Building Relationships Through Collaboration
An anesthesiologist takes on new role as system chief medical officer of Baptist Health
By Debby Teich
Photography by Ryan Wendler
Timothy Groover, M.D. ’91
T
imothy Groover, M.D. ’91, was only 12 when his mother passed away suddenly. He decided that night he wanted to become a doctor.
“If I knew more about medicine, I might have been able to save her life,” said Dr. Groover, who was recently promoted to senior vice president and system chief medical officer of Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida.
Dr. Groover pursued anesthesiology, which combined his love for chemistry and math, and allowed him to see his immediate impact on patients during surgery. He says the dynamic learning environment at the Miller School gave him a strong foundation for a successful career.
“We were exposed to rare and exotic illnesses that we might not have seen elsewhere,” Dr. Groover said. “We actually got to treat patients with some of the rare diseases we were researching and studying.”
Since joining Baptist Health as an anesthesiologist 27 years ago, Dr. Groover has held numerous leadership positions, including serving on the board, as chief of staff, and as president of physician alignment. In his new role, he oversees the full scope of physician practice, as well as physician leadership development across the health system. He also works to identify and eliminate health care disparities.
“As a clinician, I could only impact one patient at a time,” Dr. Groover said. “In my current position, I can impact many patients at once by driving policy and making decisions about entire clinical programs.”
A Jacksonville native, Dr. Groover often draws on his personal relationships within the community to effect positive change. He is very involved in the Greater Refuge Temple, where his late father was pastor and founder, and he is currently the minister of music. When parishioners and other community members were reluctant to get vaccinated during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he used his influence as a physician to convince them that the vaccines were safe and effective. As Baptist’s interim chief medical officer at the time, he also worked on developing best practice protocols in a constantly changing scientific environment in order to deliver treatment to everyone who needed it.
Dr. Groover believes that his collaborative leadership style has led to much of his success.
“No one person knows everything,” Dr. Groover said. “By bringing others into the debate and getting to consensus, we develop optimal practices and open windows of information and knowledge that benefit the whole.” 
