In January, Eric Evans succeeded Wayne DeVeydt as CEO of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners, a healthcare services company that owns and operates more than 180 locations in 32 states.
Five things to know about Mr. Evans:
1. Mr. Evans, who has been with Surgery Partners since April 2019, simultaneously joined the board of directors. He is tasked with leading long-term strategy and business development efforts while continuing to oversee operations as he did as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He will report to Mr. DeVeydt, who is serving as executive chairman of the board.
2. Earlier in his career, Mr. Evans held multiple positions at Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, including CEO of Lake Pointe (Texas) Health Network, market CEO of the Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, Texas, and CEO of the Texas region.
3. After 12 years with Tenet, Mr. Evans was named president of hospital operations and tasked with oversight of 68 acute care hospitals, 161 hospital-affiliated facilities and more than 2,200 employed providers.
4. Mr. Evans was in industrial engineering before entering the healthcare space in 2004. He worked for Saturn Corp., a former subsidiary of General Motors Co.
5. In 2017, Mr. Evans told Becker's Hospital Review that he was drawn to healthcare because of its "fundamental mission" and providers' ability to help people at their most vulnerable moments. He said one of the biggest challenges for healthcare to overcome was inequitable access to primary and preventive care.