Hot Springs hospital president proud to be Catholic

Tony Houston worked for a Catholic health system in Missouri before moving

Published: August 8, 2015

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Malea Hargett

Tony Houston, president of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, stands before the new, larger crucifix recently installed in the hospital lobby. Houston joined the staff in December.

Malea Hargett

Tony Houston, president of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, stands before the new, larger crucifix recently installed in the hospital lobby. Houston joined the staff in December.

HOT SPRINGS — Tony Houston, president of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, is taking Bishop Anthony B. Taylor’s call to renewing the “Catholic health care apostolate” to heart.

“We know who we are and we know where we serve,” he said. “Obviously we are a minority Christian faith in this state; however, we are proud and public about being Catholic. But we are also mindful as Catholics we are Christian and called to be brothers and sisters of all believers, whether they are Christian or not. It’s very intentional that I don’t use ‘faith-based.’ I say Catholic. We welcome all faiths. … But I don’t want to diminish who we are.”

Bishop Taylor meets annually with health care leaders in the diocese and Houston’s first meeting this spring was confirmation that Houston was led to work for a Catholic hospital system.

Houston, a member of St. John Church in Hot Springs with his wife and third-grade daughter, said he is proud to display his faith to his family, community and hospital.

One way Houston says he lives out his faith during the day is by making sure the Hot Springs hospital — formerly known as St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and Mercy Hospital Hot Springs — stays true to the St. Vincent Health System’s first goal: service to the poor and vulnerable.

“We talk about that we are a Catholic health care ministry,” he said.

An image of Sister Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, graces one wall of Houston’s office.

“Our heritage is still connected to the Sisters of Mercy in many ways,” he said. “For 125 of the 127 years of existence, the Sisters of Mercy sponsored our organization. We appreciate that, we honor that and we remember that.”

In April 2014 CHI St. Vincent Health System bought Mercy Hospital Hot Springs and its physician clinic from Mercy Health System. When the Sisters of Mercy considered selling the hospital to a for-profit hospital system in 2012, a lot of uneasiness emerged from the hospital employees and the community. At one point crucifixes and religious objects were removed from the building, even before the proposed sale was finalized.

“There was a lot of angst in the unknown of who was buying us,” he said. “(Removing the religious items) was a symbolic time. For the organization and community it hit home and it was a call to action. That resulted in a tremendous amount of public support and community support. Members of our board and leaders in the community along with coworkers and physicians banded together and really advocated for our Catholic ministry and worked hard to find a Catholic buyer. I believe in fate. I believe in the Spirit at work. Those prayers were answered.”

Houston, a native of Cincinnati, graduated from Archbishop Moeller High School and got his master’s degree from Xavier University, a Jesuit college in Cincinnati. He arrived in Hot Springs a week before Christmas 2014 from Jefferson City, Mo., where he attended the Cathedral of St. Joseph. He was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer at SSM St. Mary Hospital.

Houston said CHI St. Vincent’s purchase of Mercy Hot Springs was a natural fit.

“The (St. Vincent) Infirmary is the oldest hospital in the state,” he said. “We are the second oldest hospital in the state. The Sisters of Mercy came to Hot Springs in 1888 and St. Vincent started six months earlier.”

How to keep the Catholic faith at the center of the hospital is important to Houston. Chaplain Father George Sanders celebrates Mass twice a week in the first-floor hospital chapel. Adoration is also held there. Two deacons, Patrick McCruden and Bill Friedman, and one Sister of Mercy, Sister Teresa Kelone, serve on the staff. When board president Bart Newman thought the crucifix in the hospital lobby was too small, Houston and McCruden went about ordering a larger, prominent one.

All new employees receive an overview from McCruden, vice president of mission integration, on the core values of the hospital. Every morning a prayer is said over the intercom across the hospital, and every staff meeting Houston leads starts with a prayer.

“I don’t take it lightly that I am Catholic in the position I am in,” he said. “… I am humbled to be in the role that I am in and very thankful to be a Catholic who can work in a Catholic organization. … It’s more than a job. It’s more than a paycheck. It’s a calling.”