The board of directors of the Metropolitan Area EMS Authority Board of Directors (MedStar) accepted the resignation and retirement of MedStar’s CEO Doug Hooten Sept. 29.
Hooten has served as MedStar’s CEO since 2012.
In communicating his desire to retire, Hooten referenced MedStar’s numerous accomplishments over the past nine years, as well as his desire to relocate to another area of Texas.
“We want to thank Doug for his service to MedStar and the communities we serve, and we wish him and his family all the best on their road ahead. We know that MedStar’s leadership team will continue the foundation of high performance, innovative EMS service to our community that Doug fostered, and that has been MedStar’s hallmark since it was created by the City of Fort Worth in 1986,” said Dr. Brian Byrd, MedStar’s Board Chairman.
During Hooten’s leadership, MedStar achieved a number of milestones:
¬– Continued expansion of MedStar’s award-winning and internationally recognized Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) programs, including innovative new economic models.
– Being named the EMS Provider of the Year by the National Association of EMTs and EMS World Magazine.
– Receiving a Top-10 EMS Innovator Award by the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS).
– Receiving a Healthcare Innovation Award by the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration.
– Acquired, renovated and relocated to a new 110,000 square foot headquarters facility in west Fort Worth.
– Implemented a new, state of the art computer aided dispatch (CAD) system.
– Acquired land and constructed a new deployment center in north Fort Worth.
The MedStar Board appointed Ken Simpson, MedStar’s Chief Operations Officer, to serve as Interim CEO until a new CEO is selected.