Doug Babb to step down as Cooper Clinic CEO, new boss named

Doug Babb, CEO of Fort Smith-based Cooper Clinic, one of the largest physician-owned medical groups in Arkansas, is stepping down at the end of 2014. His more than seven-year run as the clinic’s chief came during a time of significant change in the regional medical community.

Curtis Ralston, now the chief operating officer of Cooper Clinic, will become the next CEO in January, according to a statement from Dr. Michael Callaway, president of the Cooper Clinic Board of Directors, and Dr. Daniel Mackey, incoming Board president.

Babb had told the Board earlier this year he planned to retire by year end, and wanted to work with the Board on a succession plan.

“I took this job after leaving Beverly because it seemed to me that Cooper Clinic, like Sparks, like Mercy, like the independent physicians, was very important to the community. So I felt that I could make a positive impact on the community and for the patients and I believe I have done that,” Babb told The City Wire.

Babb was hired as CEO in July 2007. Prior to that he was the chief administrative officer and chief legal officer of what was then Fort Smith-based Beverly Enterprises. His career also includes being a senior vice president at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

“Doug Babb is both well-known and well-respected in our community. While serving as our CEO, Doug and his wife, Kathy, have worked tirelessly to share their time, talent, and resources with many organizations including the Donald W. Reynolds Cancer Support Foundation, the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, the U.S. Marshals Museum, and the Fort Smith Symphony,” Callaway noted in the statement. “Doug is now anxious for the freedom of retirement so that he and Kathy can spend more time with their daughter who has now graduated from college and is living out of state. He will certainly be missed at Cooper Clinic, but his retirement is well-deserved.”

Part of Babb’s community involvement includes a donation by he and wife Kathy that resulted in the Doug and Kathy Babb Student Professional Development Center which is housed in the newly expanded and renovated Boreham Library. The center provides UAFS career-preparation programs and services to students to give them a competitive edge in acquiring employment opportunities or pursuing graduate education. The center was also designed to serve as a resource to the business community.

INDUSTRY CHANGES, ISSUES
Babb’s more than seven-year tenure saw several major healthcare industry developments in the region and nationwide. Fort Smith-based Sparks Health System changed ownership twice – first being purchased by Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates, and then again when HMA was acquired by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems.

Cooper Clinic also began to shift from being exclusively affiliated with Mercy-Fort Smith (then St. Edward Mercy Medical Center) to also having Cooper physicians work within the Sparks Health System network.

Part of the changes in the medical industry also saw a shortage of doctors, and it is an issue that continues to be a struggle for medical operations in the region. The recruitment of doctors fueled a 2013 legal tiff between Cooper Clinic and Mercy-Fort Smith. The suit, filed Aug. 2, 2013, by Cooper Clinic against Mercy Fort Smith and St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy Health System, alleged that Mercy and its parent company used their economic power to recruit 15 physicians away from Cooper and to the Mercy Clinic between Oct. 31, 2010 and Aug. 1, 2013. The lawsuit has not yet been resolved.

However, the biggest change faced by the clinic in recent years was the passage of the new federal health care law (Affordability Care Act, aka, Obamacare) and the ongoing transition to follow the new access and insurance rules mandated by the law.

THE NEW BOSS
Ralston, a certified public accountant and native of Oklahoma, joined Cooper Clinic in 2011 as chief financial officer, and was eventually promoted to chief operating officer. Ralston earned his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting from Oklahoma State University and has 19 years of accounting experience, including nine years in CFO positions in the healthcare industry. He and his wife, Brent, have two children.

“We are well equipped for continued success as a result of the policies and processes implemented by Doug, and the internal leadership he has fostered. Under Doug’s guidance, Curtis Ralston has been well prepared for his promotion to CEO,” Mackey said in the Cooper statement. “Over the past three years, Curtis has developed a detailed knowledge of our business, and in recent months, has led the implementation of our practice management system and several patient process improvement projects.”

Founded in 1920, Cooper Clinic is a locally-owned multi-specialty group with physician offices in Fort Smith, Van Buren, Greenwood, and Paris, as well as three ProMed Urgent Care Centers. The opening of a Booneville office is planned for Spring 2015.