Charles Joseph Barnett

Charles Joseph Barnett, (FACHE), passed away peacefully in Austin, Texas, on March 4th, after a battle with Alzheimer’s. He was born in Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 7th, 1946, to Billy Ray and Betty Barnett. He graduated from Woodward High School in 1964 and received his Master of History from the University of Cincinnati in 1970.

While pursuing his PhD in “the history of ideas and the history of medicine”, in 1972 Charles suffered a collapsed lung. As a graduate student with no insurance, he found himself with an eight-day hospital bill. To pay his bill, Charles attended an operating room technologist class at The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati through The University of Cincinnati Medical School and became a certified operating room technician. Having found his life’s passion while working in the operating room, Charles enrolled and eventually received his Master in Hospital Administration from Xavier University in 1978.

Moving from the operating room to hospital administration, Charles moved up the ranks to become Chief Operating Officer at multiple hospitals in Michigan, Illinois and finally INOVA Healthcare System, Fairfax Hospital, Virginia, before becoming President and CEO of The Seton Healthcare Family in 1993.

Charles served as President and CEO of Seton Healthcare Family from 1993 to 2012, and then from 2013-2015. Under his leadership, Seton Healthcare grew from a $200 million to a $2.5 billion organization. He took leave in 2012 to serve in the interim role as President, Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer of Ascension Health, Seton’s parent organization. Ascension is the largest Catholic and not-for-profit healthcare system in the nation. At Ascension Health, he guided the integration of both the Alexian Brothers Health System and Marian Health System, increasing Ascension Health’s assets from $4.1 billion to $26 billion. Also in 2012, Charles became the first lay Executive Board Chair in Seton’s 100-year history, a position he served in until 2015.

Under Charles’ leadership, Seton Healthcare Family grew dramatically as a health care system, to finally include more than 100 clinical locations including: four medical centers, a world class pediatric medical center, two community hospitals, three rural hospitals, an inpatient mental health hospital, the region’s only Level I Trauma Centers for adult and pediatric patients, the first heart transplant program, three primary care clinics for the uninsured, and several more strategically located health facilities. A source of great pride for Charles was the collaboration between the UT Medical School, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Central Health, and Ascension Seton in the construction of a new teaching hospital, Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, before retiring in 2015.

Charles cared deeply for the community which would become his home for over 30 years. During his two decades at the Seton helm, Charles drove significant increases in the level of both Seton’s charity care and its benefit to the community, increasing community benefits from $7 million to over $340 million in charity care. Charles collaborated extensively with leaders across the Austin community to care for its citizens during a period of immense growth in Austin. Perhaps the most unique of Charles’ collaborations is the Community Care Collaborative, a partnership between Seton and Central Health, the Travis County health care district, being designed to manage the care of uninsured persons who qualify for services.

Upon retirement, Charles continued to serve the community he loved. He went on to chair the Children’s Optimal Health Board, which uses geographic information systems (GIS) mapping to visualize and guide improvement of the health of children in Central Texas. He also served as an Executive in Residence in the McCombs School of Business and the Plan II program at The University of Texas at Austin, teaching the next generation of health administration leaders. His other engagements included board member of the Waller Creek Conservatory, twice Chair of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Capitol Area United Way, and Austin Partners in Education.

Charles was a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), and earned numerous promotions, awards and accolades from the healthcare industry, former employers, and national and local organizations, as he rose through the hospital administration ranks. He was named Austinite of the Year in 2009 for all his various accomplishments.

Charles is survived by his wife of 49 years, Carol Barnett; his son Colonel, USAF (ret.) Christopher Barnett, his wife Meg and their children Christopher Charles JR and Erin; and his son Clayton, his wife Anne and their children Gemma, Eilan, and Presli.

Services will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church at 10:00 AM on Friday, March 22, followed by a reception. The address is 4800 Convict Hill Rd, Austin, TX 78749.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to your choice of the following charities:

That Others May Live Foundation for the families of fallen USAF Rescue Warriors.

https://thatothersmaylive.harnessgiving.org/campaigns/14195

The Alzheimer’s Association

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=42249&mfc_pref=T&42249.donation=form1

The Daughters of Charity

https://daughtersofcharity.org/support-us/