Dr. Leonard M. Riggs, a native of Longview, Texas, attended Centenary College of Louisiana and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He interned at the University of Tennessee and then served in the U.S. Navy as a flight surgeon for the First Marine Air Wing in Vietnam.
After returning from the military in 1972, Dr. Riggs began his career as an emergency physician at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where he eventually became Chief of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Riggs was recognized nationally through his involvement with emergency medicine at all levels, including serving as past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and member of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) and numerous other medical societies.
Dr. Riggs founded the precursor of EmCare, Inc. in 1974. In 1994, EmCare became a public company with Dr. Riggs as its CEO. The company was subsequently bought by another public company in 1997, and after 4 years, Dr. Riggs retired to become a private investor managing family interests through a firm known as Riggs Management, Inc. He then became re-united with the company by joining the board of directors of Envision’s predecessor, EMSC, in 2010, and remaining on the board of directors when it was acquired by private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Today, EmCare is a public company again as part of Envision Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: EVHC), having recently merged with AmSurgCorporation (NASDAQ: AMSG). Dr. Riggs is currently on the company’s board of directors, and he recently completed a term as Chairman of the Compliance Committee.
Dr. Riggs was chosen as a board member of Prentiss Properties Trust (NYSE: PP) in 1996 and asked to serve on both the Compensation Committee and the Audit Committee. Dr. Riggs also served as the Chairman of the Governance Committee before the company was ultimately merged with Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) in 2006.
In April 2004, Dr. Riggs was elected to the board of directors of Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE: WHG). Westwood Holdings Group, an institutional asset management firm which now manages approximately $25B in investment assets and provides investment advisory services to corporate pension funds, public retirement plans, endowments and foundations, mutual funds and clients of Westwood Trust.
Dr. Riggs has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and now belongs to the World Presidents Organization (WPO). He also serves, or has served, on the boards of directors of Southwestern Medical Foundation, Dallas Citizens Council, Centenary College of Louisiana and the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. Dr. Riggs has also served as President of the Board of Trustees of St. Mark’s School of Texas and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Baylor Healthcare System Foundation Board of Trustees. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of North Dallas Shared Ministries.