Tampa General CEO John Couris remains bullish despite headwinds | ViVE 2026

Los Angeles - During his appearance at the ViVE conference, John Couris projected more optimism than one might expect from a hospital leader these days.

Couris is the president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. Some hospital leaders have issued dire warnings about growing financial pressures, rising costs for labor, drugs and supplies, and cuts to Medicaid in the coming years that could threaten the viability of some vulnerable systems.

Couris and Dr. Peter Slavin, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai, talked about how hospitals can manage in a turbulent time.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive® after the discussion, Couris explained that he’s not ignoring the challenges ahead, but he doesn’t want to waste time or energy complaining.

“I look at it a little bit differently,” Couris says. “Look, am I worried about certain things? Sure. I mean, everybody's a little concerned about what's happening in the healthcare industry, whether you're a payer, whether you're a pharmaceutical company executive, whether you're a health system or provider executive, you're all worried, right? There's lots of headwinds.”

But he adds, “I believe that every obstacle that presents itself, there's a solution through that obstacle. And so obstacles bring opportunities, and I'm not trying to be clever about it. I truly view the world that way.”

And while he says he doesn’t minimize those challenges, Couris says there’s a chance for Tampa General - and health systems everywhere - to do better than they are today.

Necessity will drive innovation, he suggests.

“I see the challenges allowing us to become better at what we do, more resilient, stronger, more creative, more entrepreneurial, drive us faster, continue to grind harder,” he says. “I am not pessimistic, I am cautiously optimistic, and I'm still very bullish.”

Dealing with Medicaid cuts

Many hospital leaders are worried about the prospect of cuts to Medicaid, which will unfold over the next decade. Millions of Americans are expected to lose coverage, and states face new limits on how they can finance their Medicaid programs. Analysts say states are going to face tough choices between raising taxes, which is never politically popular, or reducing services and eligibility.

With the cuts in Medicaid, Couris says, “We will hit it head on. Better systems, better processes, different programs.”

And he asks, “What kind of models are we going to create? What kind of systems are we going to create? How are we going to become different, you know?”

Couris discussed the need to leverage technology differently, including AI. Tampa General is deploying more than 60 different AI projects.

“A lot of people don't even know what AI really is. They just know it's sort of a sexy thing to talk about, and everybody's talking about it and doing it, so I better get in there and start talking about it and doing it. That's not our approach at all,” he says.

“We spend a lot of time studying and understanding AI within the technology envelope of our health system. We spent a lot of time talking about what we were going to deploy and what we weren't going to deploy,” Couris adds.

During his talk on stage, Couris talked about producing better quality and eventually, better outcomes.

“You increase safety, improve the experience. You're creating real value, because you're going to over time, lower the cost of care, reduce fragmentation, eliminate the silos, and perform and operate differently,” he says. “I think that kind of obstacle presents an opportunity for us to build different and better systems, and that's exactly what we're doing. We are definitely not sitting there wringing our hands over what is in front of us.”

Couris also says he doesn’t want to waste time pointing fingers

“You could blame the government,” he says. “That doesn't help.”

Given the enormous amount of money being spent on healthcare, Couris says, “We're not creating the value we need to be creating for the consumer of health care.”

Speed as a superpower

When Couris took over Tampa General more than eight years ago, the system had $1.2 billion in revenue. Today, Tampa General operates eight hospitals and boasts $4.5 billion in revenue.

With the system growing substantially, Couris says it hasn’t been easy, but he says one of the keys is transparency with staff about the system’s direction.

He also touts the value of speed in developing new programs.

Tampa General is willing to try new approaches, and if they don’t succeed, the system will learn from those failures and rebuild.

He calls the system’s speed “an absolute superpower for us.”

“Speed is a strategic differentiator. We have proven that over and over again in our market,” he says.

“I don't have to be the smartest,” Couris says. “I don't have to have the most money, I don't have to be the biggest, I just have to be the fastest, and that's exactly what we do.”

The system’s changes haven’t been easy for all staff, and some people weren’t able to adjust and chose to move on. But he says there is strong buy-in throughout Tampa General as the system has evolved, and he says much of that is due to the organization’s culture.

“We're incredibly authentic and genuine with our people,” he says. “It creates a relatability, and they can feel it. They can see it, and they appreciate it.”