Jessica O’Neal with Cook Children’s Rick Merrill in 2013.
DFW Hospital Council’s (DFWHC) Young Healthcare Executive of the Year Award began as an idea in 2005. At the time, Britt Berrett, president/CEO of Medical City Dallas Hospital, was serving on the board of DFWHC. To paraphrase, he said there were so many talented young healthcare executives in North Texas, he didn’t understand why DFWHC did not honor them on an annual basis.
The idea was put to a vote and, as they say, the rest is history. The award recognizes promising young women and men in healthcare 40 years of age or younger employed by a DFWHC-member hospital.
The inaugural award was presented in 2005 to Laura Irvine of Methodist Health System at DFWHC’s Annual Awards Luncheon. Today, prior to the introduction of the winner, each nominee is called to the stage to be honored, a sign of how difficult the task is for the DFWHC Board to recognize a single recipient. In all, more than 50 nominees have been honored over the past decade.
Past recipients have included:
2015 – James Mendez, Kindred Hospital Dallas
2014 – Becky Tucker, Texas Health Resources
2013 – Jessica O’Neal, Methodist Dallas Medical Center
2012 – Dr. Andrew Masica, Baylor Health Care System
2011 – Ashley McClellan, Medical Center of Lewisville
2010 – Melissa Winter, Heart Hospital Baylor Plano
2009 – Scott Peek, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine
2008 – Winjie Tang Miao, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Azle
2007 – Kristin Jenkins, JPS Health Network
2006 – Brett McClung, Harris Methodist Hospital Northwest
On October 18 at DFWHC’s 68th Annual Awards Luncheon at Arlington Convention Center, Clint Abernathy of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance will carry on the tradition when he is honored as the 12th recipient of the award.
Tickets and tables to the event are available here.
For information, please contact Chris Wilson at chrisw@dfwhc.org or 972-719-4900.
Clint Abernathy
Dr. John Warner of UT Southwestern and Becky Tucker in 2014.
Nominees Derrick Cuenca (second from left), Elizabeth Asturi (middle) and John Klitsch, III (second from right), in 2015.