Anthony Lewis is in the people business. “I have a passion for helping people, and that’s what motivates me to do the job I do every day,” said Lewis, who recently took over as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Phoebe Putney Health System.

Lewis was born in Nashville, TN but was raised in Lithonia, GA. He earned an undergraduate degree from Tennessee State University before attending the University of Arkansas School of Law where he focused on employment law and discovered his passion for human resources. He worked in HR in the banking field for several years before spending the last 16 years in healthcare HR. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Human Resources for Community Health Systems of Georgia based in Macon.

“I love making the lives of people who provide care for our communities better,” he said. “Those of us in HR don’t touch the patients, but we can help those who answer that calling take care of patients every day.”

Lewis was familiar with Phoebe long before applying for the system’s top HR job. His brother and sister-in-law are physicians who completed their residencies at Phoebe and worked as Phoebe primary care physicians for several years. “From my own family’s experience, I know that it really is a family environment at Phoebe, and I wanted to be part of that,” Lewis said.

Phoebe Putney Health System President & CEO Scott Steiner said, several excellent candidates emerged from an extensive search, but Lewis is the right person for the job. “In addition to Anthony’s vast experience in healthcare HR, his Georgia roots and his familiarity with Phoebe, what really stood out to us was his character. He’s a man of deep faith who brings compassion and empathy, as well as strong leadership skills and an excellent work ethic to his role at Phoebe,” Steiner said.

Lewis and his wife, Michelle, have been married for 17 years. They have two children, 15 year-old Kara and 13 year-old John. Lewis said leading the human resources department for southwest Georgia’s largest employer is a big responsibility that he is excited to take on.

“The CHRO has to tie in all the different pieces of HR – from recruitment to retention to compensation and benefits – to make sure we’re offering our associates the best opportunities,” he said. “My goal is to make Phoebe the employer of choice in our region and really help empower our people to be the best they can be.”

Anyone interested in joining the Phoebe Family can check out job openings throughout the health system by visiting https://careers.phoebehealth.com/.