David Irizarry has been named chief executive officer of Valley Regional Medical Center, replacing Art Garza, who transferred to Del Sol Medical Center in January 2022. Irizarry will assume his new role March 14.
Guided by his vision to provide compassionate and exceptional care to patients since 2002, when he began his healthcare career with HCA Healthcare, Irizarry served as a volunteer at Rio Grande Regional Hospital for 10 years and most recently served as chief operating officer of Rio Grande Regional Hospital. Under his leadership, Rio Grande Regional Hospital has grown in prestige and advanced quality care. Irizarry oversaw expansion projects of neuroscience and cardiovascular services, the growth of convenient high-quality access points like freestanding emergency centers, urgent care centers and a regional medical laboratory.
“David’s operational, management and clinical expertise will be invaluable to Valley Regional Medical Center as we work to build upon the success we have experienced over the last several years,” said Evan Ray, HCA Healthcare Gulf Coast Division executive vice president. “I know he will take his extraordinary talents and continue to meet the healthcare needs of the Brownsville community.”
Prior, Irizarry was the assistant administrator at Rio Grande Regional Hospital. His commitment to facility operations and staff was evident when he successfully completed HCA Healthcare executive development program in 2019. Irizarry was successful in gaining approval of several capital investments for Rio Grande Regional Hospital including $23.5 million for free standing emergency rooms and $26 million hospital emergency room expansion.
Irizarry holds a master of public health with a concentration in health policy and management from Texas A&M Health Science Center and a bachelor of science in biology and political science with a minor in history from The University of Texas Pan American (now known as UTRGV). He received the HCA Innovators Facility Award representing Rio Grande Regional Hospital in 2014. David also co-wrote various journal articles in healthcare throughout his career.
