News Releases

November 18, 2003
Charis Acree returns as WGHS Senior VP of Operations

After a seven-year absence, former West Georgia Health System Vice President Charis Acree returned to the health system on Dec. 1 as Senior Vice President of Operations.

“We are thrilled to have Charis return to us in this senior leadership position,” said WGHS President/CEO Jerry Fulks. “She is known and respected by many within our organization, having developed and overseen many of the key programs we have in place today. For the past seven years, she has served as a regional vice president with the Premier national alliance of not-for-profit health systems. And from that experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help us achieve our mission of delivering quality, compassionate health care to the people of our community.”

In her first 17 years with West Georgia Health System, Ms. Acree initially served as a WGHS assistant administrator, then as the vice president for clinical services. During her tenure, she was responsible for developing Florence Hand Home, West Georgia Hospice and Hospice LaGrange from concept to reality. She also led development efforts to initiate other WGHS programs including West Georgia Dialysis, electrodiagnostics, speech pathology, audiology and lithotripsy services.

For the past seven years, Ms. Acree has served as a regional vice president for Premier, Inc., a national alliance of 200 not-for-profit health systems which provides an array of clinical and operational improvement resources, consulting, collaborative programs and group purchasing for its member hospitals and health systems. In that position, she was responsible for maintaining Premier’s strategic relationships with the health care executives within the region she served, which included Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and for the past six months, South Carolina. She was responsible for creating and developing business plans, which included strategic initiatives and collaborative opportunities, as well as assisting with performance improvement initiatives for the Premier owner hospitals in her region.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and earned a master’s degree in health administration from Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia.

Ms. Acree has remained active in the community throughout her 24 years in LaGrange, having served as a board member and the 2002 campaign chairman for United Way of West Georgia. She is a member of the LaGrange Rotary Club and participated in the Leadership Georgia Class of 1995 and Leadership Troup Class of 1992. She has served as an elder at First Presbyterian Church and is a sustainer member of the Junior Service League of LaGrange.