From the Editor: Dr. Tommy Frist Jr. still likes to win

*NOT FOR EXTERNAL DISTRIBUTION*

Source: Nashville Business Journal
Author: Eric Snyder
Date: December 8, 2022

After this week, though, I absolutely have a better understanding of the HCA Healthcare co-founder. And after you read this week’s profile of the 2022 Most Admired CEOs Legacy Award recipient, you will, too.

Frist, now 84, was last CEO of the company (a position he held twice) in 2001, and last served on the company’s board in 2008. But hearing his Nashville peers and other HCA execs speak to his impact at our sold-out Dec. 5 Most Admired CEOs event, its obvious how ingrained he is in the company’s very DNA. And in this edition’s conversation with Joel Stinnett, our longtime health care reporter, the “how” of what he built — not just at HCA, but in Nashville at large — is easier to see.

It’s no wonder former HCA CEO Jack Bovender calls him “the ultimate entrepreneur.”

The most striking thing I read in Joel’s story is this: The things that made Frist who he is, and who Nashville came to know, were there are at an early age. What’s more, they remain there today. This is someone who was donating to his high school alma mater just a few years after graduating. (“[T]hat gives a great feeling of satisfaction to a 23 year old.”) This is someone who, his legacy firmly secured, has more he wants to accomplish. (“Goal setting is still an important part of my life.”)

The fire that burns in his belly, today, is one I’ve come to recognize in many of you: “I like to win,” he says.

I believe him.

Congratulations to all of this year’s Most Admired CEOs.