Alumni/ae Spotlight

James E. Gardner, Jr. (MHA ’85)
President & CEO, Northeast Georgia Health System

James “Jim” E. Gardner is President and CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS), a two campus, 722-bed tertiary health system and integrated delivery network in Gainesville, GA.  When Mr. Gardner began his role in March of 2004, he successfully developed and led an aggressive initiative of system wide cost reduction while simultaneously embarking on the redesign and implementation of a $500m System Development Plan that included the current construction of $180m Patient Tower, $53m Woman’s Center and a third 100-bed system hospital in Braselton, GA.  Recently, the success of Mr. Gardner’s initiative and NGHS’ transformation were highlighted in the ACHE publication, Strategic Cost Reduction–Leading Your Hospital to Success.

Prior to joining NGHS, Mr. Gardner was President and CEO of Wyoming Medical Center, a 205-bed tertiary medical center in Casper, WY and held multiple executive positions with Christus Health System.   During his eleven-year tenure with Christus, Mr. Gardner served as President and CEO of Christus St. Patrick Hospital, a 556-bed facility in Lake Charles, LA, Christus St. Mary Hospital, a 332-bed facility in Port Arthur, TX and Christus St. Mary’s Hospital, a 322-bed facility in Galveston, TX.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Gardner was an Assistant Administrator for HCA Parkridge Medical Center, a 296-bed facility in Chattanooga, TN and served as Assistant Administrator and Administrative Resident for HCA Trident Regional Medical Center, a 300-bed facility located in Charleston, SC.  Mr. Gardner received his Master of Health Administration from the Medical College of Virginia and Bachelor of Science in Finance from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Personally, Jim values a work-life balance and continually seeks out new challenges and experiences.  Currently, he is taking flying lessons and has logged over 800 jumps throughout his skydiving career.  Jim and his wife Judy reside in Gainesville, GA where they enjoy boating on Lake Lanier with their three sons.