LEADER PROFILE
The inscription above his door says it all ...
Love God, Love People By Nancy Robertson
T
he premature birth of his son started Steven Webb, President and CEO of Unity Health, on his path to health care administration. “As the parent of a preemie, you come into close contact with compassion in every hospital department involved in the care of your baby,” he says. “My wife, Elizabeth, and I were amazed and so grateful for the many people with whom we had contact over the two-month period our son spent in the NICU. Though it’s now 18 years later, I still remember the case coordinators, respiratory therapists, residents … and the cafeteria cashier, the dietary workers. They all became very familiar to us in those months. Teams coordinated with one another, and they made us feel confident. There are times in our lives when God simply opens a door. I had a desire for my work to be a ministry, and the people in health care opened my eyes to work that makes a difference.” Webb says he didn’t know how to go about entering the health care field. At the time of his son’s birth, he was in the insurance industry, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management. “I talked to a number of young men and women in health care, and I learned about the master’s program in Health Care Administration being offered at the University of Arkansas Little Rock. I enrolled in the program and completed it in 2006.” His first foray into hospital administration began soon after, when he was named CEO of Good Shepherd Medical Center in Linden, Texas. “I wish every administrator could start work in a small hospital,” he says. “It affords you the opportunity to see, firsthand, how every role in the hospital functions. It’s a learning experience like none other.” He says that being able to experience leadership with teams in the small hospital environment is extremely valuable. After several years at Good Shepherd, Webb returned to Arkansas and began filling leadership roles in a large Arkansas-based health system. He served as Administrator, Vice President of Patient Services, and Vice President/ Administrator. Nearly four years ago, he was named President and CEO of Unity Health, which brought him home to Searcy.
40 SPRING 2022 | ARKANSAS HOSPITALS
Steven Webb, President/CEO of Unity Health Photo: George Dillin Photography
