Health Care
Ascension Sacred Heart has a new president and CEO, and he knows the hospital floor from the inside. Rick Metzger started his career as an orderly in the operating room, became a registered nurse, and worked his way into hospital administration.
Metzger joined me on Rick’s Blog Live to talk about what he brings to the job, what he wants to tackle first, and why he and his wife are moving to the Gulf Coast.
Where he comes from. Metzger spent most of his career at Huntsville Hospital in North Alabama, starting at a large Level One trauma center much like Sacred Heart Pensacola. More recently he was with Ascension Providence in Mobile, which the University of South Alabama purchased about three years ago. Coming to Pensacola is a return to Ascension.
“I see life through a clinical lens that I think a lot of administrators may not have.”
He said that background helps him talk with nurses and physicians and build trust quickly, which he called “such a big part” of running a hospital.
Why Ascension. Metzger said he had long been curious about faith-based hospitals. Ascension’s Catholic formation program for leaders drew him in, and he said working for a faith-based organization lets people “bring your whole self” to work.
Access and charity care. I told Metzger that Ascension Sacred Heart provides almost half of all charity care in Escambia County, but that access remains a problem for many residents. His answer centered on the system’s freestanding emergency departments.
- The system operates four freestanding emergency departments, including sites in Pace, Nine Mile, and Navarre.
- Metzger said he has already heard stories about how much they mean to outlying communities.
- He pointed to what he called a collapse of rural health care across the country and said the hospital has to bring care to patients.
Mental health is his top priority. Asked what is next on his list, Metzger pointed to the nation’s mental health crisis, an issue he was passionate about in his last role.
