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Article Category: Newsroom

Meet new Wellstar MCG Health President Ralph Turner

Published on October 25, 2023

Last updated 11:44 AM October 25, 2023

A friendly image of Ralph

Ralph Turner stepped out the front door of his new apartment in North Augusta and ran into his neighbor, who had a Wellstar MCG Health Medical Center badge.

“I work there too,” he said. “Oh, what do you do there?” she asked.

He held out his badge that read “president,” and she looked up in shock.

“There are so many medical students and Wellstar employees in my complex,” he said. “The hospital is such a large part of the community.”

Turner, who has lived out of a hotel in Augusta until last week, still considers Powder Springs his permanent base. He drives to Augusta on Sunday afternoon and back to Atlanta on Thursday night to spend Friday at Wellstar Paulding Medical Center. Saturday is his rest day to enjoy with his wife of 31 years, Ann.

The new leader started his career in 1986 with the U.S. Army, giving him the chance to live around the world—Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Cavazos, Texas (formerly Fort Hood); Fort Belvoir, Va.; Fort Johnson, La. (formerly Fort Polk); Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Co.; Germany; Alaska; Washington, D.C.; and Seoul, South Korea.

From the start, he knew he wanted to work in healthcare.

“It’s rewarding to help people when they are at their most vulnerable state,” he said. “To me, there is honor in that.”

After graduating from high school in Valdosta, Ga., he joined the Army and took a job repairing hospital equipment. After eight years, he became a warrant officer—a highly respected position for subject matter experts who make up less than 3% of the Army—and began managing clinical engineering departments in hospitals.

At the same time, Turner was taking classes. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1995, going on to earn a master’s in public administration and then a master’s in healthcare administration.

“My mindset is be all you can be,” he said.

The more senior he became, the more departments he managed. His last assignment for the Army was at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he ran support services departments such as property management, environmental services and clinical engineering for facilities. After more than two decades in the Army, he retired in 2008 as a Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4) and earned an executive position with MedStar Washington Hospital Center as an assistant vice president of facilities and support services.

Turner departed Washington, D.C., for Wisconsin to work at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics and thought he was finished with school after three degrees. But when his oldest son began to talk about going to medical school, his competitive side came out. He returned to school at the University of Wisconsin and earned his doctorate in business administration.

“I thought, ‘He’s not going to be the first one in the family to be called a doctor,'” he said in good humor.

From there, he moved his family to Cleveland, where he joined the Cleveland Clinic for two years. He then transferred to Florida for three years for his role as chief operating officer, overseeing a merger between the Cleveland Clinic and Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach.

Turner’s journey with Wellstar began in May 2022 when he became president of Wellstar Paulding Medical Center in Hiram, Ga. He is now the first president of Wellstar MCG Health in Augusta.

We sat down with Turner last week, and he answered some questions to help the staff and community get to know him and his vision for the future of Wellstar MCG Health.

What’s your day-to-day like right now at Wellstar MCG Health?
Right now, I’m usually at the gym between 5 and 5:30 AM, and then in the office between 7 and 7:30 AM. My day usually ends between 7 and 7:30 PM. If I am not in a meeting, my door is always open. I have an open-door policy. I usually have anywhere from 80 to 100 emails at the end of the day, and I make sure to go through all of them before I leave at night.

What made you want to go into hospital management?
I have always liked helping people, and I knew going into healthcare, you’re doing just that. In high school in Valdosta, we had the South Georgia Medical Center and my plan was to end up there. My father passed when I was 4 so my mother, my grandmother and my godmother raised me. Those three women always told me to treat people the way that I wanted to be treated, and if I got caught not doing that, they always reminded me with a stick, broom or whatever they got their hands on. Needless to say, I quickly learned the Golden Rule and apply that to every area of my life—professional and personal.

What’s the biggest area of improvement you’re working on here?
First, ensuring people are paid fairly. Our Human Resources at the main campus is focused on putting together a comprehensive plan that will start to bring our caregivers to a market-compatible salary. You must make sure you do the right thing for your staff, because that’s the most important resource you have. Second, ensuring that our facility looks like it’s a place of healing. Third, ensuring physicians are supported and strengthening our medical services lines in the market. Smart and efficient growth of our physician staff and service lines lead to market domination, which leads to a stronger training center at our medical school. Fourth, community initiatives—getting out into the community and meeting community leaders to let them know we are here to support them. Fifth, ensuring a good relationship with leadership at Augusta University. And, lastly, protecting our assets. When I say our assets, this includes students in their didactic phase of learning and students in their residency or fellowship. We want to be our students’ first choice when it comes to choosing an employer. We want them to stay with Wellstar, be it here in Augusta or in the Atlanta area. We have a lot of students who come from other universities in and out of the state. My thought is, let’s feed ourselves first and go to outside resources for talent second.

Can you talk more about what improvements you’re planning in regard to facilities?
In our Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia lobby, the only realistic lobby entrance we have, there are a few issues to address. There’s an old water fountain that hasn’t had water in it in 15 years; there’s furniture that was supposed to be antimicrobial and is no longer antimicrobial; there are cracks in the floors near the Chick-fil-A; windows haven’t been washed in eight years; and the bottom is coming off the reception station. It’s not that the team didn’t want to address the issues; it’s that they just didn’t have the capital. Our facility professionals managed a budget of $250,000 to take care of a 2.9-million-gross-square-foot facility. If you have one HVAC go out, there goes all of it. So it’s empowering people. People want to do their job, but they’ve been handcuffed with a budget. I told them, “Just do it.”

What’s the biggest threat to the industry?
A lack of human resources and the cost of healthcare. We have to figure out how to close the gap between the amount that healthcare organizations pay to provide care versus what we get reimbursed for providing the care because we pass a lot of that cost onto the patient.

How is the difficult labor market impacting Wellstar?
Certain hospitals are better than others. I think across our system, our vacancy rate for nurses is about 18%, but at Wellstar Paulding Medical Center, our vacancy rate is about 7.8%. At some of our other hospitals, I think they average anywhere from 18% to 24% vacancy.

What do you anticipate being the biggest challenge of Wellstar partnering with an academic medical center?
Academia focuses on the teaching mission, which may lack the urgency to maximize volumes in our ambulatory clinics, which could lead to low volumes/clinic appointments on a daily basis, in comparison to the amount of staff and available exam rooms. I need to ensure academia understands our mission, “To enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve.” This means we must ensure we are utilizing every opportunity to maximize our ability to see patients by filling schedules and ensuring we have enough support and operational staff to facilitate safe and efficient operations of our inpatient units and ambulatory clinics. We want to earn as much revenue as possible so we can reinvest it back into our organization by providing better salaries, improving our equipment and improving our facilities.

Where is Wellstar MCG Health now and where do you want it to be?
According to U.S. News & World Report, the Medical College of Georgia ranks 79th nationally in the best medical schools for research. I want us to be ranked in the top 50 in five years, and the top 15 in 10 years. I want to make sure that we become the premier medical school not only in the state of Georgia but also in the U.S. I want us to be able to compete with medical schools like Duke and Emory. I want us to be in the top two to three schools in our region.

What are our strengths and weaknesses? I think one of our biggest strengths is our people. Our team members have true care and concern for people. This is demonstrated daily. A weakness would be the time we have to invest to become fully integrated into Wellstar. It’s a weakness because we can’t come out of the starting blocks moving at a fast speed, driving changes immediately. We are looking at three to five years before we are fully integrated into Wellstar. It takes time to implement the new IT programs and systems that will tie us into Wellstar, which will provide us the opportunity to be more nimble and agile in implementing changes.

Is there anything you want the work-family to know? We feel the most important resource we have is our human resources. I want every leader we have to engage with their staff and to understand what they need to do their job because I will ask every leader. As president, it’s my job to make sure our team members come to work in an environment that’s safe, free from coercion and free from harassment. It’s also my job to make sure they have what they need to do their job, so they don’t feel like they’re handicapped. And if anyone ever feels like they don’t have what they need to do their job or that they are being coerced, harassed or feel unsafe, please let me know directly. Remember, I have an open-door policy. Final thought: Always put the patient first. That’s what we’re here for, to take care of people who cannot take care of themselves at a specific moment in time. If our team members are making decisions with the mindset of putting the patient first, I always have their back.

Do you have a quote you live by? Just do it (Nike). Eighty percent solution is better than 100% analysis paralysis at any time. When you have 80% of the solution figured out, go ahead and start moving the needle. Just do it.

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Wellstar Proposes New Acworth Area Hospital To Meet Community Need

To address the growing need for hospital beds in Acworth and the surrounding areas, Wellstar Health System is proposing to build a new 230-bed hospital, filing its Letter of Intent with the Georgia Department of Community Health. A Letter of Intent is the first step in the process to obtain a Certificate of Need for a new hospital.

The new hospital would be located on Cobb Parkway across from the Wellstar Acworth Health Park. Wellstar’s long history of service to this community makes it the ideal partner to continue to meet the area's growing healthcare needs. The project will be supported by Wellstar Health System resources, including Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center and Wellstar Paulding Medical Center, and numerous primary, urgent and specialty care locations, which will further enable the project to provide high-quality care in an integrated, coordinated and efficient manner.

Wellstar will file a detailed Certificate of Need application on or before June 23, 2025, that will include architectural renderings and how the hospital would address the community’s health and wellness needs.

“Wellstar is improving access to care, and this new hospital is the latest in a series of projects that do just that,” said Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of Wellstar Health System. “The area is growing so much that even when our new tower at Wellstar Kennestone opens next year, the region will need more hospital beds. A new hospital in Acworth would fill a crucial need for the region’s medical care.”

Wellstar is improving access to care for communities across Georgia through more than $1.4 billion in major projects, including:

  • Expanding Wellstar Kennestone with a new 200-plus bed tower for additional specialty care,
  • Expanding Wellstar Paulding with a new 56-bed tower and parking deck to meet growing community need,
  • Adding a new oncology center to Wellstar Spalding Medical Center to help keep cancer care local,
  • Committing to upgrading and expanding facilities in the Augusta area, including building a new 100-bed hospital and medical office building in Columbia County for the largest county in Georgia without its own hospital,
  • Adding primary care, pediatric, urgent care and specialty services in the communities Wellstar serves, and
  • Partnering with the Augusta University Medical College of Georgia Center for Digital Health to provide rural hospitals with access to specialty care.

The new hospital would be part of a Wellstar system that provides more than $1 billion each year in charity and uncompensated care—more than any health system in Georgia. Wellstar is also a leader in medical education through its partnerships with academic institutions, accelerates healthcare technology and innovation, and is recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in America.

“Access to healthcare has been expanding throughout Cobb County, but we still have an unmet need for hospital beds in the northern portion of our county,” said Lisa Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners. “Wellstar is deeply committed to our region, and we’re grateful that they recognized this need and are stepping forward with a solution.”

“Acworth’s population grew fivefold in ten years, and we continue to attract people who want to live and work in our area,” said Tommy Allegood, mayor for the City of Acworth. “The City of Acworth has been expanding our critical infrastructure and creating a place where families will want to stay for generations. A hospital would be extremely beneficial to our community, and we appreciate Wellstar’s willingness to meet our need.”

Wellstar is headquartered in Cobb County and is deeply involved in the area, tracing its heritage to 1950 when Kennestone Hospital opened. In keeping with its community roots, Wellstar will establish a community advisory council to honor every voice throughout the Certificate of Need process.

“My patients are from all walks of life, but they share a desire for a hospital that’s closer to home, especially those who have chronic conditions or are elderly,” said Dr. Michaele Brown, a Wellstar primary care doctor in Acworth. “We live in a vibrant, growing area. Our patients’ access to all levels of healthcare should be just as vibrant and that includes a hospital where they can quickly get the level of care they need when they need it.”

“We will involve the community in every step of this process, and make sure this hospital meets the community’s needs for generations to come,” said Saunders.

In addition to providing care for generations of families, Wellstar actively supports community health and well-being through partnerships with nonprofit, civic and business organizations, as well as academic institutions. Through these partnerships, Wellstar serves all of its neighbors’ needs, ranging from access to healthcare to food and housing insecurity to educational support and career development.

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Dr. Nasarachi Onyeuku, a radiation oncologist at Wellstar, standing with one of the two TrueBeam linear accelerators in use for cancer care at Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center

Newsroom

Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center Expands Treatment Services

New radiation technology and refreshed waiting and treatment areas are expanding world-class cancer treatment at Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center.

Cancer care in forward motion

Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center recently installed its second TrueBeam linear accelerator, which treats various cancers, including brain, head and neck, prostate, breast, lung, skin and gastrointestinal tumors. With the linear accelerator, clinicians can adjust the size and shape of beams to a tumor’s shape and spare healthy tissue.

With the second linear accelerator, Wellstar Cobb can offer patients more flexible and convenient scheduling. “An additional linear accelerator can lead to timely treatment starts and shorter wait times,” said Dr. Nasarachi Onyeuku, a radiation oncologist at Wellstar. “It expands our ability to treat more patients with cutting-edge care, continuing our commitment to bringing world-class cancer treatment closer to home.”

In addition to state-of-the-art external beam radiotherapy, TrueBeam delivers precise, high-dose stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) targeting tumors in the body. It also provides stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain or spine cancer treatment. Patients will typically receive one to five treatments.

Patient-centered care at Wellstar Cobb

Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center recently renovated its treatment areas, front desk and waiting room, making it more welcoming and comforting for patients and their families. Within the treatment areas, the suite where patients receive high-dose radiation brachytherapy, a targeted treatment that involves placing radioactive material directly into tumors or near them, also underwent renovations.

“The beautifully designed space enhances patient comfort, offering a calm, supportive environment,” Dr. Onyeuku said. “We’re currently treating breast, cervical, uterine and skin cancers, with plans to expand to other cancer types. It’s advanced, efficient care—delivered close to home and with compassion.”

Early detection and support services

Cancer care begins with prevention and early detection. Wellstar Cobb is home to a lung cancer STAT Clinic, where specialists collaborate to diagnose and begin treatment within as little as 14 days. According to research by the Cleveland Clinic, patients can spend up to eight weeks on average visiting different specialists before starting a treatment plan. Earlier treatment can lead to the best possible outcomes.

Patients at Wellstar Cobb receive support at every stage of their treatment. These services include:

  • Emotional support from a social worker
  • Lymphedema therapy for patients with excess fluid and swelling
  • Meal planning with a dietitian
  • Monthly support group
  • Pain management
  • Physical therapy
  • Transportation assistance

“We have a superb team and state-of-the-art treatment here at Wellstar Cobb Cancer Center. And we’re backed by the resources of a nationally recognized health system,” Dr. Onyeuku said. “We are thrilled that our technology enhancements allow us to serve more people with exceptional cancer treatment.”

Learn more about cancer care in Cobb.

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Highlights

5 Strategies to Strengthen Your Mental Health

Mental health is an essential part of whole-person care. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed or want to build resilience, small steps can make a big impact.

At Wellstar, we’re here to support your mental well-being and help you thrive. Our Behavioral Health team offers specialized care close to home, so you can feel your best both physically and mentally.

Here are five expert-backed strategies to help protect your mental health and strengthen your overall wellness.

Pay attention to early signs of stress.

Recognizing stress early is key to managing it effectively. When stress becomes chronic, it can affect both your mental and physical health. Learning to identify warning signs can help you take action before it escalates.

This is true across all areas of life, including the workplace, where job stress can quietly build over time and lead to more serious mental health concerns if left unaddressed.

“Paying attention to feelings of emotional exhaustion and general cynicism is important,” said Dr. Ryan Breshears, a board-certified clinical health psychologist and chief behavioral health officer at Wellstar. “Those are the foundational signs of occupational burnout, which certainly affects our well-being in the workplace, but when unchecked, can also spill over into our personal lives.”

That spillover can show up as irritability, mood changes, social withdrawal or insomnia. “Any of those could point to a problem that warrants intervention,” Dr. Breshears said.

Treat your whole health to support your mental well-being.

Mental and physical health are deeply interconnected—and we shouldn’t treat them in silos. At Wellstar, integrated care is a key part of our approach.

“I think the days of talking about problems that are physical problems versus mental problems are over,” said Dr. Breshears. “We have a body of research now and decades of science that show the interplay between the physical and the emotional.”

He explained that changes in thinking patterns can trigger physiological shifts in heart rate, stress hormone levels and more. Recognizing these mind-body connections can help you take a more proactive approach to your mental health.

“Wellstar is making a concerted effort to deconstruct old ideas about mental health and remove barriers to access,” Dr. Breshears added. “For example, we’re bringing behavioral health into primary care, cardiac care, pediatrics and women’s health. We want to strategically integrate behavioral health services wherever patients are receiving care.”

By treating the whole person and bringing behavioral health into every corner of healthcare, Wellstar is helping people take charge of their well-being in a way that’s compassionate, connected and convenient.

Prioritize recovery.

Stress is inevitable, and recovery is essential. Without it, your mind and body stay in overdrive, increasing your risk for burnout and long-term health issues. Taking time to recover is not a sign of weakness—it’s a strategy for resilience.

“Our bodies are designed to return to baseline, what we call homeostasis, after high-stress periods,” Dr. Breshears said. “Research suggests it's often the failure to prioritize recovery, not the stress itself, that actually contributes to the most lasting problems.”

Dr. Breshears shared a study comparing elite marathon runners to non-elite runners. The surprising finding? Elite runners were better at identifying stress early and adjusting their pace to recover, ultimately helping them perform better.

That same principle can apply to your mental health. If you notice signs of stress—like fatigue, irritability or changes in focus—take time to reset. That might mean getting more sleep, going for a walk, reaching out to a friend or seeking professional support.

Being intentional about recovery helps you maintain balance, build resilience and continue showing up for what matters most.

Nurture relationships and workplace well-being.

Meaningful relationships are a powerful buffer against stress. For many people, the workplace is a central source of community—and a critical place to nurture mental health.

“We’re social creatures,” said Dr. Breshears. "Having environments where people come in and feel good about their day-to-day interactions is really important.”

Dr. Breshears said it starts with employers being committed to understanding the inadvertent threats to their team’s well-being and removing barriers to care.

“First, I think we have to pay attention to the occupational drivers of stress on our employees and commit to resolving those issues,” he explained. “All of the human resources and benefits in the world will fail if we’re not also working upstream to eliminate the root causes. Secondly, we need to establish clear pathways so people can easily access support without all the stumbling blocks and delays they often run into.”

Employers who lead with empathy—and prioritize flexibility, compassion and connection alongside performance—help create cultures where people feel empowered to seek help when needed.

“We have to ensure that we have accessible resources,” Dr. Breshears said. “People bring their personal struggles into the workplace, and take their struggles in the workplace home. The lines have certainly blurred.”

Know when to seek help.

While self-care and support systems can go a long way, there are times when professional help is essential. Mental health conditions are common—and treatable. The sooner you seek help, the better.

This is especially true for men, who often face cultural and emotional barriers when it comes to seeking support.

“Men on average tend to delay help-seeking more than women,” Dr. Breshears said. “And this is especially true when men are suffering. Frankly, it's a mortality issue.” He noted that men are more likely to die by suicide and experience substance abuse disorders, which makes early intervention even more critical.

Dr. Breshears also emphasized the need to remove barriers and promote action: “We have to create environments in which people feel safe to talk about the struggles that they’re having.”

If you’re struggling, don’t wait. Explore Wellstar Behavioral Health services and find the support you need today.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

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