The April 4th Foundation Awards

The OPEN DOOR Award Recipient

Since 2001, Gary Shorb has served as President & CEO of Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare. Gary joined MLH in 1990 as Executive Vice President. Before his tenure with Methodist, he served as President of the Regional Medical Center in Memphis for four years. His community service is extensive, serving on the boards of Memphis Tomorrow, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce – where he served as 2005 Board Chairman – the Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Foundation for Evangelism and the University of Memphis Board of Visitors

As a current board member and former chairman of Memphis Tomorrow, Shorb is the current chairman for an initiative called Memphis Fast Forward, advocating the commonsense premise that economic growth and prosperity of life will follow once Memphis-Shelby County successfully addresses the basics – good jobs, quality education, safe streets, and efficient government.

In 2004, he received the Corporate Leadership Award from Volunteer Memphis' Corporate Volunteer Council, and in 2005, received the Alexis de Tocqueville leadership award from United Way of the Mid-South. Under his leadership, Methodist Healthcare was named a 2004 Corporation of the Year during Minority Enterprise Development Week, an event co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Small Business Administration and locally hosted by the Memphis Business Development Corporation. In 2000, he received both the Leadership Memphis Kate Gooch Award for Community Service and the Memphis Business Journal's Healthcare Heroes Award for Administrative Excellence. In the 1980s and 1990s, a number of honors were bestowed on Shorb including United Methodist Administrator of the Year, Modern Healthcare Up and Comers Award, Outstanding Young Alumni from the University of Memphis, and the L.M. Graves Memorial Health Award.

Over the span of his career, he has served the Memphis & Shelby County Crime Commission, Lambuth University, Partners in Public Education, Lifeblood Foundation, Tennessee Hospital Association, United Way of the Mid-South, Memphis Urban League, American Hospital Association, and the Dean's Advisory Council of the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis. Prior to his health care career, Gary was a project engineer with Exxon and a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. Ten years in the military gave him a solid foundation for developing his ability to function in a complex organization where political skill and a high level of responsibility are required. After a brief stint as an engineer for Exxon Corporation, Shorb found his true calling in the hospital management arena. Starting out in an engineering role at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis (The MED), he quickly rose up the ranks, and in 1986 he was name Chief Executive Officer.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Clemson University and a Master of Business Administration from Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis). Gary is married and has two grown children and two grandchildren.

About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare:

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare is an integrated healthcare delivery system based in Memphis, Tenn. Founded in 1918 by The United Methodist Church to help meet the growing needs for quality healthcare in the Mid-South, Methodist Healthcare has grown from one hospital into a seven-hospital system that also includes a home health agency, ambulatory surgery centers, and outpatient facilities serving the Memphis area. For the last several years, Methodist has been named in Modern Healthcare magazine, as being among the Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Networks in the country.