CEO, Tomball Regional Medical Center

Bud Wethington has been in health care for more than 25 years. Most recently, he worked as the CEO of Capital Regional Medical Center in Tallahassee, Fla. Wethington said he was attracted to the position at Tomball Regional Medical Center, which Lynn LeBouef vacated in December, for its reputation as a strong health care community and the challenge to deliver even better care.

"There's a lot of health care to be delivered to people who live and look for health care in this community, and we're here to take care of that need," he said.

To that end, Wethington is overseeing implementation of new programs including Senior Circle and Healthy Woman. Senior Circle is aimed at keeping adults 50 and older more active through exercise and wellness classes, activities and events for a $15 annual fee. The Healthy Woman program is a free community resource with the goal of educating women to make informed health care decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

What is the biggest challenge facing hospitals today?

Resources. All the patients we treat today are paying a lot for their health care, and they expect a lot of care to be delivered for that. All the federal programs are looking for ways to reduce their spending. We've got to figure out ways to operate more effectively and efficiently than we ever have. Plus, all the baby boomers are now coming of age [and need] to be treated more and more every day and they have higher expectations than their parents did. The limited reimbursement from the federal government is causing a lot of concerns and will continue to in the future.

Talk about the ER service pledge that you enacted March 1.

The emergency room service pledge is an initiative here to take care of every patient who comes to the door within 30 minutes upon arrival. The intent is that they will see a provider within that 30 minutes. Our physicians have bought into it, as well as all our nurses and our employees. It's a way for us to take care of our patients faster and give them the medical care they are seeking in a more expeditious way. People do not want to come to an ER and spend hours and hours waiting for care. They expect to be treated promptly and efficiently and receive the best medical care that they can. We have great providers in our ER, so we're going to welcome the challenge.

With Lone Star College–Tomball's new health education building opening last year, there is an increased partnership between the school and TRMC. Can you talk about the importance of that partnership?

It is a great partnership to have with the college. It's great that they have their building here. We look forward to working with them in the future. That relationship will develop to a deeper relationship than what we know it as today, because they're here and we're here. Their students do their clinical rotations so they get their hands-on training here. They're looking for a partner, and we can help them better train all their students for their future health care deliveries.

What are your plans for the medical center's future?

We're going to deliver quality care every day, and we're going to grow. Our community is growing, so we're going to grow with it. Structurally we're already a large hospital, so basically we need to deliver more services and better services to people who seek that every day.