Darin Charles

Methodist Mansfield Medical Center

Darin Charles focuses on family care while helping Methodist Mansfield Medical Center reduce patient wait times. Since launching his medical practice in 2006, Charles has taken on several leadership roles at the medical center and MedHealth, which owns and operates Methodist Family Health Centers and Medical Groups, including Methodist Mansfield. His efforts to reduce patient wait times – and ongoing commitment to continuous quality improvement – earned the medical center an “A” hospital safety score by the Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit agency. The score was based on preventable medical errors, injuries, accidents and infections. Community means a lot to the physician, who has served on several health-related projects with the Mansfield Independent School District. Whether lending assistance in athletic physical examinations or health fairs, Charles also encourages his medical center colleagues to lead healthier lives by motivating office staff and patients to run as a team in a local 5K run. But his involvement does not stop at Mansfield city limits. Last fall, he raised awareness to support orphans in Africa by wearing bright green running shoes to work every day for three months. He also raised more than $2,000 on their behalf by completing a half-marathon in December and inspired donations exceeding $250,000 from his church. That added to the $20,000 raised by other runners from First United Methodist Church and the city of Mansfield. Community outreach takes priority for the physician, but so does his role as medical director for Methodist Health Connect, which manages enterprise health information for MedHealth. The role sees Charles advance electronic health records usage throughout MedHealth’s health centers encompassing more than 65 providers. His work has helped several of those centers, including Methodist Mansfield, to be certified as a patient-centered medical home and be part of the Methodist Patient-Centered Accountable Care Organization. Among Charles’ prior commitments were serving as a Methodist Health System board member as well as positions on the Methodist Mansfield medical executive committee and Student Health Advisory Committee for the Mansfield school district. Charles, a board-certified family physician, graduated from Mansfield High School. He received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City and completed his residency at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler, where he served as chief resident and was given the Outstanding Resident Award for three years.     What drew you into the health care field? I have wanted to be a physician since I was a child, and as I grew up, I realized that I was blessed with the dedication and knowledge to make that a reality. What is your biggest inspiration? What inspires me in medicine is the opportunity to simply serve as an extension of the grace, mercy, peace, and healing of Jesus Christ to this community and beyond. As an active member of First United Methodist Church, Mansfield, I proudly wear and share with my patients the “God is Big Enough” bracelets provided by my church. What’s your best advice for people getting into health care? You should only enter into health care because you have a strong desire to help others. Health care provides a unique opportunity to impact the lives of many people in a positive way. I hope that every health-care provider takes an active role in improving the health of those in their own hometown. – A. Lee Graham