Dr. Jonathan Bates To Retire As Children’s Hospital CEO

Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) announced today that CEO Dr. Jonathan Bates will retire on June 30, 2013. His two decades at the helm will make him the second longest-serving CEO in the hospital's history.

The ACH Board of Directors has hired national executive search firm Witt/Kieffer to assist in finding Bates’ successor.

Major milestones during Bates’ tenure include:

• The development of a partnership that assesses the health of Arkansas children and offers strategies for improving their well-being
• Expansion ranging from two ACH/UAMS Centers for Children outpatient programs in Lowell and Jonesboro
• A $121 million, 258,000-square foot patient care wing recently opened in Little Rock
• Growth in major grants and federal funding of research conducted on the ACH campus

The board also announced that it will create the Jonathan R. Bates, MD Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy. Thus far, $3 million in initial funding has been dedicated to help establish the center.

It will include an endowed chair established in Bates’ name, and the chair holder will lead the center, which will focus on healthcare quality improvement efforts through several disciplines.

“Following Dr. Bates’ example, Arkansas Children’s Hospital will be a national leader in the practice of patient safety and in delivering the highest quality of care,” ACH Board of Directors Chairman Tom Baxter said. “We will actively partner with families in our processes of care, assuring our status as a high-reliability healthcare organization which provides the right care, at the right time, to each patient.”