Doctors Medical Center in Modesto has new CEO

Tenet Healthcare Corp. has hired a former Bay Area hospital administrator as the chief executive officer for Doctors Medical Center in Modesto.

The Dallas-based company announced that Warren Kirk started work at the 398-bed Modesto hospital Monday.

The Florida Avenue center has been without a CEO since Denny Litos departed in July to become a health care industry consultant.

"My goal is to take what the hospital is doing now and improve on it, do it better," Kirk said. "We want to be nationally recognized as a high-quality provider of care."

Kirk previously served as president and chief operating officer of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, a 1,080-bed hospital affiliated with Sutter Health.

According to Tenet's press release, Kirk established top quality standards at the Oakland center, improved employee satisfaction and exceeded operating budget targets.

He spent about 12 years at Alta Bates in Oakland, nine of them as the chief executive, and developed a $450 million master facility plan to comply with California's earthquake safety standards.

Kirk was among three top executives who suddenly resigned from Alta Bates Summit in November 2010. On Monday, he explained that a restructuring by the hospital's parent organization regionalized several positions and made changes to his responsibilities.

"We decided to part ways," Kirk said.

As a consultant in the past year, Kirk advised a private group that is developing health care facilities in Vietnam to serve people in that country who have the ability to pay for medical treatment.

"Vietnam has a government-run health system, but people who have money go to Thailand, the U.S. and other places to receive health care," he said.

Kirk pointed out that he's worked for large hospitals in urban areas and smaller facilities during his career.

He earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral science and health from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and a master's in health care administration from the University of Minnesota.

He has served on the Hospital Council of Northern California's board of directors and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Bee staff writer Ken Carlson can be reached at kcarlson@modbee.com or (209) 578-2321.

This story was originally published November 28, 2011 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Doctors Medical Center in Modesto has new CEO."