“Debbie Hay serves gallantly as president of this small specialty surgical hospital,” a colleague said. “Her executive leadership skills are great. She’s innovative, flexible and always has the hospital and employees as her first priority.”
Under Ms. Hay’s leadership, TIS has been recognized for five consecutive years with the Dallas 100 Award from the SMU Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, an award that recognizes North Texas’ top 100 fastest-growing privately held companies. The hospital was the first in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to use wireless HD technology in its operating rooms and was honored with the North Texas Business Ethics Award in 2009.
But despite Ms. Hay’s successes, TIS — like many physician-owned hospitals of its kind — may be in trouble. After the health reform bill placed bans on future development of physician-owned hospitals, facilities such as TIS and the advocacy organizations that support them have had to question the feasibility of their future in the healthcare industry.
“There are a lot of facilities under construction, where physicians and partners have put in a lot of money to try to get these going,” Ms. Hay told Pegasus News. “In this time where people are struggling to find good healthcare, why would you do away with an option such as this?”
In an interview with Becker’s Hospital Review in 2009, she reiterated her distress over the seeming death sentence placed on physician-owned hospitals by the federal government. “If the patients are given a choice, does it matter what the ownership is, as long as they’re being well cared for?”
Ms. Hay previously served as administrator for a surgery center and an emergency room nurse and manager. She holds a nursing degree for Baylor University in Dallas.
Read more on notable hospital leaders:
–Hospital Leader to Know: Dr. Peter Slavin, CEO of Massachusetts General Hospital
