Baptist Names New Administrator for Crittenden County Hospital

Baptist leadership recently named Brian Welton CEO and administrator of the hospital it will build in Crittenden County, Ark.

Welton came to Baptist as a Frank S. Groner Administrative Fellow. After completing his fellowship, he served as an assistant administrator at Baptist Golden Triangle for a year and a half. From there, he became an operations director for Baptist Medical Group, where he spent a year and a half managing physician offices in Columbus, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn. He will continue in his current role with Baptist Medical Group as he transitions to administrator closer to the completion of the new Crittenden County hospital.

Welton received his master’s degrees in health administration and business administration from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

“Brian has proven to be a highly skilled and knowledgeable health care executive,” said Randy King, vice president of metro-Memphis operations for Baptist Memorial Health Care. “He is the perfect person to lead our new Crittenden County hospital.”

Baptist committed to build and operate a $25 million hospital in Crittenden County, Ark. Construction crews will break ground on the facility later this year, and the hospital is expected to open in early 2018.