Courtesy of JPS Health Network
The tax-supported JPS Health Network provides adult inpatient care at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, as well as family primary care, dental services, and psychiatric care at more than 25 community sites.
The JPS Health Network board of managers has offered CEO Karen Duncan a three-year extension that would pay her an annual salary of $950,000.
The salary would bring Duncan more closely in-line with running similar, complex health systems in the market, according to district officials.
“As chair of the board, it has been a great pleasure working with Dr. Duncan,” said Dorothy DeBose in a statement. “She has exceeded all my expectations implementing the Master Facility Plan, developing relationships and partnerships within the community, and improving the hospital operations.”
Duncan is currently making $848,000, according to the Fort Worth Report, which added that the offer includes an option for two one-year extensions.
The JPS Health Network is a $1.3 billion, tax-supported health care system. It employs more than 7,200 and includes more than 40 sites for care across the region. More than one million patients visit every year, according to JPS.
Duncan assumed her new role on Jan. 1, 2022, replacing Robert Earley, who retired after 13 years on the job.
Prior to her appointment, Duncan had been with JPS for five years as COO. During that time, she was responsible for “transforming the community health network of medical homes and clinics, and most recently has steered the implementation of the JPS Future Plan, the bond-supported development of health care services and sites throughout the county,” the board of managers said.
In addition to her experience at JPS, Duncan has worked in large public health academic centers and has held executive leadership positions at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital and Chicago’s Cook County Health and Hospitals System. Duncan, a board-certified pediatrician, came to JPS from Health Management Associates, a health care consulting firm, where as a principal she consulted for large, publicly funded hospitals systems and government entities, and managed care plans.
Duncan studied medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. Her credentials also include a bachelor’s in biochemistry at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and certification from the executive MBA program at Georgia State University.
“Dr. Duncan is a community asset to Tarrant County. We are fortunate to have at the helm of JPS Health Network a skillful, talented, and remarkable woman who leads with the community first in mind,” said Amanda Arizola, TCHD Human Resources Committee chair. “Dr. Duncan's work over the last several years as chief operating officer, and now for the last two years as CEO, has carried the network through a global pandemic, numerous weather-related incidences, and the daily health of all Tarrant County residents.
“We are looking forward to the continued innovative and people-centric work that Dr. Duncan has committed to the Tarrant County Hospital District.”