At just 33 years old, Christopher Douglas, EdD, started his CEO career at Houston-based River Oaks Hospital and Clinics in 2019, where he helped grow the hospital's inpatient beds from 12 to 56 and added 11 intensive care unit beds in a two year span.
"Having some other mentors in the space really helped me at that time, because I definitely came in with more of a transformational leadership style due to the fact that we had a growing system and I have a very entrepreneurial and operational background," Dr. Douglas told Becker's.
Now a dual CEO of both River Oaks and East Houston Hospital and Clinics, Dr. Douglas' focus remains on continuing to strengthen operational efficiencies and patient outcomes while fostering a collaborative culture at both hospitals.
To achieve these goals, Dr. Douglas implemented strategies like multiple monthly town hall meetings for each hospital where he holds transparent discussions with employees about topics like vision, mission, volume, revenue stream and labor and supply costs at each hospital.
"The more that I am able to provide my employees with what I have learned, the better they are at adapting … understanding and [being] considerate of the challenges that we go through," he said.
Dr. Douglas is also increasing communication and strengthening relationships with both community members and organizations like Texas Medical Center for collaboration. Through a boots-on-the-ground approach, he attends several networking events a week, and encourages connecting with other CEOs to collaborate and share ideas.
Like in many areas across the U.S., expansion of behavioral healthcare access is another top priority for Dr. Douglas.
"We are looking to open up our own behavioral health hospital in a very distressed area," he said. "Many ERs are full of mental health patients and are trying to find the best place possible to be able to treat them, so we are also looking to hire the proper staff to treat them."
While Dr. Douglas said the hospital is in the start-up stage, he feels comfortable that staff will be able to open it to patients in a six- to 12-month timeframe.