Hendrick CEO honored as Abilene's Citizen of the Year

Tim Lancaster, president and CEO of Hendrick Health, was recently honored as the 2018 Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce.

Lancaster’s journey with Abilene and Hendrick Medical Center began in 1994 when he was hired as senior vice president. In 1998, he relocated to Brownwood to serve as Brownwood Regional Medical Center’s CEO. He returned to Hendrick in 2004 as the fourth president and CEO of the organization.

Under his leadership, Hendrick has continued operational stability and financial growth, allowing the facility to offer new service lines and attract many specialists to the area. Lancaster oversaw an $86 million project to expand hospital services, adding a new physician office building, as well as a new patient tower, new surgical suites and operating rooms, a new labor and delivery unit and a relocated and expanded children’s hospital. Since the conclusion of that campaign, Hendrick has added a hospice center, a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a south side medical plaza and an emergency department in Abilene, as well as a new outpatient surgery center and a soon-to-be-built medical office building in Brownwood.

Lancaster is community-minded, and it shows by his dedicated service and involvement in several local organizations. He is on the First Financial Bank board in Abilene and a member of the Abilene Industrial Foundation, Boy Scouts of America board and Abilene Improvement Corporation. He has also served as chairman of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce and has served on the boards of the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, Community Foundation of Abilene, The Grace Museum, United Way and as a deacon at First Baptist Church. He worked closely with community leaders to expand the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Abilene Campus offerings, including the addition of the School of Pharmacy, the School of Nursing, the School of Public Health and the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health at Abilene.

Additionally, Lancaster offers his time and talents to state and national healthcare organizations, such as the Texas Hospital Association, the American Hospital Association, the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Texas Association of Voluntary Hospitals. He currently serves as vice chair of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, an appointment made by then-Governor Rick Perry in 2013.

The Abilene Chamber of Commerce has been selecting and recognizing Citizens of the Year since 1946. Lancaster joins an elite group of Abilenians, including Hendrick Medical Center Vice President Norm Archibald who received this same honor in 2017.