The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council (DFWHC) announced today Kyle Armstrong, FACHE, president of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – McKinney, will be the 2019 Young Healthcare Executive of the Year; and John R. (Bob) Ferguson III, former chair of the Texas Health Resources Board of Trustees, will be the 2019 Kerney Laday, Sr. Trustee of the Year. The awards will be presented during DFWHC’s 71st Annual Awards Luncheon on October 8 at Irving Convention Center.

The Young Healthcare Executive of the Year honor acknowledges 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. 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 uncommon excellence over the course of their careers.

Armstrong became president of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – McKinney in July 2016. He joined the McKinney team from Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis, one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the Mid-South. Since joining Baylor Scott & White – McKinney, the hospital has earned its first Magnet Designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, became accredited by the Commission on Cancer and was designated as a Level III Trauma Center by the State of Texas. Armstrong earned master’s degrees in both health administration and business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University in Waco and has been a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2014.

Ferguson has dedicated 20 years of his career to Texas Health Resources, serving on the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas Board of Trustees from 2001-2011, holding the position of board chair in 2010 and 2011. He followed that service by joining the Texas Health Resources Board of Trustees from 2012 to 2018, serving as board chair in 2015 and 2016. He also served on numerous committees, including the Quality and Performance committee and the Strategy Committee. Ferguson spent more than 45 years with TDIndustries in the mechanical industry where quality and safety were a top priority. His dedication to the community also included serving on the boards of Goodwill Industries, the Dallas Independent School District, the Dallas County Community College District and the North Texas Commission.

“This is such a difficult decision each year as there are so many qualified candidates in North Texas deserving of recognition,” said W. Stephen Love, president/CEO of DFWHC. “With these awards, we are proud to acknowledge the innovative and dedicated leadership of Kyle Armstrong and Bob Ferguson who, in so many ways, have shaped our community’s health and well-being. We are looking forward to recognizing their contributions.”

In addition to Armstrong, Young Healthcare nominees included Dustin Anthamatten, vice president of operations at Methodist Charlton Medical Center; Carlie Cohen, director of operations, ambulatory services at Children’s Health; Ben Harris, chief operating officer at Medical City Las Colinas; Jason Linscott, chief operating and chief financial officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall; Martin Marshall, II, director of operational logistics at UT Southwestern Medical Center; Michelle Pecenka, RN, BSN, director of nursing at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen; and Christopher Rodriguez, director of business and service line development at Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano.

Armstrong and Ferguson will be presented their awards during DFWHC’s Annual Awards Luncheon, October 8 at the Irving Convention Center. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters of The Washington Post who broke the Watergate scandal in 1972, will serve as keynote speakers while Andy Stern, board member of AMN Healthcare and co-chair of Medical City Healthcare, will receive the Distinguished Health Service Award. The event is sponsored in part by Hall Render and CampbellWilson, LLP.

Tickets and sponsorships are available here.