Christopher R. Sandles, MBA, FACHE, was appointed Director for the South Texas Veterans Health Care System (STVHCS) on March 3, 2019.

From February 2017 to March 2019, Mr. Sandles served as Director for the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System in Temple, Texas.  Mr. Sandles has 16 years of progressively responsible healthcare leadership roles beginning his healthcare career in 2002 at Covenant Health System in Lubbock, Texas. In 2003, he was accepted into the Government Health Administration Training Program (GHATP) and served his post graduate fellowship at VA North Texas Healthcare System in Dallas. His VA service includes positions as Associate Director at Houston VA Medical Center, Assistant Director at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Chief of Health Administration Service at VA Loma Linda Health Care System, Assistant Chief of Medical Administration at VA North Texas Health Care System, Special Assistant to the Director-VA North Texas Health Care System, and Administrative Director for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at VA North Texas Health Care System.

Mr. Sandles received both his Bachelor’s degree in Business and his Masters of Healthcare Administration from Texas Tech University. He holds a green belt certification in Lean Six-Sigma from Villanova University. Mr. Sandles is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve (IRR).  In 2019 Mr. Sandles was selected by the Texas Hospital Association as a Healthcare Leadership Fellow.