Despite his two decades worth of hospital experience, Edgardo Tenreiro faced a daunting challenge shortly after taking over as CEO of Baton Rouge General Medical Center.
As Business Report details in the Executive Spotlight feature in the new issue, Tenreiro took the reins—initially on an interim basis—on Aug. 2, less than two weeks before the Capital Region flooded.
“My focus immediately shifted to working with our team to care for patients affected by flooding while at the same time caring for the one-third of our team members who were also impacted,” he says. “In the midst of such a tragedy, this teamwork showed the best that the General and Baton Rouge have to offer.”
Tenreiro had been serving as the General’s COO since 2015, a role he previously held from 2008 to 2013 before a brief stint at a Chicago-area hospital.
After being tapped to fill the ousted Mark Slyter’s position temporarily, Tenreiro eventually won the full-time gig in February. Tenreiro’s goals now include continuing the transformation at the General’s Mid City campus, which has shifted its focus from acute care to specialty care after shuttering its emergency room there in 2015.
“It hosts both inpatient and outpatient services, meets the needs of area patients, and remains an economic engine for the area,” he says, adding that the Mid City campus employs about 800 people and the hospital has taken a role in making the Baton Rouge Health District a reality.
“We vigorously promote the vision that the Health District exists to bring the necessary level of cooperation so everyone is cared for here and to make Baton Rouge a regional destination for health services,” Tenreiro says. “Together with other health care members of the district and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, we will make that dream a reality.”
Read the full Executive Spotlight feature. Here’s a sample of what you will find:
What is the greatest personal or professional obstacle you’ve overcome, and how did you overcome it?
Pride. But overcome it? God and circumstances are still working on me.
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