Frank S. Groner, LL.D.

Born in Texas, Dr. Frank Groner graduated from Baylor University in 1934 and began a legendary 46-year career as a health care executive beginning as the CEO of Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. He then assumed the leadership of Memphis’s Baptist Memorial Hospital in 1946 and transformed the organization to become the highly recognized institution it is today.

During his influential career, Dr. Groner’s leadership was recognized by other national and international leaders as he was selected as the Chairman of the American College of Health Care Executives, the American Hospital Association and received the Justin Ford Kimball award for his work with Blue Cross. Dr. Groner was also selected to join charter inductees into the Health Care Hall of Fame in 1988 and was honored with Baylor University’s Distinguished Alumnus in 1983.

Always committed to bettering his community, Dr. Groner endowed a professorship at Baylor and created the Frank S. Groner Fellowship in Health Administration at Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation. He established residencies and fellowships at Baptist Memorial in 1950, and through his dedication, more than 70 health executives launched their careers including former CEOs at Baylor Health Systems, Yale New Haven Medical Center, Baptist Hospitals of Kentucky, Carolinas Health System in Charlotte and Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation. Additionally, Dr. Groner is the only person to receive the top three national awards in the field of health care—the Kimball Award in 1964, the Distinguished Service Award from the American Hospital Association in 1966 and the Gold Medal Award from the American College of Hospital Administrators in 1988.

Health care executive, decorated community leader and dedicated businessman, Dr. Frank Groner is a 2016 inductee of the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame.