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hospital to now being the tertiary care facility, providing trauma
and burn services among many other services to the residents
of Manatee County,” he adds. Blake Medical Center is Manatee
County’s rst and only Level II Trauma Center and one of three
major hospitals in the county.
Currin took over the CEO role at Blake on November 13, after
former CEO Dan Friedrich retired. A North Carolina native, Currin
has a wide range of healthcare experience. Most recently, he
served as the COO of Bay Medical Center, a 323 bed Level II
Trauma Center based in Panama City, Florida.
From 2008 to 2012, Currin worked for Blake’s corporate parent,
Hospital Corp. of America (HCA). There, he served as Vice
President of Orthopedics and Spine for the 16 hospitals in
HCA’s West Florida Division, including Blake. After that, Currin
moved on to Health First in Brevard County, where he worked
from 2012 to 2016.
When Currin heard about the open CEO position at Blake
Medical, he knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime—so he
threw his hat into the ring.
“I started my administrative career with HCA and had always
looked for the opportunity to return to the organization in this part
of the state,” he explains. “I have had the opportunity throughout
my career to work with a couple of different organizations that
had trauma programs and other tertiary services that Blake
has, as well. Blake is the kind of organization that ts some of
my ‘must-haves’ from an experience and career perspective,
so when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it. And as
they say, the rest is history.”
A Natural Fit
Since he was just a child, it seems Currin was destined to work
in the healthcare industry. Born and raised in North Carolina,
Currin grew up listening to his mother, a nurse, share stories
from her workday. “So, I had exposure to healthcare early on in
that respect,” he recalls. “I listened to her over the years talking
about some of the wonderful aspects of healthcare as well as
some of the challenging aspects of healthcare. And healthcare
has been evolving during my lifetime.”
Today, Currin says follows what he calls the triple aim objective of
healthcare: to improve quality, reduce costs and improve access.
“That’s the philosophy I believe in,” he says. “So, I felt like I could
become part of the healthcare environment and hopefully leave
it better than I found it.”
There’s no question he’s already accomplishing that goal.
Looking to Give Back
Currin says he and his family are thrilled to be back in Southwest
Florida. “My daughter was actually born in this part of the state,”
he explains. “We lived in Fort Myers for a number of years, so
we’ve always considered this part of the state as home. For
us, it’s a return to a familiar environment where we have a lot of
friends and family.”
As Currin and his family settle into their new Manatee County
home, they are searching for opportunities to give back to
the community. “It’s clear that there’s an incredible level of
community investment here in Manatee County, both from a
volunteer perspective as well as a nancial perspective,” he says.
Soon after moving to the area, Currin joined Together Manatee,
a group of local professionals and business leaders who work
together to enhance life in the community.
“That’s the rst organization I’ve gotten involved with so far,”
Currin says, adding that he and his family look forward to working
with other non-prots. “We’re still trying to gure out where
we can benet organizations in the community by devoting
our time, energy and experience to make a difference. I know
there’s a number of other organizations, and I’ve already been to
some events—so we’re going to have plenty of opportunities to
get involved.”
Since taking on his new role, Currin has also gotten involved
with PEARLS, an Early Learning Coalition program that Blake
Medical Center supports. PEARLS (Preschool Emergency Alert
Response Learning System) provides training and encourages
emergency preparedness for preschools.
“Blake had the opportunity to support the development of
that program, which is going to be integral to early learning