Bill Henning, chief executive officer/administrator of Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi since 2013, has announced plans to retire on May 26. Henning came to Baptist with more than 20 years of health care experience and led construction of the new Baptist North Mississippi facility, which opened in 2017.

“Bill Henning has achieved outstanding success during his decade at Baptist NorthMississippi, including leading construction of the new hospital, which has perhaps been the greatest and most important project in the hospital’s history,” said Dr. Paul DePriest, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Baptist Memorial Health Care. “I am grateful for his leadership, and he will be greatly missed, but I wish him well on this exciting new phase of his life.”

Brian Welton, CEO and administrator of Baptist Memorial Hospital-Crittenden, has been appointed CEO/administrator of Baptist North Mississippi. Welton came to Baptist as a Frank S. Groner administrative fellow in 2012 and quickly advanced his career, serving as assistant administrator of Baptist Golden Triangle from 2013 to 2014, operations director for Baptist Medical Group from 2014 to 2017, and CEO/administrator of Baptist Crittenden since 2017. He oversaw the design, construction and opening of the facility as well as operations after it opened.

“Brian Welton is the right person to lead Baptist North Mississippi at this time,” said Dr. DePriest. “He has the experience and qualifications, and I have every confidence in his ability and commitment to providing quality care for North Mississippians.”

Welton has a master’s degree in health administration and in business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2010. Baptist Memorial Health Care is one of the country’s largest not-for-profit health care systems and the largest provider of Medicaid in the region.

Baptist offers a full continuum of care to communities throughout the Mid-South and consistently ranks among the top integrated healthcare networks in the nation. The health care system comprises 22 affiliate hospitals in West Tennessee, North and Central Mississippi and East Arkansas; more than 5,400 affiliated physicians; Baptist Medical Group, a multispecialty physician group with more than 900 providers; home, hospice and psychiatric care; minor medical centers and clinics; a network of surgery, rehabilitation and other outpatient centers; and an education system highlighted by

Baptist Health Sciences University (formerly Baptist College of Health Sciences). Baptist employs more than 19,000 people, and in fiscal year 2020 contributed more than $352 million in community benefit and uncompensated care to the communities it serves.