David Parmer announced his retirement as CEO ofBaptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas on Sept. 29, 2020.

David Parmer announced his retirement as CEO ofBaptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas on Sept. 29, 2020.

Photo: Courtesy Of Baptist Hospitals Of Southeast Texas / Courtesy Of Baptist Hospitals Of Southeast Texas

David Parmer announced his retirement as CEO ofBaptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas on Sept. 29, 2020.

David Parmer announced his retirement as CEO ofBaptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas on Sept. 29, 2020.

Parmer to retire as Baptist CEO after more than 30 years

David Parmer has led Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas through growth, change, pandemic and more than a few natural disasters as CEO of the health group for more than three decades, but after next summer he will be passing on its future to the next generation of leadership.

Parmer announced his retirement Tuesday and will be stepping down as CEO at the end of next June. He will be staying on in an advisory role for two years during the leadership transition, according to the health group.

Parmers decision was announced by the health groups board of directors, who heralded his time with Baptist.

The entire board is extremely supportive of Davids decision and thankful for his many years of friendship and exemplary leadership, Gary Coker, board chair, said in a statement. Board members, hospital staff at all levels and the community at large have greatly benefited from Davids highly participative leadership style, sense of commitment to Baptist Hospital, and desire to reach the best solutions and decisions during the best and worst of times. David has truly been a great leader.

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas was founded in 1945 to answer a shortage of hospital beds in Beaumont. Baptist celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

Parmer joined Baptist in 1989 after gaining administration experience at hospitals and health groups in Louisiana. He previously worked as a controller with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs but decided to head to graduate school at the University of Alabama-Birmingham in search of a career that would allow him to help people beyond the finance world.

Early in his career, he had to oversee the creation of a new hospital in central Beaumont and the decommissioning of the old one.

Services at the hospital expanded under his tenure and Baptist joined with the Cancer Center of Southeast Texas and Altus Cancer Center to create the Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas Regional Cancer Network in 2017.

Parmer and Baptist as a whole have had to adjust to changing dynamics in health care, such as rising costs and migration of inpatient services to other offices.

In 2016, the decision was made to close the emergency room at the former Orange hospital, ending Baptists services in that area.

As CEO, Parmer also had to lead the hospital through disasters such as hurricanes and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parmers predecessor will be chosen by a newly appointed search committee and the Witt Kieffer executive search firm.

Candidates will be interviewed between January and February 2021 with the plan to have final candidates visit Beaumont between March and April. Baptist anticipates a new CEO will assume office by the end of June 2021.

jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/jd_journalism

Read more:
Parmer to retire as Baptist CEO after more than 30 years - Beaumont Enterprise