Louisiana Heart Hospital names Steve Blades as CEO of Louisiana Heart Medical Group and Roy Wright as CEO of Louisiana Heart Hospital

LACOMBE, La., March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Warren E. Beck, CEO of the Cardiovascular Care Group (CCG), announced today that they have named Steve Blades to serve as the first Chief Executive Officer for the Louisiana Heart Hospital Medical Group (LHHMG) and have selected Roy Wright to succeed Blades as the Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Heart Hospital.

Blades served as the CEO of the hospital since August of 2012.  In that time he has built one of the largest multi-specialty group practices on the Northshore.  "Steve Blades brings to our medical group exceptional skills and talent with more than 30 years of experience in cardiovascular medicine practice management and delivery design.  His work in physician recruitment and initiating integration at LHH over the past two years has produced remarkable results," said Warren Beck.  "We have always believed that the building block for a great healthcare delivery system here is physicians working in an integrated practice model.  We think the time is right to build our group practice to 100 physicians or more and have tapped Steve and his wealth of experience in physician group development to lead the effort on a full-time basis."

"When we made the commitment to build the Louisiana Heart Hospital Medical Group, we knew we would need to find a skilled executive and hospital operator for the CEO of the hospital," said Beck.  "We launched a nationwide search for his successor and have found a world-class Chief Executive in Roy Wright." Roy has shown throughout his career he is an outstanding leader and brings to LHH exceptional skills in operations, strategic planning, marketing and management and the development of entrepreneurial ventures in ambulatory and post-acute care.

Wright comes to the role with nearly 30 years of experience in healthcare and hospital leadership.  The last 12 of those spent working in top-level positions at Health First in Brevard County, Florida.  He led the 386 bed network of community hospitals for Health First improving both the quality and efficiency of care delivery.  He holds a Bachelor's in Pharmacy and an MBA with a certification in Health and Hospital Administration from the University of Florida.

"CCG believes the best care is patient-centered and physician led.  Our plan is to build delivery systems throughout the country that integrate care across the full continuum of services from prevention to acute care, from surgery to rehabilitation and from diagnosis through disease management," said Harry R. Jacobson, MD, Chairman of the CCG Board.  "Steve Blades has been the moving force behind our recruitment of an exceptional group of physicians along the Northshore that will soon grow to the largest multi-specialty group practice in the region.  Roy Wright brings the total package in hospital management and is a highly talented addition to our team."

Blades has served as CCG's senior vice president for physician services since CCG's founding and has been working full time at LHH since May 2012.  Prior to joining CCG, he was the executive vice president and COO of Cardiovascular Care Affiliates.  He earned his degree in Government from Florida State University and an MPA from the University of Georgia.

The Louisiana Heart Hospital is a full-service acute care hospital specializing in cardiovascular, orthopedic and emergency care on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain.  The 137-bed hospital is recognized for exceptional surgical care – ranking as one of the four best surgical hospitals in Louisiana.  Its patient service is ranked in the top ten percent nationally for patient satisfaction.

The Louisiana Heart Hospital Medical Group is one of the largest multi-specialty group practices in the region and plans to build its practice to include 100 physicians in primary care, cardiovascular care, orthopedics, neurology and stroke, emergency services and a full complement of surgical services.  Its physicians are located all across the Northshore from Hammond on the west to Picayune, MS on the east with distributed diagnostic services at its main campus in Lacombe and throughout the region.

The Cardiovascular Care Group (CCG), based in Nashville, TN, is founded to build large multi-specialty groups and service focused acute care hospitals in middle markets throughout the US.  CCG believes in physician-led, patient-centered care across the full continuum of service from prevention and primary care, through surgery and acute care to rehabilitation and disease management.  The company was founded in 2000 by Dr. Harry Jacobson, the long time head of the world famous Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville and one of the founders of Renal Care Group. 

Contact:
Lynne Black
985-690-7504

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SOURCE Cardiovascular Care Group