About Us
Executive Team
Marc Strode, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer
Marc Strode is the Chief Executive Officer at Val Verde Regional Medical Center. Marc was born and raised in San Antonio and has spent the majority of his life and career as a healthcare professional in South Texas. He holds a bachelor of science in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and a master of healthcare administration from Trinity University.
Prior to his current role at VVRMC, Marc served as the Chief Operating Officer for Medical Center of Arlington (340 beds, Arlington, Tx.) for nearly four years. During this time period the hospital experienced robust growth in a hyper-competitive healthcare environment, adding beds and further developing service lines to meet the needs of a growing DFW community. Marc also played a key role in helping enhance the hospital’s culture as physician, employee and patient satisfaction all rose during his tenure. Before Medical Center of Arlington, Marc served in various leadership roles with the Methodist Healthcare System in San Antonio, Texas most recently as Vice President of Operations for its Medical Center campuses. Marc worked at Methodist for 10 years starting as an Administrative Resident upon completion of his graduate studies.
Marc, Paige and his four children reside in Del Rio and are proud to call it their hometown. While not at the hospital, he enjoys spending time with his family in Lake Amistad, on the banks of the San Felipe Creek or at youth sports activities.
Forrest Whichard, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Forrest
Whichard is the chief financial officer at Val Verde Regional Medical
Center. He is a native of Louisiana and a graduate of Southeastern
Louisiana University. Whichard holds a bachelor of science in accounting,
a bachelor of arts in management, and a master of business administration.
Before joining the staff at Val Verde Regional Medical Center, Whichard was chief executive officer for Doctor’s Hospital at Deer Creek, where he assisted in the initial start-up of a new 10-bed acute hospital—including staffing, physician recruitment, equipment purchase and state licensing. He has also held the position of chief financial officer for Town & Country Hospital (201 beds, Tampa, Fla.), Teche Regional Medical Center (149 beds, Morgan City, La.), Byrd Regional Hospital (60 beds, Leesville, La.) and Crawford Memorial Hospital (113 beds, Van Buren, Ark.). He has also served as assistant controller for Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma.
Vicky Barnthouse, MSN
Chief Nursing Officer
Vicky
Barnthouse is the chief nursing officer at Val Verde Regional Medical Center.
She has nearly 20 years of nursing management experience, including work as
a director of obstetrics/women’s services, director of critical care, and ICU
nurse manager for Miami Valley Hospital an 861-bed nonprofit, teaching, tertiary
referral center in Dayton, Ohio. Barnthouse’s other experience
includes staff nursing, supervisory and management positions of increasing
responsibility for Kettering Medical Center in Dayton.
Barnthouse earned her bachelor of science from the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a master of science in nursing from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich.
John Furman
Vice President of Operations
John
Furman is the vice president of operations at Val Verde Regional Medical Center.
He has served in a variety of executive positions within the health
care industry, including interim vice president/director of human resources
for Knapp Medical Center (230 beds, Weslaco, Texas), chief human resources
officer for Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. (1,450 beds, Dearborn, Mich.) and
corporate vice president for human resources at Baptist health care System,
Inc. (1,560 beds, Louisville, Ken.).
Furman started his hospital career as a human resources director and vice president of materials management with Presbyterian Health System in Albuquerque, N.M. before moving to Tucson, Ariz., where he held the position of vice president of human resources for Carondelet Health Care Systems. Furman was a captain in the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces and a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
Furman received his bachelor of business administration from the University of Texas and his master of arts in human relations from Webster University in Kansas City, MO.
Francine Pina
Vice President of Community Service and Hospitality
Francine Piña is the Vice President of Community Service and Hospitality. She earned a Bachelors of Business Administration in marketing from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.
Piña has more than ten years of experience in advertising, marketing, and public relations in industries ranging from financial institutions to healthcare organizations. Prior to joining Val Verde Regional Medical Center, Piña was the Assistant Vice President of Product Management for San Antonio Federal Credit Union.
As a native of Del Rio, Piña has made improving the quality of healthcare for the community a priority. She is very active in the community serving on the Val Verde County United Way Board and the Del Rio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board. Piña is a graduate of the inaugural class of Leadership Del Rio, a program sponsored by the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce which is focused on making a positive difference in the community.
She is married to W. Jonathan and they have a daughter, Vivien Carolina.
