Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare
C. David Huffstutler
Chief executive officer
In February 2011, C. David Huffstutler was named CEO of Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, the leading healthcare provider for El Paso and the surrounding region. Mr. Huffstutler also serves as president of Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) Central and West Texas Division and as president and CEO of St. David’s HealthCare, a seven-hospital healthcare system in Central Texas.
Prior to this, Mr. Huffstutler served as CEO of St. David’s Medical Center, which comprises four of the seven member hospitals of St. David's HealthCare, including St. David's Hospital, St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital, St. David's Georgetown Hospital and Heart Hospital of Austin. Before joining St. David's HealthCare in 2007, Mr. Huffstutler served for three years as CEO of Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital in Houston, and prior to that, for seven years in various hospital operations leadership roles in the Houston market for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Before joining HCA, he spent nearly fifteen years in management positions for The Methodist Health Care System in Houston.
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. Huffstutler holds an undergraduate degree in healthcare management from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in healthcare from the University of Houston at Clear Lake.
Professionally, Mr. Huffstutler is immediate past chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Texas Hospital Association (THA), the state’s hospital industry group, and also serves on the executive committee. Prior to serving on the THA board, he served as a director of the association’s political action committee, HOSPAC. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
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Las Palmas Medical Center
Don Karl
Chief executive officer
Don Karl was named chief executive officer of Las Palmas Medical Center in February of 2016.
For nearly two decades, Karl served as chief operating officer (COO) of Las Palmas Medical Center, where he oversaw day-to-day operations and managed many of the hospital’s expansions—including the emergency department and the intensive care unit.
He also spearheaded the opening of the interventional neurosurgery suite, which is dedicated to advanced procedures and he was instrumental in the conceptualization and implementation of new hospital programs, including bariatric surgery and da Vinci robotic surgery. Karl has also helped recruit new physicians to the hospital to advance the hospital’s care capabilities in various fields. Prior to his role at Las Palmas Medical Center, he previously served as CEO of Healthcare Diagnostic Center in El Paso.
Karl began his career in healthcare more than 30 years ago after earning a bachelor of business administration degree from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He went on to earn his master of business administration from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas.
Ruben Castro
Chief operating officer
Ruben Castro serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Las Palmas Medical Center. Castro has more than 23 years of healthcare experience that includes administration, nursing, clinical laboratory and information technology. He previously served as the COO at St. David’s Georgetown Hospital in Austin, Texas.
Castro has also served as the associate administrator and ethics and compliance officer at North Hills Hospital, an HCA affiliate in North Richland Hills, Texas. Prior to this, he served in several other capacities at North Hills Hospital. Early in his career, Castro worked as a licensed practical nurse and anesthesia technician at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford in Bedford, Texas.
Castro earned his bachelor of information technology degree as well as his MBA from University of Phoenix. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve for eight years.
Christine Walker
Chief nursing officer
Christine Walker was named chief nursing officer (CNO) at Las Palmas Medical Center in January of 2022. Walker brings more than 20 years of healthcare experience in various service lines, including Women's Services, Emergency, and critical care. She previously served as Associate Chief Nursing Officer at St. David's South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Walker has also served as the senior director of the Transformation Office at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Texas. She led system integration, reliable care blueprinting, and patient journey initiatives for the most extensive faith-based, non-profit healthcare delivery system in North Texas.
Walker received a doctor of nursing practice degree from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, in 2016. She also holds a master of science in nursing/master of business administration and a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Phoenix.
Del Sol Medical Center
Art Garza
Chief executive officer
Art Garza was named chief executive officer (CEO) at Del Sol Medical Center in January of 2022. Before he arrived in El Paso, Garza served as the CEO of Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, Texas, of which he is a native. His career in healthcare spans almost 30 years with the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and his military service. As an early careerist, Art was a multimodality radiography technologist.
As of 2010, Art has served as a chief operations officer (COO) at three hospitals. His journey as a hospital administrator has led him to North Suburban Medical Center in Thornton, Colorado, East Houston Regional Medical Center in Houston, Texas, and Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, Texas.
Brian Allen
Chief operating officer
Brian Allen was named chief operating officer (COO) in August of 2019. Most recently, Allen served as the COO for HCA Healthcare's Parham Doctors' Hospital in Richmond. Previously, Allen served in various administration roles, including associate administrator at HCA Healthcare's Henrico Doctors' Hospital Forest in Richmond, Virginia, and as a medical service corps officer in the United States Air Force.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in management from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He earned an MBA and a master’s degree in healthcare administration from Baylor University in Waco.
Annie Garcia
Chief nursing officer
Annie Garcia, RN, was named chief nursing officer (CNO) of Del Sol Medical Center in June 2017. Before returning to Del Sol Medical Center, Garcia served as CNO of Methodist Texsan Hospital in San Antonio for the past three years.
In Garcia’s role at Methodist Texsan Hospital, she oversaw the nursing operations of the hospital and was instrumental in the hospital’s efforts to improve nursing engagement, patient experience and quality outcomes, which resulted in a number of recognitions. During her time there, nurse turnover and vacancy rates decreased, while physician satisfaction with nursing care significantly increased.
Garcia began her career in El Paso at Del Sol Medical Center, serving for more than 10 years in several nursing roles with increasing levels of responsibility at the hospital, including administrative director of critical care services, director of telemetry, nursing supervisor and critical care nurse. Garcia has in-depth knowledge of the hospital and is well-known to the nursing team at Del Sol Medical Center.
Garcia earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from New Mexico State University. She went on to earn a Master of Nursing Systems Management from The University of Texas at El Paso.
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