While walking the halls of Cartersville Medical Center (960 JoeFrank Harris Pkwy SE, Cartersville), it would not be unusual to casually bump into the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chris Mosley, during his routine rounds as he visits various departments in the hospital. In fact, most even anticipate and appreciate his company, making it evident that this is not an act for good press.
Colleagues, past and present, scattered across Florida, Indiana,Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and finally Georgia, most likely would agree that his approachability and reliability allow those who work with him at Cartersville Medical Center to truly see what high standards looks like.
During a sit down with Mosley about his life before and after becoming CEO of Cartersville Medical Center, it became apparent that heading a healthcare organization would be his destiny.
Mosley was born and raised in a small coal-mining community in Central Appalachia in Southeastern Kentucky. His father ran an auto parts store, his mother worked as an English teacher and this is also where he met his future wife.
Mosley obtained his undergraduate degree at Transylvania University and soon landed in the healthcare fields as a pharmaceutical sales representative. There, he learned how to interact with people while also learning how things relate within the healthcare landscape.
After having worked in multiple roles within the pharmaceutical industry, Mosley then decided to return to school to acquire his Master of Business Administration (MBA). In between his first and second years of graduate school at Duke University, he completed an internship at the South Atlantic Division Office of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in Charleston, S.C.
“During my internship with HCA, I was exposed to the management of multiple hospitals and it was very appealing to me,” Mosley explains. “One, because I thought hospital management was more in line with the entrepreneurial mindset that I was accustomed togrowing up working in my dad’s store, wherein hemanaged every single aspect of his business, not just one.And secondly, it was still in the field of healthcare, whichis something that is extremely important because it’s so personal to each individual.”
According to Mosley, being able to combine business with healthcare, and seeing how HCAwas working to build on the company’s philosophy of high standards by its commitment to the care and improvement of human life, he saw that as an opportunity. This was his chance to impact communities, as well as have an impact on the lives of others.
“After finishing graduate school, I took a position with HCA—they took a chance on me and made me the Vice President of Operations at Summerville Medical Center in Summerville, S.C. That was truly the first time I had ever worked in a hospital, but I learned so much by simplyasking questions and working hard to develop relationships,” says Mosley.
A couple of years later, Mosley was offered a position in Orange Park, Fla. as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Orange Park Medical Center. “It was a larger HCA hospital, and another great opportunity with more responsibility. We were able to move the hospital forward by enhancing the quality ofcare, growing services and improving access to healthcare for the people in the community,” he recalls.
With no intention of moving for a while, Mosley was informed that HCA had bought another hospital in Palatka, Fla. He took the job as the first CEO after the acquisition, an act that he felt drawn to in order to help change the culture and enhance accountability, while improving the quality of care the hospital was providing. “I really enjoyed my time there, and I truly became a part of the community in Palatka.I really grew to love that area,” smiles Mosley. “The people were so very welcoming and wonderful during the two and a half years we lived there. However, it was about time to move on, and I heard about Cartersville Medical Center’s CEO position becoming available.”
Before Mosley, his wife Leah and two sons, Dashel (5) and Revere (2) made the trek to Cartersville, Mosley researched Cartersville Medical Center and learned about the remarkable job former CEO, Keith Sandlin, had done in growing the hospital and establishing a culture that was unlike any other.
“We begin every single day with a 9:00a.m. meeting with all of our directors. It is multifaceted and serves several purposes.The main purpose is to review the current status of the hospital: Number of beds available, anticipated patient discharges, the day’s surgery schedule, etc., to determine the flow of the day and identify any needs.Each meeting begins with everyone stating our mission statement aloud: Above all else we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.
“We try to ground ourselves on a daily basis with our mission,” says Mosley. “We review our patient care goals and I listen and ask questions that enable me to help our leaders make good decisions.”
“As a group, we continually set expectations and hold each other accountable to those expectations,” he continues. “The morning meeting and talking to one another are ways we are able to hold each other accountable for what is important to us, whether that is strategically or operationally, so that we may continue to deliver great service to the people of this community. We also don’t leave the meeting until we share a positive patient experience. It is something that I have found serves as fuel to motivate us to begin each day and focus on our priorities, our patients. It truly brings us back to why we chose this profession. We are doing what we are doing because of and for patients. It also brings back our collective motivation as a hospital, because we’re reminded that we’re doing important things and having a positive impact on people.”
The 9:00 a.m. meeting is just one of the ways Mosley hopes Cartersville Medical Center reaches their main goal, which is to provide excellent quality and patient safety.
According to Mosley, CMC has an exceptionally busy ER, as they see just shy of 60,000 patients per year. “We recently expanded our ER to better accommodate those patients, increasing the beds from 30 to 43. As part of that construction project, we also expanded our surgery suites and refreshed our surgical services department. The ER project also included the construction of a helipad,” says Mosley.
“Another project that we have going on right now is the addition of a second Cardiac Cath lab. This is exciting for us because our cardiovascular service line continues to grow and expand.The recruitment of new physicians and the addition of new technology and equipment are things that we are doing to stay at the forefront and provide the absolute most modern equipment and technology to the people in our area.”
One thing Mosley is especially proud of is Cartersville Medical’s relationship with sister facility Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome.
“We have a very strong relationship with Redmond,” smiles Mosley. “We have a wonderful process in place where our physicians talk with their physicians, or our team talks to their team, to be sure that any patients that need to be transferred are done so in a timely and safe manner. We are very confident in Redmond’s abilities and their excellent outcomes.”
The next time you visit Cartersville Medical Center, take note of all of the smiling faces you encounter. I can promise you one of those will be Chris Mosley.
