Moving to a new community takes patience. Favorite restaurants are discovered one meal at a time. Trust is built conversation by conversation. Over time, a place that once felt unfamiliar can begin to feel like home.
For Randy and Bek Davis, that journey is unfolding in Clarksville. The couple recently relocated to the region as Randy stepped into his role as president of Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital. But unlike executives who arrive for a short-term assignment, the Davises see something bigger ahead.
“We’re going to build our forever home here,” Bek said. “It’s the perfect community for us.” That sense of permanence reflects Randy’s long-term vision for health care in Clarksville.
Changes under VCH will take time
The hospital’s transition from Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville to Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital has generated excitement across the region, but he is quick to remind people that meaningful change doesn’t happen overnight.
“We’ve added more than 100 nurses,” Randy said. “But hiring a nurse isn’t a snap of the fingers.” Recruitment, training and onboarding can take months. Opening additional beds requires staffing. Expanding specialty services requires physicians, technology and infrastructure working together.
Still, the changes are already underway.
Patients may notice facility improvements, more consistent staffing and a renewed energy among employees. Behind the scenes, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is investing in additional capacity, upgraded equipment and expanded specialty services, including advanced surgical programs, comprehensive stroke care and additional oncology resources. That work is part of a larger goal: making Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital a destination for care in Montgomery County, not simply a stop on the way to Nashville.
“The goal of Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital is not to be a feeder hospital to Nashville. It’s actually the opposite,” Randy said. Instead, Vanderbilt is working to bring more advanced care to Clarksville so patients can receive treatment closer to where they live and work.
‘Treat every patient like they’re your mom’
That mission resonated deeply with Randy long before he accepted the job.
For years, while working in neighboring Robertson County, he developed relationships with physicians throughout Clarksville and Montgomery County. When he asked what they wanted from their community hospital, the answers were surprisingly consistent.
“They’re not asking for organ transplants,” he said. “They’re saying, just take care of the pneumonia patients and the knee replacements and the heart attacks and the strokes.” They wanted a high-quality, patient-focused community hospital. They wanted consistency. They wanted trust.
Those values trace back to one of Randy’s earliest mentors, emergency physician Dr. Russ Wagner at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. As a young health care worker considering his career path, Randy received advice that continues to guide his leadership today. “Treat every patient like they’re your mom,” he recalled.
That patient-first mindset is one of the reasons Vanderbilt appealed to him. “It wasn’t just a mission statement,” he said. “They live it. They breathe it.”
‘It’s so nice to be back home’
For Bek, the community itself has been equally compelling.
A trained chef and cookbook author, she’s spent her first months exploring local farmers markets, connecting with food producers and meeting residents one conversation at a time. Recently, after leaving a community event, she turned to Randy during the drive home and said, “It’s so nice to be back home.”
Home. It’s a word that carries special meaning for the Davises. And it’s what Randy hopes Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital becomes for the community: a place residents trust, physicians want to practice and families rely on for generations.
“This is the last role I want to have,” he said. “I want to be a part of this community and have led and developed a hospital that I can always look back on and say, ‘We did that.'” Like any move worth making, it will take time. For Randy and Bek Davis, and for Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital, the future is already beginning to feel like home.