HIGH PROFILE: Chris Barber, CEO of St. Bernards Healthcare, is known for not taking shortcuts

His discipline from an early age now contributes to the hospital president’s success

“I’d just say we have a great group of people here. We are big and we have a lot of facilities to manage but the group that works here gives you a lot of confidence by doing what they do every day.”  - Chris Barber
“I’d just say we have a great group of people here. We are big and we have a lot of facilities to manage but the group that works here gives you a lot of confidence by doing what they do every day.” - Chris Barber

JONESBORO -- It's 5 a.m. and the world is dark. Even the birds know to knock off the chirping and hold tight to those last few hours of sleep before the sun is up.

Some years ago, a determined boy in Jonesboro had a different idea and a different clock. He was up and out of his warm bed before 5 a.m. He did this without much prompting by his parents in order to be dressed and ready to leap into a cold pool for swimming lessons.

The boy was Chris Barber and his before-the-break-of-dawn lessons happened before he had reached middle school.

"Back then, that helped me develop some good habits, a good work ethic," Barber says. "It was really good to learn to be disciplined in that way."

That resolve is a bright thread that runs through Barber's life and no doubt contributes to his current position as president/chief executive officer of Jonesboro's St. Bernards Healthcare, a medical organization that serves 23 counties in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri. St. Bernards' payroll includes close to 4,000 employees. The centerpiece of St. Bernards is the Medical Center, a 438-bed acute care hospital. Barber has been at the helm of the sprawling medical complex for 10 years.

In December, the Medical Center will open up a new surgical and intensive care services tower, which will be the largest expansion in the hospital's history. The new 245,000-square-foot, four-story tower will house all of the Medical Center's surgical and intensive care units.

Barber's own history with St. Bernards is extensive. He was born in the hospital that he now runs. The only employer he has had in his adult life is St. Bernards, starting out as an intern and working his way up to the very top.

"I'd just say we have a great group of people here," Barber says. "We are big, and we have a lot of facilities to manage. But the group that works here gives you a lot of confidence by doing what they do every day."

Bobby Gibson, a lawyer with his own office, The Gibson Firm, has been a close friend of Barber's since they were young, growing up together in the same neighborhood in Jonesboro.

"He's the kind of guy where a bunch of different people want to claim him as a best friend," Gibson says.

Gibson figures that anybody else running an organization as large as St. Bernards would be expected to have a temper. Instead, Gibson says Barber radiates a sense of ease.

"For me, the stress and egos that [Chris] has to deal with on a day-to-day basis, the complexity of the health care landscape and the decisions that have to be made, it would put pressure on any person. But he handles it all with an incredible calmness. I have never seen him flustered in that environment. I always hear him say we don't have problems but opportunities."

When looking at Barber's life, it's hard not to notice the significant role the St. Bernards hospital has played in it. Barber grew up in a neighborhood in the center of Jonesboro that he figures is about a mile away from the hospital.

"Both of my parents worked," Barber says. "There were a lot of young families in that neighborhood. I had plenty of kids nearby to play with. I had a very active childhood. I'm of the generation where the parents pushed you out in the morning, and you weren't expected back until dinner."

It was a tight-knit world. Barber was close enough to his elementary school to walk there in the mornings.

When he wasn't in school, Barber would find plenty of volunteers in the neighborhood ready for pickup games. Just as he did with his early morning swimming lessons, Barber didn't shy away from the competition or the challenge.

"[My friends] would come to our backyard and play football," Barber says. "There were other houses where we'd play basketball or baseball. There were some privileges by playing football in my backyard. Let's just say that if my team was winning, the game was likely over!"

High school saw Barber flesh out those backyard football skills. He was on the track team and grabbed headlines as defensive back for Jonesboro High. Barber set a record for single-season interceptions.

"He was an incredible athlete," Gibson says. "He was always the hardest worker. Some of us would take shortcuts, he refused to take shortcuts. He was fiercely competitive. He had to win."

Barber's achievements on the field did draw attention and he was recruited to play football by a few smaller colleges. Jonesboro's own Arkansas State University, where Barber's mother worked, encouraged him to come to the college and play football as a walk-on. Barber didn't see his future in the sport.

"I had a great experience playing football in high school. I played with guys that you could tell were going to go on and do well after high school. I was 5'11" and knew I wasn't going to go on beyond that. Besides, I wanted to channel my energies to other things."

For the young man, the desire to break away from his hometown and to go to a college that wasn't Arkansas State University was strong.

"My older sister was going to [ASU], and my mother worked there," Barber recalls. "I wanted to plow my own path. So that contributed to my decision to go to Fayetteville. It was a good thing for me to be independent and do my thing."

Barber cites the support he had at home as crucial.

"I had great parents," Barber says. "They allowed me freedom to make those decisions. There was no pressure to make a specific decision."

HOOK 'EM HORNS

One decision Barber made in college, though, put a little pressure on him.

It was a phone call Barber had to make back home, and he knew there might be problems. He was a sophomore at the University of Arkansas, and the news was going to come out one way or another. Barber decided that he needed to tell his parents straight out that he had passed the audition and would be an Arkansas Razorbacks cheerleader.

"So I made the call, and my dad picked up the phone. And I told him the news," Barber recalls. "There was dead silence on the phone."

Barber's father grew up in Texas and was a staunch Texas Longhorns fan. Though he did not block his son from attending Texas' rival, Barber's dad expressed his distaste for UA in other ways.

"When it came time to write the checks for my tuition, my dad would sign it and write out the amount, but he would leave the 'to line' blank for me to write in the University of Arkansas."

Barber only spent a single year as a cheerleader but definitely considers it a highlight of his time in college.

"I had a roommate who encouraged me to try out. It wasn't anything I had planned on. But it was a lot of fun. We went to the Orange Bowl that year. We also went to the National Cheerleading Championships in San Diego. It was a great experience."

An ability to lead and be a leader appeared when Barber stepped up to be president of his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

"I thought I could make a positive impact," Barber notes about the position. "If I do something, I want to do it so I can make it better. It was a wonderful learning opportunity to lead hundreds of young men in that role."

While he secured a business degree, Barber wasn't exactly sure where he was headed after graduating. Work? Graduate school? Barber instead did something a little unexpected -- he headed off to London with a friend and with the intention of picking up a work permit.

"I wanted to see some new territory. That was my plan. We got the work permits but ended up not doing any work. We just traveled. We did what we had to do even though we didn't have any money. We would sleep at train stations. That was enough of a break for me to realize that I would go on to pursue graduate work. It was a new experience, and I was able to get my mind right for what was next for me."

SUCCEEDING HIS MENTOR

His overseas trip done, Barber promptly returned to Jonesboro and enrolled in graduate school at ASU. A meeting at the admissions office proved to be about more than just signing up for classes.

"That was where I met [Michelle]. I was going to the admission office to enroll and she was doing a work-study as an undergraduate. We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We started out as friends. She is such a caring person."

Barber credits an internship with a pathology lab during graduate school to turning his attention to the medical field. It was an internship at St. Bernards after picking up his graduate degree that set Barber on the course that he is still running today.

Right at the start, Barber was taken under the wing of Ben Owens, then-president/CEO of St. Bernards. That relationship was a strong one and Barber credits it with the reason he has risen through the ranks to take over for his mentor.

"Working for Mr. Owens and the hospital was a great fit," Barber says. "I immediately knew I was in the right place."

"[Chris] worked under me for nearly 20 years," Owens says. "He has done a remarkable job [as the head of St. Bernards]. I knew he would do well because, one, he is a good person, two, he is smart and, three, he is a gentleman."

In Barber's tenure, St. Bernards has expanded and is a major economic engine in that corner of the state. Barber has taken on other health-care leadership roles including being a board member of the Arkansas Hospital Association and current chair-elect and board member of The Partnership for a Healthy Arkansas.

The responsibilities at St. Bernards and elsewhere haven't kept Barber from staying in touch with his old friends. Most every Friday morning you can spot the St. Bernards CEO with a group of guys having breakfast at The Front Page Café. This informal get-together of serious friends has a formal name -- The Coffee Club of Clucks.

"We know each other well and go back a long ways," Barber says. "We keep things in perspective and keep each other grounded."

Any other time Barber has left over is spent with his family. He has three sons and "whatever activity the family is involved in is what you'll find me doing."

As he has done his whole life, Barber is determined to be "intentional" with whatever time he has. That sense of purpose has served Barber well up to this point.

That's a pretty good return for an early morning, elementary-school swimming lesson.

SELF PORTRAIT

Chris Barber

• DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Feb. 21, 1967, at St. Bernards, Jonesboro

• A HOSPITAL IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS: People! Committed and passionate individuals making a meaningful impact in the lives of others.

• THE ADVICE THAT HAS STAYED WITH ME DURING MY WORKING LIFE: Always be yourself. Be authentic. Words matter. Be intentional and make a difference with your time.

• WHEN I BEGAN MY CAREER, SISTER BENEDICTA BOECKMANN WOULD REMIND ME: "Always be Chris. Just be yourself." This resonated with me as being comfortable with who you are while fully becoming that which you are supposed to be.

• I CAN'T START MY DAY WITHOUT: Running with our yellow lab Lexi.

• MY FOUR GUESTS AT MY FANTASY DINNER PARTY: Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and George Washington

• THE WAY I RELAX: Spending time with family and friends.

• ONE WORD TO SUM ME UP: Intentional

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“Both of my parents worked. There were a lot of young families in that neighborhood. I had plenty of kids nearby to play with. I had a very active childhood. I’m of the generation where the parents pushed you out in the morning and you weren’t expected back until dinner.” - Chris Barber

High Profile on 10/27/2019

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