Physician executive Dr. Michael Hicks to lead UNTHSC's clinical operations

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dr. Michael Hicks, who co-founded one of the nation's largest providers of perioperative medicine and pain management services, has joined the University of North Texas Health Science Center as its Executive Vice President for Clinical Affairs.

Dr. Hicks will oversee all clinical operations at UNTHSC while supporting and enhancing the university's efforts at interprofessional education. He also will take a lead role in shaping the collaborative clinical practice that UNTHSC is creating with JPS Health Network, a venture he said is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something new and better."

"Whether you are an anesthesiologist, a cardiac surgeon or a pediatrician, you just want to take care of people," Dr. Hicks said. "With this new collaborative medical group, we get to figure out how patients want to receive care and how we can best deliver it. I can't imagine a physician not wanting to be a part of something like that."

Dr. Hicks was co-founder, president and board chairman of DFW Anesthesia Associates, which began in 1990 as a physician-owned anesthesiology practice and eventually became Pinnacle Partners in Medicine. Pinnacle, which last year employed 360 anesthesiologists and 230 certified registered nurse anesthetists, is the major anesthesia provider for both Baylor Scott & White Health and Texas Health Resources in North Texas, as well as other leading hospitals and surgery centers.

In addition to his role as President and Chairman of the Board at Pinnacle, since 2006 Dr. Hicks has served as Regional Medical Director for Hospital Corporation of America's Ambulatory Surgery Division and from 2009 as CEO of EmCare Anesthesia Services.

Dr. Michael Williams, President of UNTHSC, said Dr. Hicks' background as a physician executive and entrepreneur make him an ideal fit to lead UNTHSC's clinical operations.

"Dr. Hicks has a deep knowledge of what it takes to oversee both single-specialty and multi-specialty practices – and the innovation, leadership and change management skills that come with running complex organizations," Dr. Williams said.

Dr. Hicks earned his MD from the West Virginia University School of Medicine, his MBA from the University of Dallas and his MS in health management from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology (Anesthesiology), the American Board of Preventive Medicine (Clinical Informatics) and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

SOURCE University of North Texas Health Science Center