Gene E. Burleson

Over the past 20 or so years, Gene Burleson has built “one of the most impressive credentials in health care management.” He is at the helm of Mariner Health Care, Inc., one of the largest long-term health care services in the country, with 300 facilities in 22 states.

With a bachelor of science degree in accounting from East Tennessee State University in 1964 and an MBA degree in 1972, he held increasingly responsible positions within the domestic international operations of American Medical International (AMI). Beginning in 1974, he assumed management of AMI’s acute care hospitals, psychiatric facilities, HMO day-surgery centers, free-standing diagnosis centers, and retail pharmacy centers. In 1981, he was named Director of AMI operations in the United Kingdom, and then Chief Executive Officer for the European region. Revenues increased from $5 million to $185 million under his leadership, and AMI became the dominant provider of health care in the UK, which led to a successful public offering of the company.

Returning to the U.S. in 1986, he continued as Chief Operating Officer and was elected president of AMI’s worldwide operations, including Great Britain, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, and Singapore.

By the mid-1990s, he was Chief Executive Officer of Vitalink Pharmacy Services, Inc., dispenser of pharmacy services to nursing facilities across the country.

He was also chairman of the board of directors of GranCare, Inc., one of the largest publicly traded long-term health care providers in the nation, which through a series of mergers has become Mariner Health Care.

The 1997 ETSU Outstanding Alumnus has maintained strong ties with his alma mater, serving on the Distinguished President’s Trust, as a participant in the Buc Connection career development network, and as an Alumni Ambassador.

The North Carolina native now lives in Atlanta. He and his wife, Jan, are the parents of Jeff, who holds a 1994 ETSU degree in finance and a 1996 master’s degree in business administration, and Lisa, who is a teacher.