Covenant Names Dr. Craig Rhyne as New Chief Medical Officer
Covenant Health System Names Dr. Craig Rhyne as New Chief Medical Officer
Covenant Health System is pleased to announce Craig Rhyne, M.D., F.A.C.S., as the new chief medical officer (CMO) for Covenant Health System. Dr. Rhyne has practiced medicine in Lubbock since 1991, and has served in numerous leadership roles at Covenant throughout the years, most recently as the trauma medical director.
In his new role as CMO of the health system, Dr. Rhyne will continue to build positive relationships with the medical staff and will collaborate with local and regional physicians in relentless pursuit of providing the highest quality care and safety to the people of Lubbock and the surrounding region.
Dr. Rhyne will also be responsible for working to improve clinical and patient safety outcomes and will act as a liaison between the organized medical staff, administration and the utilization management and quality assurance programs.
“Dr. Rhyne is well-respected by those in our health system, in Lubbock and in his extensive regional trauma connections in West Texas and Eastern New Mexico,” Richard Parks, president and CEO of Covenant Health System, said. “It is nice to be able to have one of our extremely competent physicians with exceptional interpersonal skills accept our invitation to join the Covenant team. We are fortunate to have him with us in this new role.”
Dr. Rhyne will replace previous CMO Scott Robins, M.D. Dr. Robins served as CMO from 2007 – 2011, and recently moved to Dallas to serve as the CMO for HCA North Texas Division.
Since the formation of Covenant Health System in 1998, Dr. Rhyne has chaired the Trauma Peer Review Committee and the Trauma Section Committee. He has also served as chair for the Covenant Transfer Committee since 2006. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and is a recipient of the 1990 Clinical Teaching Award for outstanding clinical instruction at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. He is also a recipient of the 2002 Timothy Fleming EMS Medical Director Award for the state of New Mexico.
Dr. Rhyne and his wife, Jo, have two sons, Connor and Collin.
Covenant Health System
Covenant Health System is the largest health care institution in the region with 1,326 licensed beds, more than 5,000 employees and a medical staff of more than 600 physicians at its cornerstone facilities.
Covenant is a member of St. Joseph Health System in Orange County and serves a 62-county area spanning West Texas and eastern New Mexico, with a population in excess of 1.2 million. Cornerstone hospitals are Covenant Medical Center, Covenant Women’s and Children’s and Covenant Specialty Hospital. Other system hospitals are Covenant Hospital Levelland and Covenant Hospital Plainview, along with 12 other affiliated hospitals across the region.