Henry Paul (Hank) Russell, M.D., assistant professor of Clinical Surgery and a general and thoracic surgeon at Vanderbilt Medical Group in Williamson County since 1986, has been named medical director of Vanderbilt Health – Williamson/Maury. He replaces Pete Powell, M.D., who has held the position since 2004.
Russell will coordinate the medical care rendered by Vanderbilt Medical Group (VMG) providers in Williamson and Maury Counties, oversee the relationships between area hospitals and Vanderbilt University Medical Center and serve as a liaison between the medical providers and facilities and the communities in Williamson and Maury counties.
He will work closely with the leadership of the clinical departments and Patient Care Centers that have faculty practicing south of Nashville. He will also help facilitate the evolution of the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network (VHAN) in those counties.
“The presence of our health system in Williamson and Maury Counties, along with the close ties we maintain with our affiliates Maury Regional Medical Center and Williamson Medical Center through the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network are vital elements of our footprint in this region,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., deputy vice chancellor for Health Affairs and CEO of the Vanderbilt Health System. “I want to welcome Dr. Russell into this new role and look forward to working closely with him as we move forward with our VHAN colleagues to provide the citizens of Maury, Williamson and surrounding counties high quality health care services,” Pinson said.
“I feel like I have been around long enough and actively practicing in Williamson County to have credibility in this position and to act as a bridge between the practices in Williamson and Maury counties and Vanderbilt,” said Russell, who is also medical director of the Heartburn Treatment Center at Williamson Medical Center. “I’m looking forward to what I can bring to this role.”
Russell is the ideal choice for this position, said Paul Sternberg, M.D., Chief Patient Experience and Service Officer, Chief Medical Officer, assistant vice chancellor for Adult Health Affairs, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and director the Vanderbilt Eye Institute.
“Dr. Russell is a highly respected clinician who has been a role model for clinicians in the Williamson County medical community for three decades,” Sternberg said. “I am thrilled that he has agreed to be our leader in this region and look forward to working closely with him. Vanderbilt remains strongly committed to providing high quality medical care to the citizens of Williamson and Maury Counties and Hank Russell is the ideal representative for what we stand for.”
VHAN includes a rapidly growing number of like-minded regional health systems and other providers. These include Williamson Medical Center, Maury Regional Medical Center, NorthCrest Medical Center and Sumner Regional, all located along the Interstate 65 north-south corridor; Mountain States Health Alliance based in northeast Tennessee; Cookeville Regional Medical Center to the east; and West Tennessee Healthcare in Jackson, Tenn.
Russell, a native of Jonesboro, Arkansas, received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences in Memphis. He completed training at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, and at Methodist Hospital in Memphis.
