Since 1994, Loy Howard has served as only the fifth chief executive in Tanner Health System’s more than 70 years.

In his almost three decades of leadership, Howard’s grown Tanner from a small, two-hospital health system to a regional destination for health with five hospitals, more than 30 medical practices serving six counties in Georgia and Alabama and gross revenue more than $2 billion.

He’s also served in community leadership roles, co-founding the economic development initiative Carroll Tomorrow, serving as past chair of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, and leading initiatives to help local high school students explore careers in health care through the Tanner Connections program and working with the University of West Georgia to increase access to quality nursing education through the Tanner Health System School of Nursing.

Howard dramatically expanded Tanner’s clinical services, including cancer care, heart care — which now features open-heart surgery in Carrollton, two regional destinations for interventional cardiac care like angioplasty and stenting, two accredited chest pain centers and three primary stroke centers in a largely rural area — neurology and muscular sclerosis care, community wellness programs, inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services and more.

He helped establish the health system’s Get Healthy, Live Well initiative, earning Tanner a 2016 Nova Award from the American Hospital Association for empowering residents to be more involved in managing their health through evidence-based programming.

Tanner’s five hospitals offer 398 inpatient beds across three counties and two states. Tanner Medical Group, one of metro Atlanta’s largest physician groups, has grown to offer anesthesiology, breast care, cardiology, endocrinology, general surgery, infectious diseases, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, radiation, medical oncology, otolaryngology, pediatrics, plastic and reconstructive surgery, primary care, psychiatry, rheumatology, urgent care, urology, and vascular surgery.

A CPA, Howard earned his MBA from the University of South Carolina and his BA from the University of West Florida.