IRVING, TX – The DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) announced today the 2020 recipients of its annual awards with Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price to receive the Distinguished Health Service Award; Dustin Anthamatten, vice president of operations at Methodist Charlton Medical Center, named the Young Healthcare Executive of the Year; and John W. Creecy, board member at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth, selected as the Kerney Laday, Sr. Trustee of the Year.

The awards are traditionally presented each fall during DFWHC’s Annual Awards Luncheon. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled for safety reasons. A tribute video honoring the recipients and event sponsors will be posted online October 21.

Since 1948, DFWHC’s Distinguished Health Service Award has been bestowed annually to North Texas residents who have dedicated their lives to improving healthcare. Recipient Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native, has served as mayor of Fort Worth since 2011. Along with her focus on promoting jobs, strengthening education and fighting crime, Price has made significant strides in improving the health of her city’s residents.

Price led the community effort FitWorth, a citywide initiative focused on promoting active lifestyles and healthy habits. The goal of FitWorth is to stem the rising tide of obesity, especially in children. Under her leadership, Fort Worth has also become a prominent cycling community, adding miles of new bike lanes to promote exercise and fitness.

During Mayor Price’s tenure, Fort Worth became an official Blue Zone city – one of the few cities in the U.S. to achieve the designation. The Blue Zones Project takes an innovative approach to health by improving public policy and social involvement. Her work caused double-digit drops in obesity and smoking in addition to millions of dollars of healthcare savings.

“Mayor Betsy Price has been a respected leader in North Texas for many years,” said Stephen Love, president/CEO of DFWHC. “Her passion for people, fitness and health has been a trademark of her service. Her leadership in Fort Worth has set an example for all of us to follow.”

The Young Healthcare Executive of the Year Award honors youthful professionals who display the impressive abilities of future North Texas leaders. Created in 2005, nominees must be 40 years of age or younger and employed by a DFWHC-member hospital. This year’s recipient Dustin Anthamatten has served as vice president of operations at Methodist Charlton Medical Center since 2015. He oversees 15 departments including facility and environmental services, respiratory therapy and strategic planning.

His departments became especially critical when COVID-19 arrived in North Texas in March. Working with community leaders, he quickly established drive-through testing within 10 days. In two months, the site grew from processing 25 tests a day to more than 150, delivering results within 24 hours. Anthamatten also secured a contract to centralize COVID-19 testing efforts for Methodist Health System.

The Trustee of the Year honor was named in memory of Kerney Laday, Sr., who served on the Texas Health Resources Board for a decade. The award was created in 2013 to honor trustees who have displayed excellence throughout their careers. This year’s recipient John W. Creecy has provided board service to All Saints Health Care since 1992. He has served as a board member at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth since 2012, including most recently as Chair.

He strategically prepared All Saints Hospital for the merger with Baylor Health Care in 2003 as he lobbied members of the board, including Boone Powell and Joel Allison. He also developed a financial plan that reduced hospital costs by $25 million over three years to eliminate growing debt. Due to his leadership, All Saints became financially more attractive prior to the merger, paving the way for the hospital’s future.

“Every year this is a difficult decision as there are so many qualified candidates in North Texas deserving of recognition,” Love said. “With these awards, we are proud to acknowledge the uncommon community leadership of Dustin Anthamatten and John W. Creecy who have dedicated their careers to our community’s health and well-being. We are grateful to recognize their contributions.”

In addition to Anthamatten, Young Healthcare nominees included Alan Kramer, assistant vice president of health system emerging strategies, UT Southwestern Medical Center; Francesco Mainetti, vice president of transformational initiatives, Parkland Health and Hospital System; Jared Shelton, president, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen; and Graham Torres, senior operational planning director, Children’s Health.

The tribute video honoring the recipients will be sponsored in part by Hall Render and CampbellWilson, LLP.

DFWHC is a 90 hospital and 90 associate member trade organization with more than 50 years of service to North Texas healthcare. Governed by a Board of Trustees made up of hospital executive officers, the hospital trade association is committed to the continuous improvement of patient care.

# # #

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2020

CONTACT
Chris Wilson, DFWHC
chrisw@dfwhc.org
(972) 719-4900