Covenant Health officials announced today (Dec. 5) the addition of Brian D. Schroeder, MD, to a lead medical position at its two largest Lubbock hospitals.
He is chief medical officer (CMO) at Covenant Medical Center as well as the vice president for medical affairs at Covenant Women’s and Children’s (Children’s).
Dr. Craig Rhyne, Covenant’s regional chief medical officer, has been serving a dual role as CMO of Covenant Medical Center (CMC). He will continue to serve as CMO for the region, which encompasses 25 counties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico. Rhyne has been with Covenant Health for 34 years, beginning as a resident in 1982, starting a general surgery practice in 1991 and as CMO starting in 2011.
“I am thrilled to have Dr. Schroeder join me and Covenant’s quality leadership team,” Dr. Rhyne said. “Brian has extensive experience in managing medical staff relationships, activities, and committee meetings. His focus at both CMC and Children’s will allow me time to focus more on system-wide medical and quality strategies for Covenant and the region.”
Richard Parks, Covenant CEO, emphasized having an additional person on board to handle the day-to-day medical staff activities is necessary to help support both campuses while also allowing Dr. Rhyne to focus on medical and physician related activities across the entire Covenant region.
“Dr. Schroeder has extensive CMO experience at larger health systems,” Parks said. “We are fortunate to have him with us and look forward to his contributions as part of our Covenant family.”
Schroeder, MD, a practicing internal medicine hospitalist and palliative care physician since 1999, served as the senior vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Mich. Also a flight surgeon and an internist with the Air National Guard, Schroeder holds the rank of Lt. Colonel.
Schroeder is a Fellow of the American Association for Physician Leadership, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Senior Fellow of Hospital Medicine. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a Certified Physician Executive. He holds faculty appointments of Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Lansing, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Central Michigan University College of Medicine in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
He earned his Doctor of Medicine degrees from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the Michigan State University-Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies and earned his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He is a three-time recipient of resident teaching awards and was given the Excellence in Teaching award by the 2002 graduating class of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
A native of South Dakota, Schroeder and his wife Nancy have four children, two horses and three black Labradors, one of which is a certified therapy animal.
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About Covenant Health:
Covenant Health has served for almost 100 years as the only faith-based integrated health network in the West Texas, eastern New Mexico region providing a Christian healing ministry. Covenant’s network includes six hospitals, more than 1,000 licensed beds, more than 5,000 employees, 97 primary care providers, a medical staff of more than 600 physicians at its cornerstone facilities, and a regionally based health plan – FirstCare — offering high-quality affordable healthcare coverage. To learn more about Covenant Health, please visit covenanthealth.org.
(News release from Covenant Health)
