Mount Pleasant Magazine July/August 2017

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feature
The new chief executive officer at East Cooper
Medical Center is well aware that he doesn’t
know everything about every department of
the hospital. He insisted, however, that being
an expert on two-and-a-half dozen building blocks of a
modern medical facility is not a prerequisite for success in
today’s health care environment.
BY BRIAN SHERMAN
A
Learning
Experience
ECMC’s NewCEO
Patrick Downes took
over as chief executive
officer at East Cooper
Medical Center at the
end of March.
Patrick Downes, who took over the reins of the 130-
bed acute care hospital at the end of March, waded into
the complex world of hospital administration after earning
a bachelor’s and a master’s in Business Administration at
Florida State University, entering a residency program
operated by Tenet Health, which owns East Cooper
Medical Center. At North Shore Medical Center in
Miami, he said he learned from everyone at the hospital.
He readily admitted that his education is nowhere near
complete.
“Hospitals are like little cities. There’s 30 different
departments, and you have to have a basic knowledge of
all 30,” said the 33-year-old Downes. “Even though I went
through the residency program, it doesn’t mean I know
everything about hospitals. My job is to hire the right
people, support them and leverage their knowledge to help
make the right decisions.”
All of Downes’ previous experience is in Florida.
Most recently, he was chief executive officer of Coral
Gables Hospital, and he also has served as chief operating
officer at Hialeah Hospital and associate administrator of
Tenet Florida Physician Services – a 70-member practice
management group – and of North Shore Medical Center.
Prior to that, he was a bill analyst and administrative
assistant for the Florida House of Representatives and chief
of staff for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Downes’ experience in politics and medicine have
Photos by Brian Sherman.