Growing up as a physician’s son in the Mississippi Delta, Darrell Blaylock knew the demands of a life in healthcare. While medicine was not his passion, healthcare administration piqued his interest while in college. Although he started his career working for the State of Mississippi, today he serves as CEO at Tennova Healthcare – Volunteer Martin.
Originally from Greenville, Mississippi, Blaylock had been interested in healthcare from an early age. The son of an internist, he was acutely aware of what the life of a doctor held and even worked as an orderly throughout college. “I decided I was more interested in the human resource side of things at that time,” said Blaylock, who earned a political science degree from Delta State University. “I went to graduate school at Ole Miss to study public administration with a concentration in human resources. My first job was a desk job with the Mississippi State Personnel Board in Jackson, Mississippi.”
Blaylock’s interest in working in the healthcare arena had not waned so he pursued a Master of Healthcare Administration at Mississippi College in Clinton. “I worked for the state during the day and went to night school to get my master’s,” said Blaylock. “My first job was as an assistant administrator with Madison General Hospital and Nursing Home in Canton. As a part of that job, I got my nursing home administrator’s license.”
After four years in Canton, Blaylock made the switch from the non-profit side to the for-profit with a move to Lakeside Hospital in Metairie, Louisiana where he was the assistant administrator. “When our parent company was absorbed by Hospital Corporation of America, I was transferred to Covington, another suburb of New Orleans, and Lakeview Regional Medical, a general acute care facility. I served first as their COO for four years, then their CEO for two.”
In 2000, Blaylock moved to West Palm Beach to JFK Medical Center, a 425-bed facility to take over as COO. “This move gave me the opportunity to broaden my experiences as we developed new service lines, construction and renovation projects and it just offered me more challenges,” said Blaylock. “I spent five years there and then was recruited by Community Health Systems to be the COO at the CHS-affiliated Phoenixville, Pennsylvania facility. When CHS purchased a facility in Waukegan, Illinois, I went there to help with the transition. I learned so much in my two years there as an assistant CEO.”
A desire to be closer to his family in Mississippi, led to a relocation to West Tennessee. Blaylock spent four months as an assistant CEO at Regional Jackson before he took the reigns as CEO at McKenzie Regional. In 2013, he took over as CEO of Volunteer Martin, where he remains today.
After a wide variety of experiences over the course of his 26 plus years in healthcare, Blaylock says one thing has not changed, his open door policy. “I feel it is important for me to be approachable to all the staff. I surround myself with strong leaders and strong directors. I look at the big picture and see myself more as a resource to them to help them work through issues,” he said. “I don’t micro manage but do hold them accountable for their area. Drawing on my HR background, I like to gather information and make sure I have all the facts then work with the team to resolve issues or move in a direction we have agreed on. My style has definitely evolved over time and I have had some very good mentors along the way.”
Since his healthcare career started in the late 80’s, Blaylock has witnessed firsthand the myriad changes the industry has undergone and managing them has been a challenge. “From HC reimbursement to all the government regulations, joint commission requirements and state health department regulations, this industry has faced changes often,” he said. “Managing an ever changing environment while ensuring we are providing safe quality care and services to the community has been a challenge but one I have enjoyed and has played a huge part in my becoming a better leader.”
Volunteer Martin serves Weakly County which is located in the northwest corner of Tennessee and borders Kentucky. When the hospital in the neighboring town of Fulton, Kentucky closed, Volunteer Martin found itself absorbing some of that service area. “We built a rural health clinic, Hillview South, in South Fulton, Tennessee so we could maintain services in that county rather than patients having to travel to Martin or other towns,” said Blaylock. “Developing a rural health clinic was a new endeavor and quite a learning experience for us all because there are certain regulations for rural health clinics for them to be accredited. Our staff did a great job and we passed the accreditation process. We are excited about the relationship we have developed with the citizens in the South Fulton and Fulton, Kentucky areas, and the community has been very supportive of the clinic.”
Hillview South is staffed by three physicians, as well as a nurse practitioner that provide internal and family medicine, pediatrics as well as women’s health services. The clinic also includes a hospital outpatient department that includes radiology and laboratory services. “We built that part of the clinic as a service to the area. Patients can have their labs and radiology studies done here then we send the results to their primary care doctor, wherever that may be. It keeps patients from having to travel for these services.”
With an average of 100 patients being seen in the clinic each weekday, Blaylock hopes to eventually extend its hours of operation. “We hope by the end of the year to have a walk-in clinic that will stay open extended hours and on weekends,” he said. “We are looking to recruit additional nurse practitioners to staff the clinic’s extended hours.”
Blaylock likes to take things on a day by day basis and enjoys being close to his family. He says he has been very fortunate in his career to be a very good operational person. “I have overseen new construction as well as played a part in opening an open heart surgery program. Those are major accomplishments that I can say I have done from the ground up,” he said. “I like to work hard and hope to continue to develop new services and recruit new doctors. That is what excites me.”
A sports enthusiast, who runs four to five times a week, Blaylock missed being involved in sports once his kids went to college. “I wanted to be involved with youth sports in some way so I became a registered official with the TSSAA,” said Blaylock. “It lets me still be involved with kids and lets me be a role model for them on the athletic fields.”
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