Speaker Information
Speaker Bios
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Ted TerrazasFounder & President, TERRAHEALTH, INC. (THI)The son of a military family, Ted Terrazas was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and attended schools in the United States and abroad. His own military career began when he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California. Over the next eight years he served as a Dental Technician and Dental Hygienist, wartime medic, and NCO Leadership Instructor. While stationed in Turkey, Ted also worked for the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) under a special program in which his primary medical duties were tailored to monitoring potential terrorist activity and protecting U.S. personnel assigned to Ankara.Ted applied for and was accepted into the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Montana State University. He received a Commandant's Award which resulted in a full scholarship to the university, and upon graduation he was commissioned as a Medical Service Corps (MSC) Officer. After earning a B.A. with honors in political science, Ted obtained a master's in hospital administration from Chapman University in Orange, California. Throughout his Air Force career, Ted's entrepreneurial drive flourished as he sought and applied innovative solutions to various challenges. For his efforts he received numerous "Officer of the Quarter" and Excellence awards; the MSC "What If" award; an Air Force Productivity Award for cost savings to the government; and was named "MSC Officer of the Year" for the entire Medical Service Corps. Ted was also selected to participate in a unique Air Force program called Education with Industry, in which he was assigned to the Contracts Division of United Health Care (UHC). There he led an award-winning team that helped increase the cost-effectiveness of UHC's national contracts. Ted's first and last assignment with the Air Force was to assist in implementing the Department of Defense (DoD) TRICARE military health contract in the southeast U.S. Birch & Davis Associates, a health care consulting company, recruited Ted from the Air Force to evaluate TRICARE's Contract Performance on what was then Region 11. After being promoted to Regional Director of Operations in San Antonio, the value of Ted’s expertise in the industry burgeoned to the extent that he was quickly recruited to work as a Regional Director for Continuum Health Systems, a company focusing on mental health services. Finally, in May 2001, Ted launched his own company, TerraHealth, Inc. Everything he had experienced in his life and career up to this point convinced Ted Terrazas that THI had to provide the best service to its clients and customers. To do that, he knew the company had to be staffed with competent, honest, reliable and trustworthy employees. He wouldn’t settle for anything less. This is not only Ted's personal work ethic, it also became the core of the Mission Statement of THI. It has been the foundation for its phenomenal growth and success, and the reason for its well-earned reputation as a company that repeatedly exceeds the expectations of its clients and customers. The story doesn't stop with what Ted Terrazas created. It continues daily with the many ways in which he serves the community and enjoys giving his time, expertise, and other gifts to groups and individuals. Ted serves on several boards of directors, assists other small businesses, and is active in community initiatives. He particularly enjoys mentoring young entrepreneurs. In fact, Ted has endless energy and optimism, is tenacious in business, and yet caring toward others. He is quick to note that service to others is not just TerraHealth's reason for being in business, it’s "the right thing to do"—the "right thing" being the guiding principle of everything associated with THI. Ted admits that he can outwork almost anyone, having learned early from his mother = who was also a successful entrepreneur – that "hard work is a cure for almost anything." But while others have praised him many times for his conscientiousness, entrepreneurial skills, and passion for ethics, he believes that one of the most important keys to success is surrounding yourself with smart, hard-working, creative and purposeful individuals. "Real success is relative. You can’t put a dollar figure on it," he says. "TerraHealth might have been my vision, but its success is the result of the hard work and creativity of a truly great team." Updated October 2009 |
