MetroHealth Systems Hires Adminstrator to Oversee Medical Campus Project
The MetroHealth System announced it has hired Walter Jones, an experienced health care administrator who most recently worked in Texas, to oversee the health system’s ambitious plans to overhaul its aging main campus on West 25th Street in Cleveland.
Jones, who will carry the title of senior vice president of campus transformation, most recently served as senior vice president of facilities development at the Dallas County Hospital District’s Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas. While there, he managed the planning, design, development and programming of Parkland’s $1.3 billion, 865-bed hospital and medical campus project, according to a MetroHealth news release.
Also, according to the release, Jones exceeded diversity goals on projects involving the hiring of consultants and contractors during his time leading the Dallas County Hospital District’s facilities division.
“Walter Jones' experience and accomplishments at Parkland Hospital couldn't be more on target for MetroHealth," MetroHealth president and CEO Dr. Akram Boutros said in a statement. "As we begin the planning and design phases of MetroHealth's transformation, we, and the entire community, will benefit from Walter's proven leadership, and his commitment to both fiscal responsibility and economic inclusion.”
MetroHealth hasn’t divulged the details of its campus overhaul or how much it would cost. Previous estimates under the health system’s former CEO pegged a campus makeover at costing somewhere around $500 million.
“MetroHealth’s campus transformation is a unique opportunity for local companies to grow and expand,” Jones said in the release. “I hope to engage the minority population and encourage community participation in the projects ahead.”
Before joining Parkland, he was an associate with Howell, Rusk, Dodson Architects in Atlanta, where he oversaw projects that included the major renovation and expansion of Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital and Northside Hospital Women’s Center.
TIMOTHY MAGAW, Crain's Cleveland Business