(Pueblo, CO April 1, 2009) – Parkview Medical Center is proud to announce the promotion of Mike Baxter to President and Chief Executive Officer. Baxter has been with Parkview for twelve years as the Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, as well as Vice President of Managed Care and the Executive Director of Pueblo Health Care; Decision Support Analyst and Cost Accountant.
Baxter officially takes over the position of President and CEO today from C.W. Smith, who spent 13 years in the role. As CEO, Baxter will be responsible for overall leadership of Parkview Health Systems which includes Parkview Medical Center, Pueblo Health Care and other entities which fall under the direction of the Health System and Medical Center Boards.
A Pueblo native and former Canon City resident, Baxter earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting, as well as his Masters in Business Administration from CSU- Pueblo formerly known as the University of Southern Colorado.
Baxter is active with the Colorado Health and Hospital Association including his role with the CHA Legislative Council, serving as Vice-Chair for the 2008 session. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and serves on numerous community boards including, Health Access Pueblo (Chairman 2009-2010) and Pueblo Catholic Charities.
"I feel very fortunate to have such an opportunity with this great organization and appreciate working in an environment where the local governing board’s culture remains so focused on continuously improving the operations of the Medical Center," Baxter explained. "The healthcare challenges facing hospitals today are enormous and regrettably in the healthcare industry there are not enough good mentors. Professionally for me, C.W. Smith has been an incredible mentor and an individual that has taken a tremendous amount of time to help me become a much better leader.”