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The father-son duo also enjoys hitting the road together.

“We love to travel,” Countryman said. “We go to California a lot, to South Texas. Any beach; we love the beach.”

Sports and travel aside, Countryman says the bulk of his unscheduled time is happily spent doing everyday activities with his son.

“Really, most of my free time is related to him and me just hanging out and going to bookstores and things like that,” he said. “A lot of playing catch with the football out in the front yard.”

But with having two such time consuming jobs – CEO and single dad – aren’t the challenges overwhelming?

“There are a lot of challenges in that combination,” Countryman admitted. “One of the things that work best, however, is by being the CEO I can dictate a lot of the schedules and meeting times. I can make sure they don’t confict with his itinerary. I can make sure practices are not on the same night as hospital meetings.”

With the demands of running a hospital on the western edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, coupled with the parallel demands of being a father, does the former Midland resident have time to return to the Permian Basin?

“I do,” he said. “I’m going to try to go back early in the spring. I still have some friends there.”

Friends who invariably were part of the inspiration Countryman gained from 12 formative years spent in the Tall City.  MLM