Meet Kidada Hawkins: An Accomplished Healthcare Leader

Kidada Hawkins is an accomplished healthcare executive from Auburndale, Florida, with a rich and varied professional journey. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Morehouse College, then pursued and attained a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Since then, Kidada Hawkins has acquired numerous certifications, significantly broadening his expertise and professional qualifications.

For more than 15 years, Kidada Hawkins has dedicated his career to healthcare administration. Over the years, he has actively collaborated with several struggling hospitals and healthcare systems, driving impressive transformations in performance. His work has consistently improved community perceptions of struggling hospitals and has strengthened fiscal security. Kidada Hawkins is a skilled and outcome-oriented leader who fearlessly takes on challenges.

Kidada Hawkins spent the early days of his career at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital, where he held roles encompassing recruitment and various administrative functions. There, he developed key skills that built the foundation for the rest of his career. From there, he transitioned to St. Vincent's Health System, marking his inaugural step into executive leadership. Over his five years with this health system, Kidada Hawkins made a profound impact. He elevated employee engagement, orchestrated a remarkable financial turnaround for one facility, and substantially elevated patient satisfaction ratings.

When the time came to move on from Stringfellow Memorial Hospital, Kidada Hawkins assumed the position of CEO at Shoals Hospital. In this new role, he worked tirelessly to reverse the institution's financial decline, enhance the community's perception of the facility, and foster positive relationships with physicians. Over a span of three years, Kidada Hawkins achieved impressive results, reducing severe safety incidents by an impressive 47%, mitigating turnover rates, and bolstering inpatient satisfaction rates, among other accomplishments. His exceptional performance in this role propelled him to the Market Chief Operating Officer role for Tenet Healthcare Corporation, where he continued to apply his expertise to enhance patient experience and other critical performance metrics while overseeing both Walker Baptist Medical Center and Princeton Baptist Medical Center.

One of Kidada Hawkins' primary strategies upon entering a new hospital system revolves around assessing its organizational culture. Whether the system operates on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis, Kidada believes that cultivating a healthy culture is a pivotal determinant of success. Patients are perceptive, and if a team is made up of dissatisfied, inefficient employees, the patients will likely have a negative experience. By strategically recruiting the right talent and enhancing operational efficiency, Kidada Hawkins can orchestrate transformative shifts within critical healthcare facilities, ensuring their continued service to the local community over the long term.

Furthermore, alongside culture assessment, Kidada Hawkins significantly emphasizes evaluating community perceptions. He knows that an unfavorable perception within the community can deter individuals from seeking the healthcare facility's services when needed. By prioritizing the enhancement of the patient experience, Kidada has played a vital role in ameliorating community perceptions of multiple facilities. This, in turn, fosters a more welcoming and positive environment for medical treatment, enabling these institutions to serve their communities better.

Throughout his career in Alabama's healthcare systems, Kidada Hawkins has received an impressive array of certifications, affiliations, and accolades. In both 2019 and 2020, he received notable recognition as a distinguished African-American leader in healthcare by Becker's Hospital Review. Additionally, Kidada holds membership in esteemed organizations such as the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Association of Healthcare Executives. He has also attained certification in Healthcare Financial Management, further underscoring his expertise and commitment to the field.

Kidada Hawkins generously invests his personal time in supporting local nonprofit entities. He holds positions on the boards of the FORGE Breast Cancer Survivor Project, Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, and Kid One Transport. Moreover, Kidada has actively contributed to the chamber of commerce boards across various locations where he has lived. Kidada Hawkins loves offering his business experience and leadership proficiency for the betterment of his community and those requiring assistance.