Baptist Health System makes executive changes

Little Rock-based Baptist Health system recently made changes to its executive leadership team.

Doug Weeks, who previously served as the system’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, is now executive vice president of strategy and innovation. In the newly created position, he will be responsible for overall system strategy deployment, and will continue to lead all of Baptist Health’s partnership and collaborative efforts across the state.

Weeks will additionally serve as corporate administrative officer, overseeing Arkansas Health Group, Human Resources, Information Technology, Strategic Development, Governmental Relations, the Baptist Health Foundation, Parkway Village and Community Outreach.

His career at Baptist Health began in 1989 as an administrative resident. Since then, Weeks has held a number of positions including senior vice president of hospital operations and administrator of Baptist Health-Little Rock and Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute.

Filling the re-established role of senior vice president of hospital operations is Duane Erwin, who joined the executive leadership team on Monday, March 4. Erwin has extensive, multi-disciplinary leadership experience in health care.

Reporting to Erwin are Baptist Health’s hospitals in Little Rock (including Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute and Baptist Health Extended Care Hospital), North Little Rock, Conway, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Heber Springs and Stuttgart.

Prior to joining Baptist Health, Erwin served as CEO of Aspirus Inc. of Wausau, Wisconsin, a six-hospital health system, until his retirement in 2013, and has held health care executive roles in Indiana and Ohio. He additionally served as interim CEO for hospitals within the Carolinas Healthcare System in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Ascension Health in St. Louis, Missouri.