James Atkins, PharmD, has been named CEO of Rutherfordton, N.C.-based Rutherford Regional Health System, a Duke LifePoint Healthcare facility, effective Feb. 8.
Here are seven things to know about Dr. Atkins.
1. He has more than 25 years of healthcare experience.
2. Most recently, he was COO of LifePoint Health's Rockdale Medical Center in Conyers, Ga.
3. At Rockdale Medical Center, he also previously served as assistant administrator, senior director of pharmacy and physician relations and director of pharmacy.
4. During his tenure at Rockdale Medical Center, Dr. Atkins recruited dozens of physicians and expanded the hospitals' specialty services, according to a news release. He also managed a $5 million neonatal intensive care unit renovation and expansion project and helped develop and launch a surgical robotics program.
5. In 2014, Dr. Atkins was interim CEO for another LifePoint Health facility, Cleveland, Miss.-based Bolivar Medical Center, and successfully guided the hospital in its transition to new leadership.
6. Prior to joining Rockdale Medical Center, Dr. Atkins spent more than a decade managing pharmacy services for a variety of healthcare facilities, including Select Specialty Hospital and Columbia West Pace Medical Center, both in Atlanta, as well as the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, Ga. He also served more than a decade as an adjunct faculty member for various programs, including the department of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, the department of pharmacy practice at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, and the department of pharmacy practice at Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
7. Mr. Atkins earned his Doctor of Pharmacy and bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the University of Georgia in Athens and a master's degree in business administration from Clayton State University in Morrow, Ga.
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