Jameson Norton, MBA, the current CEO of North Tampa Behavioral Health, a facility in the Acadia Health system, has been named CEO of the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH). He will join Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) on Sept. 12.
Norton is a Nashville native and graduate of the Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management, and served in the U.S. Marine Corp. for a decade, commanding Marine infantry platoons overseas and overseeing the operations of 37 Marine recruiting facilities.
Norton will report to C. Wright Pinson, MBA, M.D., Deputy CEO and Chief Health System Officer, VUMC, and will have administrative responsibility to support all of Vanderbilt Behavioral Health, including VPH, Vanderbilt Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics, behavioral health services across the VUMC campus and school-based mental health programs in the community administered by Vanderbilt.
“Jameson’s background — serving in leadership roles with the U.S. Marines, his experience as CEO of North Tampa Behavioral Health, combined with his personal and professional commitment to help those suffering from mental illness — made him a standout candidate for this important position on our leadership team,” Pinson said.
He succeeds Harsh Trivedi, M.D., MBA, who left VUMC on June 30 to become the president and CEO of Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore. Armando Colombo, chief executive officer for Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, has been serving as interim CEO since Trivedi’s departure.
“We look forward to working with Jameson and welcome his contributions to the ongoing success of VPH and its ancillary services,” Pinson said. “We also want to express our appreciation to Armando Colombo for serving as VPH’s interim CEO until we could complete this search.”
At Owen, Norton specialized in health care with concentrations in operations and strategy. During the school’s health care immersion program, he spent an evening in VUMC’s Emergency Department and realized how similar the culture felt to his time in the military.
“I loved the 24/7 operations, the intrinsically motivated staff who dedicate their lives to making a difference, the teamwork, the complexity and the high-stress, high-stakes leadership that we find in both environments.
“I love being part of a team and impacting the lives of people while working together for a cause much greater than ourselves,” Norton said. “Owen was a fertile training ground, filled with great people and a wealth of resources to help transition into health care with an inspired passion. I was able to build a strong foundation in health care operations by pouring myself into various consulting and quality improvement projects at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, VPH and across numerous hospitals within the Acadia family. This exposure to both the evolution and vulnerabilities in health care helped focus my attention on opportunities to improve our system of health care delivery.”
Norton became interested in behavioral health years ago after his experience with a close friend. “I had the opportunity in college to walk with my close friend through his first symptoms of bipolar disorder and witness his courage across many years of successful treatment,” he said. “I also had the opportunity to work with our active duty service members and veterans through times of trauma and Post Traumatic Stress, helping them navigate the health care system and find help during critical times of need. These personal experiences help drive my passion for helping people in similar circumstances as we collectively seek to understand the human condition and ignite meaningful change across the spectrum of care”
At North Tampa Behavioral Health Norton built a cohesive team that facilitated a hospital turnaround, launched three new service lines to meet critical needs in the community, achieved unprecedented growth and fostered a transformational culture that improved patient satisfaction by more than 15 percent in 2015. The hospital became a training ground for Acadia’s new leadership, and Jameson mentored three new CEOs within its leadership development program.
He also contributed to building a military program called C.O.R.E. (Challenge Overcome Restore Empower) that achieved national recognition among active duty personnel and veterans because of its comprehensive approach to empowering post traumatic growth and recovery from substance abuse disorder.
Norton and his wife, Anna, both from Nashville, are looking forward to moving back with their children, Jameson, 4, and Claire, 1.
“Vanderbilt has always been close to my heart and family. It is a special place that we believe in. I am proud to serve alongside each member of our team in this important mission.”
