles at The Children’s Hospital in Boston and Children’s Hospital Center (now Janet Weis Children’s Hospital) in Danville, Penn.

Baptist Women’s Hospital opened its doors in May 2001 as the area’s first and only freestanding women’s hospital. More than 5,000 babies are born each year at the hospital, and it is known for its high-level neonatal intensive care unit, which is one of the few in the area that offers 24/7 neonatologist coverage.

In November 2014, Memphians Spence and Becky Wilson made a major gift to further the growth of the pediatric hospital adjacent to Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women. In recognition of their gift, the facility was named the Spence and Becky Wilson Baptist Children’s Hospital. Its cornerstone is the 17,000-square-foot emergency department, which opened in late January 2015. Staffed 24/7 by pediatric emergency medicine specialists and a growing roster of other specialties, including pediatric surgery and anesthesiology, the hospital averages about 45 patients a day with staff seeing an all-time high of more than 100 patients in one day, according to Baptist officials.

Baptist leadership noted patient families, physicians and insurance providers have consistently asked for pediatric services on the Baptist Women’s Hospital campus.

Other pediatric services, including a 12-bed inpatient unit, outpatient pediatric surgery and the Pediatric Eye Center, will eventually transition to the four-story pediatric hospital. Led by renowned vitroretinal specialist Dr. Jorge Calzada, the Pediatric Eye Center is the only clinic in the Mid-South that offers the full continuum of eye care from diagnosis to treatment to surgery to follow-up. Previously, patients in need had to travel several hours for specialized pediatric eye care.

About Baptist

One of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care systems, Baptist Memorial Health Care offers a full continuum of care to communities throughout the Mid-South. In 2012, Baptist was ranked No. 2 among large employers and No. 23 overall nationally in Modern Healthcare magazine’s top 100 “Best Places to Work in Healthcare.” The Baptist system, which consistently ranks among the top integrated health care networks in the nation, comprises 14 affiliate hospitals in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas; more than 4,000 affiliated physicians; Baptist Medical Group, a multispecialty physician group with more than 500 providers; home, hospice and psychiatric care; minor medical centers and clinics; a network of surgery, rehabilitation and other outpatient centers; and an education system highlighted by the Baptist College of Health Sciences. The Baptist system employs 15,000 people, and in fiscal year 2013, contributed $239 million in community benefit to the areas it serves. According to the Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Memphis, Baptist Memorial Health Care’s annual economic impact is estimated at more than $2.6 billion.