Leadership

Chief executive officer

Megan Marietta serves as the Chief Executive Officer of HCA Houston Healthcare West. Marietta currently serves as a member of the Houston West Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Marietta has received several honors and accolades, most recently honored for her dedication and commitment to the community and named the 2016 FamilyTime Women of Achievement in Medicine.

Previously Marietta served as Chief Operations Officer of HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood. During her tenure, she oversaw a freestanding emergency room, two Observation Units, two ER expansions, a Neuro Cath Lab expansion and Neurosurgery expansion.

Prior to her tenure at HCA Houston Kingwood, Megan served in an Associate Administrator role at The Woman's Hospital of Texas after completing her administrative residency.

Chief medical officer

Ernest Mendoza serves as the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at HCA Houston Healthcare West. As CMO, Dr. Mendoza drives physician culture, patient safety and quality.

Dr. Mendoza has more than 18 years of clinical practice across the clinical care continuum, including emergency, ambulatory, home, post-acute and acute care. He also held several progressive leadership roles prior to joining HCA Houston Healthcare. Most recently, he had corporate oversight for multiple areas across the Adventist Health System. Dr. Mendoza served as System Vice President of Medical Affairs. He was Vice President and CMO of Care Management and CDI. Additionally, he was System CMO for the Hospital at Home, providing acute care for patients in their homes across multiple markets and states. Prior to his time at Adventist, Dr. Mendoza served as system medical director of care management for Memorial Hermann Health System for almost four years.

Dr. Mendoza is board-certified in family medicine. He received his doctorate in medicine from the University of the East in Manila, Philippines. He completed his family medicine residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and a general surgery internship at Baylor College of Medicine. He began his career as a primary care physician at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood and was also a hospitalist at HCA Houston Healthcare West and HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe.

Chief financial officer

Kenny Russo is the Chief Financial Officer at HCA Houston Healthcare West. In this role, he is responsible for managing financial operations and will analyze and explore means of reducing hospital operating costs and increasing revenues.

Before joining HCA Houston West, Russo served as the chief financial officer at Hill Regional Hospital in Hillsboro, TX, and at The Woman's Hospital of Texas. He serves on the board of directors for The Immunization Partnership and has a certified healthcare finance professional certification from the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Russo received his bachelor in business administration from The University of Texas at Austin with a major in finance and minor in accounting. He earned his master's degree in business administration from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX.

Chief operating officer

Justin Brewer was appointed chief operating officer (COO) at HCA Houston Healthcare West in October 2020. In this role, he is responsible for providing oversight to all operational and ancillary departments as well as providing strategic leadership for service line development and capital efforts.

Prior to joining HCA Houston West, Brewer served as the associate COO at The Woman's Hospital of Texas and assistant administrator at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood, Medical Center of South Arkansas and Weatherford Regional Medical Center.

Brewer is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Upsilon Phi Delta honor society, and the Texas State University Health Advisory Committee.

He earned his bachelor's degree in healthcare administration from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX, and his master's degree in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.

Chief Nursing Officer

John Mier, MBA, BSN, RN, serves as Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at HCA Houston Healthcare West. He oversees the clinical, operational, strategic and financial performance of the hospital's nursing service line. 

Mier has more than 24 years of nursing experience and a demonstrated history of success in nursing engagement, patient experience, physician collaboration and growth in key hospital service lines. Before joining HCA Houston West, he previously served as the Chief Nursing Officer at Texas Orthopedic Hospital (TOH) and was instrumental in leading the hospital to advanced certification for Total Hip and Knee through the Joint Commission. Under his leadership, TOH received HCA Healthcare Unit of Distinction awards (2019-2022), Press Ganey’s Guardian of Excellence awards for patient experience (2019-2022), and the top RN engagement score within HCA and Becker’s Hospital Review Top Hospital for Nursing Communication and Staff Responsiveness (2023). 

Mier earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Phoenix and his Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Lamar University in Beaumont, TX.