Harris Health System welcomes new leadership team to Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital—its Level 1 Trauma Center and a Magnet® recognized facility for nursing excellence. The new executives are Dr. Glorimar Medina, executive vice president and administrator; Antoinette ‘Toni’ Cotton, chief nursing officer; and Dr. Sandeep Markan, medical chief of staff.
“I’m excited about our potential, and confident in the ability of the team I have assembled,” says Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, president and CEO, Harris Health. “Each individual is a highly skilled, collaborative and respected leader in our system, and will help us achieve our vision to become the premier public academic healthcare system in the nation. The timing also coincides with the launching of Harris Health’s five-year strategic plan and its implementation.”
Dr. Glorimar Medina (Courtesy of Harris Health System)
Medina assumes the top position at Harris Health Ben Taub after two years as administrator of Harris Health Ambulatory Care Services (the primary and outpatient care arm of the safety-net healthcare system that annually provides more than 2 million patient visits through its network of health centers, school-based clinics, homeless shelters and specialty facilities).
“As a physician partner and one who has held leadership positions at Harris Health throughout the years, I’ve always felt aligned with the system’s mission and values,” she says. “I’m humbled to join the ranks of people who have served at Harris Health Ben Taub and want to continue the amazing work by the team with a special focus on patient and employee safety as job one.”
Medina is a board-certified anesthesiologist and a clinical assistant professor with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth in Houston, and previously worked as assistant chief of anesthesiology and ambulatory surgical center medical director at Harris Health Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital. She is a graduate from Puerto Rico and completed her residency at UTHealth.
Toni Cotton (Courtesy of Harris Health System)
Cotton, MHA, RN, BSN, is the new chief nursing officer at Harris Health Ben Taub, a similar position she held for Harris Health Ambulatory Care Services. She has more than 32 years of nursing experience and is proud to join the hospital’s new leadership team.
“The nursing team at Harris Health Ben Taub takes pride in the level of patient care they provide and in the contributions they make to such a distinguished hospital,” she says. “I look forward to coming alongside our nursing team as we focus on providing exceptional patient care and investing in the people providing that care.”
Before joining Harris Health, Cotton served as chief nursing officer at a 302-bed hospital in Houston. She received her nursing degree from Houston Baptist University and a master’s degree in health administration from University of Phoenix.
Dr. Sandeep Markan (Courtesy of Baylor College of Medicine)
“Dr. Markan joins Dr. Tien Ko, chief of staff, Harris Health LBJ (UTHealth), and Dr. Matasha Russell, chief medical officer, Harris Health Ambulatory Care Services, as members of our physician leadership team committed to acting as one system in their approach to patient safety, clinical quality and the strategic use of data to become a zero-harm high-reliability organization,” says Dr. Ann Barnes, chief medical executive, Harris Health.
Markan assumes the role of chief of staff at Harris Health Ben Taub and is a board-certified anesthesiologist specializing in cardio-thoracic anesthesia and critical care. He is also an associate professor and interim co-chair of the Anesthesiology Department at Baylor College of Medicine. He’s been a member of the hospital’s medical staff since 2012 and now takes the reigns as the fourth chief of staff ever in the hospital’s 58-year history.
“Working at Harris Health Ben Taub called to me for two reasons,” he says. “Principally I’m a clinician educator so this gives me the opportunity to teach doctors of tomorrow. Secondly, I have had a lifetime of devotion to speak for the underdog and within that umbrella is the idea of serving and caring for the underprivileged and the most vulnerable in our community.”
Markan began his medical education in India and completed his residency and fellowship in Wisconsin, Illinois and Massachusetts before landing in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. Most recently, he is the recipient of several clinical education and leadership awards from Baylor College of Medicine including its Star Award for Clinical Excellence.