The future of healthcare keeps Dr. Christopher Newman focused on a question that reaches past today’s patients: who will provide care tomorrow?
Health systems across the US are juggling workforce shortages, rising costs, growing demand for behavioral health services, and an aging population. For Dr. Newman, President and CEO of Mary Washington Healthcare in Fredericksburg, Virginia, the challenge isn’t simply filling vacancies. It’s building a pipeline of physicians, nurses, specialists, and caregivers who’ll serve communities for decades to come. He likes planning that far out best. “The exciting part about being a CEO is being able to create a vision. Dreams alone are worthless without grit. Sometimes turning dreams into reality is difficult, and you need the ability to execute and surround yourself with great people who share the vision.”
Now, he applies that belief to a health system serving more than 500,000 people. The system keeps investing in specialty care, technology, and facilities, but one priority remains constant. “We have a massive workforce shortage across virtually every licensed health care profession. Workforce is my biggest challenge.” Instead of relying on short-term recruitment, he’s building a strategy that runs from classroom to clinic and ties education, training, culture, and patient care into one long-term plan.
The approach reflects a career built around two pursuits that have defined his life: caring for people and creating something new.
Two callings
Long before becoming a health care executive, Dr. Newman nearly chose a different path. As a trumpet player, he immersed himself in jazz, classical, and blues, performing extensively while working toward a medical career. He was even accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School. But the medical school application process didn’t go smoothly – a clerical error nearly derailed his path to medicine. “I was a pre-med major and a pretty serious musician. During the early days of online applications, a technical error meant my application never went through.”
The error was eventually discovered and corrected and he decided to go to medical school. “It all worked out in the end.”
Medicine became his profession, but music stayed with him. Even in medical school, he toured nationally with bands. He still writes, records, and performs while leading one of Virginia’s largest regional health systems. “I’ve started a new project and I’m recording an album where I play everything except the drums. I handle the bass, guitar, vocals, and the rest myself.”
The link between music and leadership isn’t as distant as you might think. Both depend on listening, collaboration, and authenticity. “People gravitate toward authenticity. I’ve always believed in authentic leadership and simply being myself. Whether I’m at work, with friends, or playing music, you’re going to get the same me every time.” The same consistency would shape his approach to medicine.
He started in a rural Midwestern town. “I was a solo practitioner right out of school in the rural Midwest and really saw everybody that came in regardless of the ability to pay.” Not every bill got paid in cash. “I had patients who paid me in trade because they had no other way to pay. One family stripped the wallpaper and painted my house because I’d taken care of them for free for years. I care deeply about serving everyone. Everybody needs healthcare, and I believe it’s our responsibility to find ways to provide excellent care for every patient.”
Today, the scale of Mary Washington Healthcare differs, but the philosophy stays the same. “As we’ve grown, we’ve worked to carry that same mission throughout the organization. Everybody deserves excellent care, respect, and dignity.”
As his leadership responsibilities grew, Dr. Newman earned an MBA to complement his clinical expertise and moved into executive roles. Before joining Mary Washington Healthcare in 2019 as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer, he held leadership positions at Penn State Health. He became president and CEO of Mary Washington in 2025.
Growing capacity
Mary Washington Healthcare has transformed alongside the region it serves.
Located between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, Mary Washington Healthcare started with Mary Washington Hospital as a single community hospital, and now runs Stafford Hospital, a separate behavioral health hospital, emergency departments, physician practices, and outpatient facilities. “We’ve grown into a comprehensive health system and continue adding specialized services so people don’t have to leave the region for care.” Those services center on oncology, neurosciences, cardiovascular care, women’s health, and orthopedics. But the project that will have perhaps the most far-reaching impact is a new medical school, a partnership with the University of Mary Washington.
Mary Washington Healthcare and the University of Mary Washington are proposing a medical school to create a new pathway for health care professionals across Virginia. “We’re looking to do something novel as a public-private partnership to create a pipeline not only for our region of physicians but for the state.” The new school will collaborate with residency and nurse practitioner programs as well as partnerships that encourage students from underserved communities to pursue medicine. “This really is going to be a school that’s for Virginians, to serve Virginians.”
The proposed school addresses shortages at their source rather than at the point of hire. It’s a long game. “I’m optimistic we’re building something that will continue serving this region for generations. Its impact will extend well beyond my time here.”
Behavioral health faces a severe shortage of providers. To help close that gap, the health system integrates behavioral health services into primary care, has developed a psychiatry residency program, and plans to expand mental health facilities. “It is extremely difficult to hire mental health providers. There is a significant shortage across the US.”
Culture first
A pipeline only works if people stay once they arrive. Dr. Newman believes culture is the foundation for workforce success. “Culture is our priority. It’s the thing that drives me every day.” He starts with transparency. “We do a series of town halls. I answer everything, no matter what. Sometimes I get some pretty spicy questions.”
Then there’s listening. Leaders ask employees what gets in the way of their work. “Our leaders spend time in departments across the health system on a regular basis. The goal is simple: we listen.”
He believes engaged employees create better patient experiences, which matters more as costs climb. And as Dr. Newman notes, resources are finite, so organizations will have to make difficult decisions about priorities and investments.
Healthy innovation
Through many challenges, the system continues to fund innovation. Mary Washington Healthcare launched a venture arm in 2026 that finds operational problems and partners with tech companies to solve them. On the clinical side, robotic surgery stands out. “We made a major commitment to robotic surgery a few years ago.” With the latest da Vinci platform, the health system has built one of the region’s largest robotic surgery programs. “Patients get faster recovery and better outcomes, and often don’t even need to stay in the hospital.”
Dr. Newman expects healthcare organizations to lean on innovation, education, and workforce development. Technology will help, but it won’t change the core problem. “There is more demand and need for healthcare than there are people and resources to provide it.”
Which brings Dr. Newman back to the question that drives all of it: who will care for tomorrow’s patients? The answer, as always, begins with building the next generation of caregivers now.
