Dr. Tomas Gonzalez, senior vice president and chief quality officer for Valley Baptist Health System of Harlingen, Texas, is a busy man. Not only does he direct quality process improvement at Valley Baptist’s two hospitals, he’s also a physician and a certified Master Black Belt. Valley Baptist had a banner year in 2007, including the achievement of a No. 1 U.S. ranking for the management of heart failure by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In addition, in October, Valley Baptist received multiple awards from WCBF during their Global Six Sigma Awards ceremony; Dr. Gonzalez himself was named as WCBF’s Six Sigma vice president of the year.

The following interview appears in a truncated form in the News Digest section of Quality Digest’s February 2008 issue www.qualitydigest.com/currentmag/news.shtml#8.

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