Mr. Hankins brings more than 40 years of healthcare leadership experience to his role as CEO of AVALA, where he oversees financial operations, IT, human resources and patient experience across the organization’s integrated network of a hospital, surgery centers, physician clinics, imaging and therapy services. He leads contract strategy and negotiation directly with payors to strengthen AVALA’s market position, while also overseeing regulatory compliance and risk management. He is tasked with guiding AVALA’s expansion of specialized orthopedic and spine care services across the region. Under his leadership, AVALA has received Healthgrades’ “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” recognition for both outpatient joint replacement and outpatient orthopedic surgery, along with a “Patient Safety Excellence Award.” AVALA has also been named a USA Today “Top Workplace” in both 2025 and 2026, and received the Press Ganey “Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award” in 2024 and 2025. Beyond AVALA, Mr. Hankins serves on the AVALA board of directors and medical executive committee, as a board member and finance committee chair for Lifeshare Blood Center. He is also a past president of the Chenault International Airport Authority board.
