20th anniversary yearbook

AUTOGRAPHS

A career in healthca

re will be the most

satisfying pursuit

for any young pe

rson.

I head to work every

day knowing I

can make a difference a

nd leave every

night after seeing

the dedication of

our

employees and physi

cians. WOW!

—Elizabeth Alhand

Class of ’95

Our industry is undergoing a seriesof revolutionary changes acrossboth the financing and deliverydimensions. While some may viewdramatic change as chaos, othersview it as an opportunity. —Keith AlexanderClass of ’98

This is a time of unprecedented change and unparalleledchallenge in the healthcare field, which means there is anacute need for innovation and for progressive leadership.The managerial model of the past is fading into obscurity

—Preston Gee, Class of ’94

Health administration has become evenmore challenging than it was when Istarted. I still believe it is a great career

with many rewards for individuals thatare willing to work hard with littlerecognition for a job well done!

—Barbara BiehnerClass of ’94

I have mixed feelings about my choice of

healthcare as a career. I’ve had wonderful

opportunities, worked with many goodpeople, and feel as though I've been able to

make a contribution. Nevertheless, thestate of healthcare today can’t help but be a

disappointment to anyone who cares. —Maura (Loughlin) Carley

Class of ’91Many argue that quality hasimproved in the United Statesover time with the advent of newtechnology and pharmaceuticals.In addition, patient safety hasimproved due to a greater focus on technology and processimprovements. At the same time,it appears that quality outcomeshave improved at a faster rate inother industrialized countrieswhich spend less per capita onhealthcare.

—Richard Henley, Class of ’93

Making people feel valued should be an administrator’s number one job. —Pete Delgado, Class of ’91

If we digitize and/or automate a

flawed system, our result would only

be an “automated flawed system.”

—Michael Jhin, Class of ’88

Stay the course of dedication and commitment tothe industry and your profession. Be selfless andhelp the cause. Promote quality and love it.—Shell Sharma, Class of ’90

September 17, 2007 • Modern Healthcare 1

2 Modern Healthcare • September 17, 2007

FROM THE EDITOR ...... P.4

FROM WITT/KIEFFER .... P.6

BY THE NUMBERS ....... P.8

CLASS OF 1987 ........ P.10

CLASS OF 1988 ....... P.12

CLASS OF 1989 ........ P.14

CLASS OF 1990 ........ P.16

CLASS OF 1991 ........ P.18

CLASS OF 1992 ........ P.20

CLASS OF 1993 ........ P.22

CLASS OF 1994 ........ P.24

CLASS OF 1995 ........ P.28

CLASS OF 1996 ........ P.30

Thank you to our sponsor:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

WHAT THEY THINK .... P.32

CLASS OF 1997 ....... P.34

CLASS OF 1998 ........ P.36

CLASS OF 1999 ........ P.38

CLASS OF 2000 ........ P.40

CLASS OF 2001 ........ P.42

CLASS OF 2002 ........ P.44

CLASS OF 2003 ........ P.46

CLASS OF 2004 ........ P.48

CLASS OF 2005 ........ P.50

CLASS OF 2006 ........ P.52

CLASS OF 2007 ........ P.54

GUEST COMMENTARY ... P.58

Welcome to Modern Health-care’s Up & Comers Year-book, which celebrates the20th anniversary of ourannual awards program

recognizing rising young management talent inthe healthcare industry.

From 1987 through 2006, the magazinerecognized 244 executives as Up & Comers.As you’ll read across these pages, we’re proudto say that we’ve had a pretty good trackrecord. Many of the industry’s biggest nameshave a Modern Healthcare Up & Comer entryon their resumes.

The yearbook devotes twopages to each of the 20 Up &Comer classes. In each sec-tion, we profile someone whowe consider the star of theclass, though that designationcould be applied to most any-one in the class.

We also profile someonefrom each class whom we con-sider as notable—someonewho has found himself or her-self in less enviable situationsor made news for reasons theyperhaps had not anticipated.In two instances, we use thespace to remember an execu-tive whose life ended much too soon.

We round out each section with careerupdates on all the other students from that classof Up & Comers, including current contactinformation when available.

Updating the careers of 244 healthcare exec-utives proved to be a monumental task. Totackle that job, we ran a 10-week series of “milkcarton” ads, starting with the June 25 issue. Ineach, we posted an old photo of an anonymousUp & Comer with a caption that asks “Have youseen me?”

The ads and other editorial promotionsdirected readers to an Up & Comers Yearbooksection of Modern Healthcare Online, our Website at modernhealthcare.com.

There, Up & Comers could register with us,provide updated career information, take ashort survey on current healthcare topics andhealthcare administration as a career choice,and send us a current photo.

Other readers could use that section to giveus tips on where to find missing Up & Comers.Of the 244 Up & Comers, 174 completed thesurvey and registration section by deadline.

Through other means, we were able to gathercurrent information on another 65 Up &Comers. In the end, only five managed to slipthrough our fingers. It’s our hope that themissing will contact us so we can include themin the electronic version of the yearbook onour Web site.

The Up & Comers Yearbook would not havebeen possible without the dedicated work ofmany members of our editorial staff. Toppingthat list is James Tehrani on our copy desk.James served as the point person on this labori-ous project. He designed the yearbook registra-tion and survey section on the site, and he edit-

ed all the star and notable pro-files. James also selected thequotes for the “autograph”sections sprinkled throughoutthe yearbook.

We also extend our thanksto Percy Marioni, our artdirector, who designed theyearbook from front cover toback page. David May, assis-tant managing editor/fea-tures, pulled together the “Bythe Numbers” and “WhatThey Think” sections on Up& Comers that run on pp. 8and 32, respectively, of thissupplement.

Thanks also to Keith Horist, assistant man-aging editor/graphics; Rebecca Mielcarski, spe-cial projects/research editor; Nicole Voges,webmaster/copy editor; and Stephanie Mat-ulek, our editorial assistant, for their relentlesspursuit of current photos and informationfrom past Up & Comers. And the supplementnever would have made it out the door if notfor the tireless efforts of Julie Johnson, our copydesk chief, and copy editor Stacie Williams.

Finally, the yearbook profiles sing becausethey were all written by Barbara Kirchheimer,a former Modern Healthcare reporter andnews editor.

Kirchheimer now is a freelance writer basedin Highland Park, Ill. You can reach her [email protected]. We thank Barb for hertremendous effort.

We hope you find Modern Healthcare’s Up &Comers Yearbook informative and useful, andwe hope you have as much fun reading it as wehad putting it together for our readers.

Here’s to another 20 years of recognizing thefuture leaders of the healthcare industry.

—David Burda, editor


EditorialEDITORS

David Burda editor 312-649-5439 / [email protected]

Neil McLaughlin managing editor 312-649-5343 / [email protected]

Paul Barr news editor 312-649-5230 / [email protected]

David May assistant managing editor/features 312-649-5451 / [email protected]

Keith Horist assistant managing editor/graphics 312-649-5467 / [email protected]

Todd Sloane assistant managing editor/op-ed 312-649-5225 / [email protected]

ONLINEPat Shrader online editor

312-649-5418 / [email protected]

Nicole Voges webmaster/copy editor 312-649-5231 / [email protected]

REPORTERSCinda Becker, New York


Gregg Blesch, Chicago312-397-7585 / [email protected]

Joseph Conn, Chicago312-649-5395 / [email protected]

Jean DerGurahian, Chicago312-649-5287 / [email protected]

Matthew DoBias, Washington202-662-7207 / [email protected]

Melanie Evans, Chicago312-649-5314 / [email protected]

Vince Galloro, Chicago312-649-5299 / [email protected]

Jennifer Lubell, Washington 202-662-7215 / [email protected]

Shawn Rhea, New York212-210-0471 / [email protected]

Andis Robeznieks, Chicago312-649-5374 / [email protected]

Rebecca Vesely, San Francisco415-538-0204 / [email protected]

Jessica Zigmond, Chicago312-280-3130 / [email protected]

COPY DESKJulie A. Johnson copy desk chief


James Tehrani copy editor 312-649-5237 / [email protected]

Stacie Williams copy editor 312-649-5344 / [email protected]

GRAPHICSPercy Marioni art director


EDITORIAL SUPPORTRebecca Mielcarski special projects/research editor


Christopher Magnus editorial assistant/copy editor 312-280-3173 / [email protected]

Stephanie Matulek editorial assistant 312-649-5382 / [email protected]

Roger Schillerstrom editorial cartoonist 312-280-3188 / [email protected]

Modern Healthcare editorial offices at: 360 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago,Ill. 60601-3806; 711 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017-4036; 5 ThirdSt., Suite 1111, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-3212; 814 NationalPress Building, Washington, D.C. 20045-1801. Member of BusinessPublications Audit of Circulation.

20 years of achievement

FROM THE EDITOR

This is how it all began in ’87.

Yearbooks hold a special place inthe heart. Filled with greatexpectations, they capture asingular moment in time. Ayearbook—much like a time

capsule—offers the chance to reflect on whothe faces were then and who they are now.

As yearbooks go, this 20th anniversarysalute to winners of Modern Healthcare’sUp & Comers awards is filled with morepromise than most. Perhaps that’s becauseeach individual has had up to 20 years tocompound the impact he or she has had onhealthcare. As their careers have unfolded,they continue to strengthen the ways inwhich healthcare improves our lives.

Witt/Kieffer has been the proud co-spon-sor of the Up & Comers awards since 1997.

This sponsorship is our investment inthe future of healthcare, the rewards ofwhich are virtually impossible to record.Yet as diverse and multitalented as thewinners have been over the past 20 years, acommon thread running through all theirlives illustrates the essence of an Up &Comer—in a word, leadership.

Leadership, like so many qualities, is dif-ficult to define, though relatively easy tospot. Among characteristics common to allUp & Comers are that they:■ Hold a world view beyond just the day-to-day requirements of running an organization. ■ Take time to reflect on what’s on thehorizon despite the temptation to focusexclusively on problems at hand. ■ Communicate their vision to motivateemployees, physicians, trustees and com-munity leaders.■ Exude energy, character and confidence,and at the same time remain approachableand humble. ■ Look in the mirror to make the most ofstrengths and recognize weaknesses. ■ Excel at conflict resolution to allow free-dom of opinion but keep the organizationmoving forward. ■ Practice servant leadership that inspiresothers to serve the common good. ■ Pursue excellence in every action anddecision.

Furthermore, Up & Comers in these pageshave worked hard and, more importantly, effec-tively. They understand what the situationrequires, whether it’s analyzing reports, devel-oping a vision or creating personal connections.

Many have had operational experiencefrom which they learn how to influenceothers and make decisions at higher levels.They bring to their organizations anunderstanding of the broad economic andcompetitive landscape as well as an appre-ciation for local, state and national issues.They replicate their success, often from asmaller setting to a larger, more complexone. Finally, they have a genuine interest inpeople—in their goals and aspirations—and in mentoring and developing them.

There are as many types of young leadersand their experiences over the years as thereare Up & Comers. To illustrate just a few: ■ A 1992 award winner who served as anadministrator of a Southwest multispecialtyclinic is now president of a Northwestregional medical center. ■ A 1994 Up & Comer, formerly vice pres-ident of a Northeast medical center, is nowCEO of a university health system on theWest Coast.■ A 1997 winner who was executive vicepresident of a community-based medicalcenter in the West is now CEO of a not-for-profit system, also in the West.■ A 2002 Up & Comer who was director ofa managed-care plan in the South is nowdirector of operations at a large integratedprovider in the same region.

Recent classes of Up & Comers face manyof the same issues their counterparts facedin the late ’80s and early ’90s: the impact ofmanaged care, concerns about quality andaccessibility, pressure to provide a widerrange of services in less costly settings andever-diminishing reimbursement.

At the same time they face new andequally challenging issues today, includingleading increasingly complex, multihospi-tal health systems, financing capital pro-jects and managing large physician organi-zations. They’re also faced with recruiting,training and educating board members onissues such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.And like the generation they follow, Up &Comers must stay on top of the war on tal-ent by developing a pipeline of rising man-agers to step into their places when theymove on.

What’s more, organizations increasinglyvalue diversity—of thought, opinion andexperience—in addition to racial, culturaland ethnic backgrounds. Recent classes of


A yearbook for all of healthcare

FROM WITT/KIEFFER: JORDAN HADELMAN

Up & Comers reflect more gender and eth-nic diversity and along with that, variedperspectives and experiences. As awardwinners move up in an organization,they’re responsible for developing similarlydiverse leadership teams.

Despite the extraordinary promise of Up& Comers, the future of healthcare leader-ship remains at risk. Like me, many of ourhealthcare CEOs are nearing retirementage. And most hospitals and systems haveno formal succession plans, which meansthey’ve focused little effort on cultivatingor mentoring individuals

We need to expand the pool of high-energyup-and-coming leaders who can pick up thetorch from retiring CEOs. Healthcare organi-zations must be disciplined about successionplanning, looking internally to identify andnurture young leaders and provide opportu-nities for advancement.

Among those opportunities are helpingwould-be executives learn how to buildconsensus, assess business opportunities,communicate with physicians and under-stand a board’s structure and relationship tothe CEO.

While most yearbooks—and the memo-ries they evoke—fade over time, nothing theUp & Comers award winners have accom-plished over the past 20 years can ever bediminished. Their individual and collectivehistories set a shining example for future Up& Comers and other young leaders. Timewill tell how their new achievements furtherstrengthen our healthcare system. In anyevent, their dedication to caring for us incountless ways will forever hold a specialplace in our hearts. ✦

Jordan HadelmanChairman, Witt/Kieffer


UP & COMERS: BY THE NUMBERS

President/CEO

Executive VP/VP

COO

CIO

CFO

CNO

Retired

Other

By gender

By age By region

By raceCurrently working in the healthcare industry?

By title

All Up & Comers244 total

Registered for yearbook174 total

Just like the healthcare industry in general, the Up & Comers represent a population still dominated by men

The Up & Comers responding to our yearbook survey are still a relatively young crowd, with 45% age 45 or younger

The vast majority of Up & Comers hold the top jobs at their organizations

Women37% (90)Men

63% (154)

Men65% (113)

Women35% (61)

Yes93.6% (161)

No6.4% (11)

Caucasian79.3% (138)

Black11.5% (20)

■■ West24% (41)

■ Midwest24.6% (42)

■ Northeast15.2% (26)

■ South35.7% (61)

Hispanic3.5% (6)Asian

4% (7)

Other1.7% (3)

Based on 174 responses

40 or under

46-50

51-55

56-60

Over 60

41-45


Based on 171 responses Note: One respondent resides in the Virgin Islands


18.9% (33)

25.9% (45)

23.6% (41)

23% (40)

8% (14)

0.6% (1)

Based on 172 responses Note: Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.

44.2% (76)

24.4% (42)

5.2% (9)

2.3% (4)

1.7% (3)

0.6% (1)

1.2% (2)

20.3% (35)

No one has ever said no to me” was the quoteattributed to the first person profiled in the firstinstallment of Up & Comers 20 years ago. Cocky?Probably. Charismatic? Undoubtedly. It’s theproverbial thin line.

The man who led the inaugural class of 1987 alphabetically standsout unequivocally as its leader today. Even 20 years ago, DonaldBerwick, then 40, was championing the ideas that would eventuallyblossom into the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

In the late ’80s, the quality measurement expert, who worked for theHarvard Community Health Plan, an HMO based in Brookline, Mass.,started pairing up hospital chief executive officers with leaders fromother industries to try to glean how their quality best practices could be

applied to healthcare. One ofthe hospital CEOs who wasinvolved in the project,known as the National Demonstration Project onQuality Improvement in Health Care, was Maureen Bisognano. At thetime, she was CEO at the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital in Brain-tree, Mass. Her hospital was paired up with Florida Power & Light Co.in Miami.

“From what little happened that year, I think he has built a globalsystem that is connecting people and their improvement efforts, andspreading evidence-based medicine around the world,” says Bisog-nano, who is now the executive vice president and chief operating offi-cer at the Cambridge, Mass.-based IHI.

Since 1991, Berwick has served as co-founder, president andCEO at the IHI, a not-for-profit organization dedicated toworldwide healthcare quality-improvement efforts. Berwick hashelped the healthcare industry embrace quality improvement asa science. Under his leadership, the IHI—with 100 employees,250 faculty members and a budget of just under $40 million—has spearheaded several national quality improvement efforts.

Topping that list is the 100,000 Lives Campaign, whichbegan in December 2004. The IHI estimates the program savedroughly 122,000 lives—although some dispute the figures—atmore than 3,000 participating hospitals through rapidresponse, evidence-based care and intervention to preventinfection and ventilator-associated pneumonia.

But why stop there? In December 2006, the IHI set out toavoid 5 million potential patient injuries over the next two years,building on its earlier project. The campaign, called the 5 MillionLives Campaign, aims to prevent pressure ulcers and harm fromhigh-alert medications, reduce surgical complications andmethicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, andpromote evidence-based care for congestive heart failure.

An elected member of the Institute of Medicine, Berwick,61, served as a member of the IOM committee that in 1999published the landmark report To Err is Human. That report,perhaps more than any other, helped galvanize the industrywith the jarring statistic that 44,000 to 98,000 Americans diein hospitals annually as a result of medical errors.

In addition to advocating the application of qualitytechniques from other industries to healthcare and mak-ing patient safety a high-profile priority in the U.S.,Berwick’s work with the U.K.’s National Health Serviceled to his being awarded an honorary knighthood byQueen Elizabeth II in 2005.

“He feels that in many cases the processes developedin hospitals and even between healthcare organizationsare ill-designed and don’t serve the patient well,” Bisog-nano says. “He is driven by a passion for improving careso the patient gets the right care every time.”

And who could say no to a knight? ✦


Donald Berwick, 61

CLASS OF 1987STAR STUDENT


M ark Neaman has spent his entirecareer in the northern Chicago suburbof Evanston, Ill., on the shores of LakeMichigan. It’s a good place to be for a

hospital executive, as evidenced by the growth overthe years of Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, thesystem Neaman leads as president and chiefexecutive officer. When Neaman was named an Up &Comer in 1987 at the age of 36, he said: “Myphilosophy is not to have a high profile, and that

anything can be accomplishedas long as you don’t carewho gets the credit for it.”

Seventeen years later, thatcopacetic low profile would bechallenged when the fedsdecided to pounce. TheFederal Trade Commissionfiled an antitrust lawsuit in2004, saying Evanston’smerger with Highland Park (Ill.)Hospital in 2000 was anti-competitive and forcedconsumers and insurers topay higher prices.

In 2005, an administrativelaw judge ruled the mergershould be broken up, but thesystem appealed thedecision to the full FTC. OnAug. 6, it unanimouslyaffirmed the decision,

although EvanstonNorthwestern called it a victory as

the system did not have to sell Highland Park Hospital,which is now considered a separate organization andmust negotiate on its own. As he was fending off theFTC’s litigation, Neaman received Modern Healthcare’sCEO IT Achievement Award in 2005 as one of the earlieradopters of an electronic health-record system.

His career at the system goes back to 1974, when hearrived as an administrative assistant at EvanstonHospital after receiving his master’s degree in healthcareadministration. Neaman, now 56, became president andCEO 18 years later, and from there he went on toassume leadership roles within the system. ✦

MARK NEAMAN, 56

Class of ’87 NotableTHE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’87

MOLLY COYE, 60 Then: Commissioner, New Jersey State Health Department; Now: Founder & CEO, Health TechnologyCenter, San Francisco, [email protected]

JOHN DANDRIDGE JR., 59 Then: Executivedirector, D.C. General Hospital; Now: Networkdirector, Veterans Health Administration,Nashville, [email protected]

ANN FYFE, 56 Then: Sr VP, planning & mktg.,Mills-Peninsula Corp., San Mateo Calif.; Now:VP, business development, El Camino (Calif.)Hospital, [email protected]

GLENN HACKBARTH, 56 Then: Deputy admin.,Health Care Financing Administration,Washington; Now: Chairman, MedicarePayment Advisory Commission, Washington

LINDA JUBINSKY, 50 Then: Administrator,HCA Gulf Pines Hospital, Houston; Now: Consultant, self-employed, Atlanta, [email protected]

NATHAN KAUFMAN, 53 Then: President & COO,Medical Imaging Centers of America, San Diego;Now: Managing director, Kaufman StrategicAdvisors, San Diego, [email protected]

J. WILLIAM PAUGH, 58 Then: Group VP, mgmt.services, SunHealth Corp., Charlotte,N.C.; Now:President & CEO, Wayne Memorial Hospital,Goldsboro, N.C., [email protected]

FREDERICK SIEMBIEDA, 55 Then: President &CEO, Good Samaritan Hospital, Pottsville, Pa.;Now: President & CEO, Maximum Healthcare,Huntington Beach, Calif., [email protected]

HENRY WALKER, 60 Then: Exec VP, PresbyterianHealth Services, SW Community Health Services,Albuquerque; Now: Partner, Andrade/Walker,Sammamish, Wash., [email protected]

SAMUEL WESTOVER, 52 Then: CFO & SeniorVP, finance, Maxicare Health Plans, LosAngeles; Now: President & CEO, SonicInnovations, Salt Lake City

CAROL (WHITTAKER) THOMPSON, 61Then: Senior VP & COO, Baptist MedicalCenter, Jacksonville, Fla.; Now: Retired; [email protected]

No photo

available

People who have worked with John Ferguson tendto use the word “visionary” a lot. Perhaps theymean “clairvoyant.” Ferguson had the foresight tolook at a community hospital in New Jersey andsee its potential as a regional force that could com-

pete with New York’s—and indeed the nation’s—finest facilitiesfor specialized healthcare services.

Ferguson, 58, is president and chief executive officer of Hack-ensack (N.J.) University Medical Center, a position he has heldfor the past 21 years. He arrived there in 1981 as senior vicepresident of professional services. Within four years he becamesenior vice president and chief operating officer, and a year laterhe was CEO.

“He had a vision many,many years ago, a trans-formation of Hackensackfrom a community hospital to a nationwide, well-respected medical center,” says Joseph Simunovich, chairman ofthe hospital foundation’s board of trustees and a member of the hos-pital’s board for 15 years.

“John has provided the kind of leadership that could see 16 years ago where we could be today,” Simunovich adds.

In 1988, when he was named an Up & Comer at the age of 39,Ferguson said that building relationships with physicians andnurses was critical to the hospital’s success. According to RobertGarrett, the hospital’s executive vice president and chief operat-

ing officer, Ferguson led the charge for Hackensack toreceive the coveted Magnet award for nursing. One of thefirst hospitals to receive the designation, Hackensack hastwice been recertified as a Magnet hospital.

Ferguson also made a point of recruiting physicians inservice areas such as bone-marrow transplants, cardiacsurgery, medical oncology, orthopedics and urology, Gar-rett says. In addition, over the past decade, the hospitalhas roughly doubled its square footage. “Our facilities areall new or majorly renovated,” Garrett says. “All the newfacilities have private rooms, and all the ones that havebeen renovated have private rooms.”

A leader in cardiology, the hospital also recently com-pleted a new 300,000-square-foot facility for women andchildren, and it is in the process of establishing whatSimunovich calls “an outstanding oncology center.”

Garrett says Ferguson has fostered an environmentthat allows employees to challenge themselves and takeon responsibility. “I think there’s a lot of job satisfac-tion for people who work for and around John becausehe really does give people an opportunity to do theirown jobs and flourish in their jobs,” he says. “Butmake no mistake about it; he really does hold peopleaccountable for their jobs and for good results.”

By bringing in top-notch workers and creating anenvironment that makes them want to stay, Fergusonhas achieved his vision of creating a nationally recog-nized teaching hospital and medical center, his col-leagues say.

“We’re matched up against the best that NewYork has to offer and the country has to offer,”Simunovich says. “We’re near the top of that list, ifnot at the top.” ✦

Contact Ferguson at [email protected]

John Ferguson, 58



M any Up & Comers probably aspire toretire early as Michael Jhin did, butindubitably they’d prefer rosiercircumstances.

Since 2004, Jhin, 57, has held the title of chiefexecutive officer emeritus of St. Luke’s Episcopal HealthSystem in Houston. He retired at the end of 2003 aspresident and CEO of the system after nearly 14 years,eight as CEO of the system and an overlapping 10 aspresident and CEO of its flagship hospital.

St. Luke’s consists of St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital,the Woodlands CommunityMedical Center and theKelsey-Seybold Clinic, a 300-physician group. Whilehe was head of St. Luke’s in1999, it partnered withMethodist Health Care topurchase the Kelsey-SeyboldClinic from MedPartners.

When Methodist decided toback out of the money-losingpartnership in early 2002, St. Luke’s bought outMethodist’s share. Jhin alsooversaw the hospital when itwas sued by its landlord, theTexas Medical Center, fortrying to forge a joint venturewith what was thenColumbia/HCA Healthcare

Corp., the nation’s largest for-profit hospital chain.

At issue was whether such a venture would violatedeed restrictions banning for-profit tenants from theTexas Medical Center. In 1996, after the state attorneygeneral joined the lawsuit against St. Luke’s, asettlement was reached in which the deal was scrapped.

When he was named an Up & Comer in 1988 at38, Jhin was executive director and CEO of TempleUniversity Hospital, Philadelphia. He also served asexecutive vice president of Long Beach (Calif.)Memorial Health System for two years. ✦

Contact Jhin at [email protected]

MICHAEL JHIN, 57

Class of ’88 Notable

Class 1988 Sponsorof


THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’88

RICHARD BRACKEN, 55 Then: Executivedirector, Green Hospital of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, Calif.; Now: President, COO & director,HCA, Nashville

GAYLE NELSON BULLOCK, 55 Then: President& CEO, St. Jude Hospital, Yorba Linda (Calif.);Now: Asst. VP, Bullock Group w/Merrill Lynch,Newport Beach, Calif., [email protected]

JOHN CARVER, 55 Then: Senior VP, MethodistHospitals of Dallas; Now: VP, healthcare group,Rogers-O’Brien Construction Co., Dallas,[email protected]

RAYMOND GRADY, 57 Then: Senior VP,Evanston (Ill.) Hospital; Now: President,hospitals & clinics, Evanston NorthwesternHealthcare, [email protected]

BRUCE JENSEN, 55 Then: President, Grinnell(Iowa) General Hospital; Now: CEO, St. Luke’sWood River Medical Center, Ketchum, Idaho,[email protected]

CHERYL JERNIGAN, 56 Then: President &CEO, Kansas City (Mo.) Area Hospital Assn.;Now: Volunteer advocate, health/cancer,Kansas City, Mo., [email protected]

PHILIP MANZ, 50 Then: VP & CFO, WakeMedical Center, Raleigh, N.C.; Now: Adviser,Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C.,[email protected]

CINDY POLICH, 54 Then: President, InterStudy,Excelsior, Minn.; Now: Senior VP,SecureHorizons/UnitedHealth Group, Santa Ana, Calif., [email protected]

PATRICK SMITH, 55 Then: President & CEO,New England Critical Care, Marlborough, Mass.;Now: President & CEO, Voyager PharmaceuticalCorp., Raleigh, N.C.

MARY STARMANN-HARRISON, 53 Then:President & CEO, St. Luke’s Medical Center,Phoenix; Now: President & CEO, SSM HealthCare of Wis., Madison, [email protected]

Brent James may need a new trophy case. In February 2005, he won a Health Quality Award

from the National Council for Quality Assurancefor his work in improving the quality of care in theU.S. Less than a month later, he received a Trust

Award from the Health Research and Educational Trust, an affil-iate of the American Hospital Association, for his application ofthe science of quality to practical caregiving. In November 2006,he received the Ernest Amory Codman Award from the JointCommission for his leadership in using performance measures toimprove safety and quality.

Clearly James was no runner-up when Modern Healthcaretagged him as an Up & Comer back in 1989 at the age of 38, when

he was director of medicalresearch and medical edu-cation at IntermountainHealthcare, Salt Lake City. Nor is he now.

James, now 56, is the executive director of the Institute forHealth Care Delivery Research and vice president for medicalresearch and continuing medical education at Intermountain. Asurgeon and biostatistician, James has gained national recognitionfor applying quality management principles to healthcare delivery.

“He’s been an incredibly effective voice for the need to get tobest clinical practices and clinical outcomes,” says IntermountainPresident and Chief Executive Officer William Nelson, “and he’sincredibly helpful in terms of implementing those best practices

in our organization.”James has been involved in researching many, if not all, of

the best practices Intermountain has worked to put in place,Nelson says. “Brent has done the research, taken the time tounderstand the need for reduced variation,” he says. “He’sgathered the data to make the case, clinically and financially.”

Applying the ideas of quality-improvement guru W. Edwards Deming, James has spearheaded projects at Inter-mountain that have demonstrated that improving quality canindeed reduce costs.

Under his leadership, Intermountain, an integrateddelivery system that serves the entire state of Utah andbeyond, has been a leader in using evidence-based medi-cine and in adopting clinical computing systems includingan electronic health-record system.

James earned undergraduate degrees at the University ofUtah in computer science in 1974 and in medical biology in1975. After completing his medical training, he did a surgi-cal residency at the University of Utah School of Medicine inSalt Lake City and earned a master’s degree in statistics fromthe University of Utah in 1983. He then began a fellowshipin the department of biostatistics at the Harvard School ofPublic Health but came back to Utah and to Intermountainin 1986.

The Advanced Training Program in Health CareDelivery Improvement that James developed in 1992 aspart of the institute’s work now attracts people from allover the country and the world, Nelson says.

“Brent James has created and progressively expandeda remarkable laboratory for continuous improvementand learning in real-world clinical settings at Inter-mountain,” said Dennis O’Leary, president of the JointCommission, in a news release announcing the Cod-man award last year.

Just another honor to add to his trophy case. ✦

Brent James, 56



W ith the new millennium came anew career path for ReedTuckson—an eye-opening oneat that.

An internist by training, Tuckson, 56, was one ofseveral prominent physicians tapped by largeinsurers in recent years to help them improverelations between private payers and providers. Itwas quite a change for Tuckson, who had made a

name for himself more thana decade earlier ascommissioner of publichealth in Washington,D.C.—where he workedwhen he was named anUp & Comer in 1989 atthe age of 38.

Following his position ascommissioner, Tucksonhad jobs as a senior vicepresident at the March ofDimes; president of theCharles R. Drew Universityof Medicine and Science inLos Angeles; and seniorvice president ofprofessional standards forthe American MedicalAssociation. And thenUnitedHealth Group

came a-calling. UnitedHealth hired Tuckson in October 2000 as

senior vice president of consumer health andmedical-care advancement.

In December 2006, he was promoted to executivevice president and chief of medical affairs, in whichrole he is expected to help the company enhancepatient-physician relationships and improvehealthcare quality.

He also serves on the board of directors of theUnited Health Foundation, which UnitedHealthformed in 1999 as a not-for-profit dedicated toimproving healthcare. ✦

REED TUCKSON, 56


In memoriam

D udley Alan Prather, an Up & Comer from the class of 1989, died in1996 at age 43. Prather died in his home in Fayetteville, Ark., of a heartattack, according to the Arkansas Hospital Association. Prather was the

37-year-old administrator and COO of Springdale (Ark.) Memorial Hospital in 1989,when Modern Healthcare recognized him. Prather had been at Springdale, nowknown as Northwest Medical Center, from 1987 until May 1991. At that point, he

resigned to pursue interests in the private sector.Danna Bell, director of neonatology services at Northwest, recalls an incident

when she was nursing director in the emergency room. During a phone exchangeabout ER renovations, Prather had been curt with her and hung up, she said.About 9 p.m., Prather called Bell at her home and apologized, saying he couldn’tgo to sleep before resolving the matter. “I think that said a lot about hischaracter,” she says. “Most CEOs wouldn’t give it a second thought.” ✦

WILLIAM ATKINSON, 53 Then: Executivedirector, Humana; Now: President & CEO,WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Raleigh, N.C.

DAVID BELLE-ISLE, NA Then: Senior officer,HR, Epic Healthcare Group, Irving, Texas; Now: Senior VP, organizational and processexcellence, Intuit, Mountain View, Calif.

DAVID CARPENTER, 53 Then: Pres. & CEO,Hadley Medical Center, Hays, Kan.; Now: Dir.,Institute for Health and the Environment, Univ.at Albany (N.Y.), [email protected]

ARTHUR GONZALEZ, 56 Then: CEO & admin.,Kino Community Hospital, Tucson Ariz; Now:Pres. & CEO, Tri-City Healthcare District,Oceanside, Calif., [email protected]

JOANNE JUDGE, 55 Then: President & CEO,Community Hospital of Lancaster (Pa.); Now: Co-chair, health dept., Stevens & Lee,Reading, Pa., [email protected]

RUTH (WILLIAMS) BRINKLEY, 55 Then: VP,nursing services, DePaul Health Center,Bridgeton, Mo.; Now: President & CEO,Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga,Tenn., [email protected]

WILLIAM NYDAM, 57 Then: Senior VP, CFO &treasurer, American Healthcare Systems, SanDiego; Now: VP, chief product & businessdevelopment officer, Safe Life Corp., San Diego

DUDLEY ALAN PRATHER Then: Administrator &COO, Springdale (Ark.) Memorial Hospital;Now: See “In memoriam” below

RICHARD SALERNO, 55 Then: Administrator,Orthopaedic Hospital of Charlotte (N.C.); Now: Sr VP, operations, Essent Healthcare,Nashville, [email protected]

MICHAEL WEINSTEIN, 54 Then: President,AIDS Hospice Foundation, Los Angeles; Now: President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation,Los Angeles, [email protected]

FELICIA WILHELM, 52 Then: President,Preferred of Mid-America, Chicago; Now: CEO, Prairie States Enterprises, Chicago,[email protected]


Inmemoriam

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Now that’s what we call time management.When he was named an Up & Comer in 1990 at

the age of, ahem, 33, Dan Wolterman had alreadybeen president and chief executive officer of athree-hospital regional system, Holy Cross Health

Services of Utah, for a year. “I’ve moved very quickly in my career,” he said at the time, adding

that when opportunities presented themselves, he made the most ofthem. And Wolterman’s pace hasn’t slowed since.

The former head of the Salt Lake City system is now the presi-dent and CEO of five-hospital Memorial Hermann HealthcareSystem in Houston.

Wolterman, now 51, arrived at Memorial Hermann in 1999—two

years after Hermann Health-care System and MemorialHealthcare System completedtheir merger—as senior vice president. After DanWilford retired as president and CEO in 2002, the system’s boardconducted a national search for a replacement but ended up decid-ing the best person for the job was already there.

It chose Wolterman because of his strong relationships with theboard, medical staff, employees and communities served by the healthsystem. In his previous position as senior vice president, he had over-seen seven of the system’s 11 hospitals and two long-term-care facilities.

“Dan came into Wilford’s position at a time when the healthcareenvironment was rapidly changing from what I would say was a good-

old-boy era to an era that required business acumen,” recalls JamesMontague, chairman of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System’sboard of directors. “Dan was able to apply this acumen to what Iwould consider a very complex operation.”

At Memorial Hermann, Wolterman oversees some 19,000employees. Within the past five years, the system has funded morethan $600 million in expansion projects, according to Montague.

Not only is he a community leader, Montague says, but alsohe is “politically attuned,” and able to work well with localbusinesses and the state Legislature. He is chairman-elect ofthe Greater Houston Partnership, a round table of influentiallocal corporations that tackles challenges in the community.He is also chairman of both the Texas Hospital Associationand the VHA-Texas board of directors.

Joel Allison, president and CEO of Baylor Health Care Systemin Dallas, has worked closely with Wolterman in some of theseroles. “Obviously Dan is truly a leader,” he says. “And he’s beenreally passionate about his commitment to serving all people.”

One of Wolterman’s top priorities is reducing Texas’ largenumber of uninsured. Some of his ideas include: funding morepreventive medicine and creating a watchdog agency to over-see access and quality (April 3, 2006, p. 21). “He’s spoken outto business leaders, to the business community; he’s carriedthis message to the national press corps, to editorial boardsand legislators to get more Texans covered,” Allison says.

Always thinking ahead, this passion manifested itself inWolterman’s eagerness to help evacuees from HurricaneKatrina in 2005. Memorial Hermann set up an in-hospitalcommand center before Katrina even hit the Gulf Coast,created added capacity and then launched a massive oper-ation to evacuate critical patients from New Orleans.

“He’s visionary, he’s collaborative and he’s a person ofhigh integrity,” Allison says. “He’s willing to take a standfor what is right and what he believes.”

Time and time again. ✦

Contact Wolterman at [email protected]

Dan Wolterman, 51



S ome computer problems just can’t beremedied by hitting Ctrl+Alt+Delete as GregVan Pelt, 55, found out. The executive vicepresident and chief regional operations officer

of Providence Health & Services, a 26-hospital Catholicsystem headquartered in Seattle, was caught in themiddle of a public relations nightmare after the systemwas hit twice within several months by data theft.

On Dec. 31, 2005, data on 365,000 home healthpatients of Providence Home

Services in Portland, Ore.,were stolen from the backseat of a Providenceemployee’s vehicle. Thesystem changed itssecurity policies, the stateattorney general’s officeinvestigated, there was alawsuit and severalemployees resigned in thewake of the incident.

But that wasn’t the end. A couple of months later,

thieves stole laptopcomputers containingrecords on 122 hospiceand home-care patientsfrom two employees’ cars.“It’s very frustrating,” VanPelt reportedly told the

Oregonian. Van Pelt, who was named an Up & Comer in

1990 at age 38, when he was the administratorand chief executive officer of St. Vincent Hospital and Medical Center in Portland,Ore.—one of Providence’s hospitals—has been withthe system for more than 30 years. He has heldtitles such as senior vice president and chiefregional operations officer; chief executive,Providence Health & Services, Washington region;and chief executive of Providence Health Plan.

Contact Van Pelt at [email protected]

GREG VAN PELT, 55


The incessant focus on cost-cutting in order for entities (hospitals, nursing homes,outpatient clinics, etc.) to stay afloat has detracted from the sense of patient-caremission. —Sister Nancy Linenkugel

THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’90

MARK AMBROSIUS, 55 Then: CEO, St. Luke’sMedical Center, Milwaukee; Now: Retired,[email protected]

LARRY HOUGH, 55 Then: Regional VP,HealthTrust—The Hospital Co., Nashville; Now: Retired, [email protected]

A. DAVID JIMENEZ, 55 Then: President,Hialeah (Fla.) Hospital; Now: COO, CatholicHealthcare Partners, Cincinnati

DEBORAH JOHNSON, NA Then: VP, informationsystems, Humana, Louisville, Ky.; Now:Associate director, VA Gulf Coast Health CareSystem, Biloxi, Miss.

GLEN KAZAHAYA, 57 Then: Corporate VP &CFO, United Western Medical Centers, SantaAna, Calif.; Now: President, Hospital Focus,Yorba Linda, Calif., [email protected]

SISTER NANCY LINENKUGEL, 57 Then: President & CEO, Providence Hospital,Sandusky, Ohio; Now: President, Chatfield College,Cincinnati, [email protected]

SHELL SHARMA, 51 Then: President & CEO,Buffalo (N.Y.) Columbus Hospital; Now: COO, Business Services, Harrisburg, Pa.,[email protected]

JONATHAN SHERWIN, 56 Then: President,Meditrust/AMA Advisory Corp., Waltham Mass.;Now: Retired

GARY SHORB, 57 Then: President & CEO,Regional Medical Center at Memphis (Tenn.);Now: President & CEO, Methodist Healthcare,Memphis, [email protected]

CHRISTINE ST. ANDRE, 56 Then: Administrator,George Washington University Medical Center,Washington; Now: Principal, CSI Solutions,Bethesda, Md.,[email protected]


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Healthcare has divisive issues. Lots of them. But if you disagree with Nancy Schlichting,

chances are she has a rebuttal at the ready. When she was interviewed in 1991 about

the accomplishments that contributed toher being named an Up & Comer, Schlichting, then 36, notedthat being on the high school debate team helped her to seeboth sides of an issue, a useful skill for anyone but especiallyimportant for a hospital administrator.

Sixteen years later, Gail Warden, president emeritus of HenryFord Health System and the person who hired Schlichting intothe Detroit-based system in 1998 as its senior vice president andchief administrative officer, says one of her best skills has been

getting other members ofthe health system’s con-stituency onboard fortough decisions.

“I think what she brought to Henry Ford was a real under-standing of how to work with physicians and get them on thesame page as the organization,” Warden says.

Affirmative.The first woman to lead Henry Ford in its 90-year history,

Schlichting, 52, has been credited with its significant financialturnaround. In 2001, she became president and chief execu-tive officer of its flagship Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, whilemaintaining her role as chief operating officer of the health

system. After losing nearly $75 million in 2001, the sys-tem was in the black by 2003, where it has remained.That same year, she became president and CEO of thehealth system.

In fiscal 2006, the system reported $3.25 billion inrevenue and net income of $134.9 million, a 20%increase in profit from 2005.

“She’s a fairly tough-minded manager about beingcost-effective and delivering quality healthcare,” War-den says. “It is reflected in the changes that have takenplace under her leadership.”

Admissions at 722-bed Henry Ford Hospital haverisen 17.5% during the past three years, and outpa-tient surgery at the hospital grew 14% in 2006. Lastyear, Henry Ford’s flagship hospital was selected asone of the Thomson 100 Top Hospitals: Perfor-mance Improvement Leaders.

In addition to her success in turning aroundHenry Ford, Schlichting has also been active in hercommunity and in industry activities. She was trea-surer for the Michigan Health & Hospital Associa-tion board for 2006-07 and served as the chairper-son of the American Heart Association’s annualHeart Walk in Detroit in 2004. That year, the orga-nization raised a record $2.4 million for cardiovas-cular research.

Before arriving at Henry Ford, Schlichting wasexecutive vice president and chief operating offi-cer of Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio. Shehas also served as president and CEO of River-side Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, andexecutive vice president and COO of Akron(Ohio) City Hospital. ✦

Contact Schlichting at [email protected]

Nancy Schlichting, 52



V icki (Romero) Briggs decided many yearsago that if you can’t complete a dealwith ’em, join ’em.

Briggs, 53, was Vicki Romero whenshe was named an Up & Comer in 1991 at age 37.Her last name is not the only thing that haschanged since then.

She was chief executive officer of Women’sHospital in Baton Rouge, La., at the time. Fiveyears later and a month after a deal she had

helped orchestrate withColumbia/HCA HealthcareCorp. was scuttled by thehospital parent’s board,she resigned to becomepresident of the BatonRouge market forColumbia/HCA’sLouisiana region.

About 18 months later,she became president andCEO of 2021 Healthcare,a consulting firmspecializing in strategicplanning for hospitals andphysician practices,women’s health servicesand board relations. Afterseven months as aconsultant, she moved onto become CEO ofLongview (Texas) Regional

Medical Center, owned byTriad Hospitals, where she

stayed for nearly seven years. In mid-August, she resigned after two years as CEO

of Trinity Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala., whichhad been a partnership between Triad (recentlypurchased by Community Health Systems) andBaptist Health System. In a news release, Briggsattributed the decision to a desire to spend more timewith her family and evaluate future opportunities. “Iam eager to take a step back, catch my breath, andsee what the future brings,” she said. ✦

Contact Briggs at [email protected]

VICKI (ROMERO) BRIGGS, 53

Class of ’91 Notable THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’91

LT. CMDR. ROBERT BURG, 51 Then: Director ofadmin., Office of the Attending Physician, Congress,Washington; Now: Exec VP, Ralph Andersen &Assoc., Rocklin, Calif., [email protected]

MAURA CARLEY, 54 Then: Area administrator,Kaiser Permanente Foundation Health Plans,White Plains, N.Y.; Now: President & CEO, CastleConnolly Healthcare Navigation, Fairfield, Conn.,[email protected]

PETE DELGADO, 54 Then: COO & associatedirector, R.E. Thomason General Hospital, El Paso, Texas; Now: CEO, LAC-USC HealthcareNetwork, Los Angeles, [email protected]

JOHN GLASER, 52 Then: VP, informationsystems, Brigham and Women’s Hospital,Boston; Now: VP & CIO, Partners HealthCareSystem, Boston, [email protected]

GLEN NESSEL, 50 Then: Corporate director,risk management, United Western MedicalCenters, Santa Ana, Calif.; Now: Retired,[email protected]

KEVIN POTTER, Then: President & CEO,Loudoun Healthcare, Leesburg, Va.; Now: Current information not available.

LAURA REDOUTEY, 52 Then: Executivedirector, Greater Flint (Mich.) Area HospitalAssembly; Now: President, Nebraska HospitalAssociation, Lincoln

PAUL VIVIANO, 54 Then: President & CEO, St. Jude Medical Center, Fullerton, Calif.; Now: Chairman & CEO, Alliance Imaging,Anaheim, Calif., [email protected]

GREG WOZNIAK, 47 Then: VP & administrator,Christian Hospital Northeast-Northwest, St. Louis;Now: President & CEO, St. Mary Medical Center,Langhorne, Pa., [email protected]

LORRAINE ZIPPIROLI, NA Then: President &CEO, Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospitalat Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif.; Now: Currentinformation not available.


Select work you are passionate about. Work hard at it. Focus on quality, meeting theneeds of patients and serving the community. These steps will lead to a fulfilling andsatisfying career. —Paul Viviano

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Whoever said “Familiarity breeds contempt”should do lunch with Marna Borgstrom.After all, Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospitalis still her second home, the same place shehas worked since 1992 when she was named

an Up & Comer at age 39.Back then, she was senior vice president of administration. Fifteen

years later she is still at the 851-bed facility, one of the nation’s oldestvoluntary hospitals. Now, at 53, she is president and chief executiveofficer of the hospital and of Yale-New Haven Health System—the firstwoman to hold that position in the hospital’s 181-year history.

“I’ve been fortunate,” she says. “I’ve been given a lot of differentopportunities within the same organization, which has worked very

well for me.”Back in 1992, Borgstrom

said she never expected tostay at Yale after graduating from Yale University’sSchool of Medicine in 1979 with a Master of Public Health degree inhospital administration. She thought she would work at a hospital fora few years and then move into another field, she said. But every fewyears, her career responsibilities at the academic medical center shiftedand she never felt bored.

Perhaps Yale-New Haven is just that type of place. After all,Joseph Zaccagnino, who preceded Borgstrom as president and CEOand who helped recruit her, was at the organization for 35 yearsbefore he retired.

“If the individual can continue to grow and develop and stag-nation is avoided by the inflow of new people and new ideas, adynamic place like a medical center benefits from the continuitythat a leader with a history in the organization can provide,”Zaccagnino says. “I think Marna has not only been committedto that direction over time, but I also think the end resultdemonstrated that she made good choices along the way.”

Borgstrom says Zaccagnino’s willingness to share responsi-bility—which allowed her to pursue both strategic and opera-tional opportunities—was part of what kept her at Yale-NewHaven all these years. Before becoming CEO in 2005,Borgstrom was executive vice president and chief operatingofficer for 12 years. She also served as vice president of admin-istration from 1985 to 1992.

Not only is she dedicated and articulate, but she also is a“pioneer” among women who have achieved top manage-ment positions at academic medical centers, Zaccagnino says.

Among her achievements at Yale-New Haven was over-seeing the construction of the $156 million Yale-NewHaven Children’s Hospital, which opened in 1993. “Thatwas an exquisite opportunity,” Borgstrom says, because shewas able to oversee the project from initial planningthrough occupancy.

She is also proud of a $430 million project Yale-NewHaven is undertaking to consolidate its cancer care intoone location. The result will be a 14-story building inte-grating inpatient and outpatient oncology for adults andchildren. The building is expected to open by the end of2009, she says.

When asked whether she regrets not moving to anotherhospital or system to try something new, Borgstrom isphilosophical. “I don’t know if I can say it’s a good or badthing,” she says. “My feeling is I got the best of bothworlds. I got to continue to learn, evolve my thinking,evolve my style and strategies, and I got to do it with ateam of people I knew well.” ✦

Contact Borgstorm at [email protected]

Marna Borgstrom, 53



A 36-year-old Stephen Wiggins told ModernHealthcare in 1992: “One of the quickestways to the top is to start there.” Butbeginning a journey on a summit can also

make for a bumpy descent. At the time he was named an Up & Comer, Wiggins

was chairman and chief executive officer of OxfordHealth Plans, the managed-care company he foundedin 1984 as a young Harvard Business School graduate.At that point, Oxford’s revenue was surging and

enrollment was soaring. Butthat was all about to change.

One of the highest-paidmanaged-care executives inthe country in 1996 and1997, Wiggins was easedout in 1998 after theTrumbull, Conn.-based HMOposted a surprising loss of$78.2 million in October1997. Wiggins blamedcomputer glitches forreimbursement delays andundercharging for services.Class-action lawsuits allegingthat company officialsconcealed the extent of theproblems and a Securitiesand Exchange Commissioninvestigation followed.

Ultimately Wiggins resignedwhen investment firm Texas

Pacific Group agreed to invest$350 million in Oxford in exchange

for installing a new CEO. In the years since, Wiggins, 51,has invested in and started several other healthcarecompanies, including HealthMarket, a consumer-drivenhealthcare company. It was sold to a public companycalled UICI, later named HealthMarkets. He is thechairman and CEO of Golden Pond Healthcare, a so-called special-purpose acquisition corporation that hasfiled with the SEC to go public this month. He alsofounded FMR Group, a generics manufacturingcompany, and he is currently an operating partner ofEssex Woodlands Health Ventures, a venture capitaland private equity firm. ✦

STEPHEN WIGGINS, 51

Class of ’92 Notable THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’92DONNA (ANDERSON) STRATING, 50 Then:Chief admin. officer, Watson Clinic, Lakeland,Fla.; Now: VP, info systems & equip., CapitalHealth, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,[email protected]

DARRYL BOLLINGER, 55 Then: Director,information systems, Lee Memorial Hospital, FortMyers, Fla.; Now: President, Sea Side Auto Sales,Panama City, Fla., [email protected]

MARY BOOSALIS, 53 Then: Senior VP,operations, Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton,Ohio; Now: President & CEO, Miami ValleyHospital, Dayton

VANCE FAGER, 51 Then: VP, Brim Healthcare,Portland, Ore.; Now: Owner, GroveDevelopment, Idaho Falls, Idaho,[email protected]

JAMES FRANCIS, 49 Then: VP, corp. services,Christian Health Services, St. Louis; Now: Chairman,supply-chain management/asst. treasurer, MayoClinic, Rochester, Minn., [email protected]

LYNN KIEHNE, 52 Then: Exec VP & COO,Allegany Health System, Tampa, Fla.; Now:Healthcare admin., Pinellas County, Clearwater,Fla., [email protected]

REGINA (MORRIS) PEREZ, 51 Then: Sr VP &CFO, N.Y. Health and Hospitals Corp.; Now: VP,marketing & provider network mgmt., RoyalHealth Care, New York, [email protected]

PHILLIP ROBINSON, 51 Then: Senior VP,Methodist Hospital, Houston; Now: COO,Hospital Partners of America, Houston,[email protected]

RULON STACEY,47 Then: CEO, St. VincentGeneral Hospital, Leadville, Colo.; Now:President & CEO, Poudre Valley Health System,Fort Collins, Colo., [email protected]

VELINDA STEVENS, NA Then: Administrator,Austin (Texas) Diagnostic Medical Center; Now: President & CEO, Kalispell (Mont.)Regional Medical Center


What I find most separates the true leaders from the managers is their passion,their commitment to excellence, their humor, their faith and their ability to inspireothers to follow. —Lynn Kiehne

AUTOGRAPHS

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On May 1, 2000, about a month before a federaljudge dissolved a joint operating agreementbetween Richard Henley’s hospital and the onlyother one in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a commentaryby Henley was published in Modern Healthcare

imploring his colleagues to help restore faith in the industry by lead-ing their hospitals with integrity.

“Our organizations and peers are under scrutiny for everythingfrom suspected fraud and abuse to shortchanging patient care to savea few dollars,” he wrote. “The need to restore public faith in our orga-nizations and the healthcare system as a whole is greater than ever.”

At the time, Henley was executive vice president of Vassar Bros.Medical Center in Poughkeepsie and the national chairman of the

Healthcare Financial Man-agement Association. Ajudge in White Plains, N.Y.,ultimately ruled that the joint venture was anti-competitive and had allowed the two hospitals to fix prices.

Fortunately for Henley, 51, who was named an Up & Comer in1993 at the age of 37, the ultimate demise of Mid-Hudson Health, theeight-year “virtual merger” between Vassar Bros. and its neighbor,St. Francis Hospital, didn’t slow down his career advancement.

After having served in top financial and operational roles at VassarBros., Henley was named president and chief executive officer ofPocono Health System, a community hospital in East Stroudsburg, Pa.,in 2005. In the short time he has been there, he has made quite an

impression, says the current chairman of the hospital’s board, whoalso chaired the search committee that offered Henley the top job.

“When we interviewed different candidates, we were interestedin someone that would have a vision to grow our organizationfrom a smaller community hospital to a regional-based medicalcenter,” recalls Darell Covington, the board chairman and also acolorectal surgeon at the hospital. “When we interviewed all thecandidates, Richard was clearly the person who had the best com-bination of all these things.”

Among Henley’s accomplishments at Pocono Health Sys-tem are improving its Standard & Poor’s bond rating (fromjunk status to B+), achieving roughly a 5.5% profit marginand doubling the size of the hospital’s growing hospitalistprogram, Covington says.

One of the challenges the hospital faces is luring and keep-ing physicians in a state known for its low reimbursementlevels and high malpractice insurance rates. So attractinghigh-quality doctors has been one of Henley’s priorities,Covington says.

“We’ve designed a physician-retention program,” Cov-ington says. “Not just recruitment, but how do you retainthem in the area?”

Under Henley’s direction, the hospital also opened acardiovascular institute in February. With no previous pro-gram in open-heart surgery, the hospital immediately had toget up to speed because it competes with two other facilitiesthat are designated as 100 Top hospitals for cardiovascularservices, according to Covington. “There couldn’t be aramp-up in terms of the quality piece,” he says.

In its first four months, the heart program did about100 heart surgeries; that made its operative mortality rateless than 1%, Covington says. The system is now plan-ning to open a third open-heart-surgery room.

But that’s not good enough for Henley, Covingtonadds. The ultimate goal is to have the program listed asone of the nation’s top cardiovascular programs withinfive years. ✦

Richard Henley, 51



W hen Wayne Lowell was named an Up& Comer in 1993 at the age of 38, hisstar had risen “in line with thefortunes of PacifiCare Health

Systems,” according to the story. Perhaps the analogy doesn’t end there.Less than five years later, the fortunes of both

would change, and Lowell would end up retiring—ashe told Modern Healthcare at the time—to spend timewith his then-young sons. At PacifiCare he had started

out as corporate controllerand left as executive vicepresident, chief financialofficer and chiefadministrative officer.

In his role as CFO, Lowellhelped PacifiCare grow froma $40 million to a $4 billioncompany and completesome 15 acquisitions. Aschief administrative officer,he was responsible forinformation technology,claims processing andenrollment. Lowell’sretirement from PacifiCare inFebruary 1998 followedcomputer-related andcontracting problems at itsUtah plan to go along with a$22 million loss for 1997,and a $114 million loss for

the fourth quarter of that year. He says his departure was not

related to the losses but had more to do with wantingto work with smaller and medium-size companies.

Since leaving PacifiCare, Lowell, now 52, has workedas a self-employed consultant to CEOs and CFOs onstrategic, financial and operating challenges. He alsoserves as a director of several healthcare companies,including managed-care company Molina Healthcare;WellMed Medical Management, a San Antonio-basedphysician practice management company; and IPC-TheHospitalist Co. The name of his consulting firm, JonchraAssociates, is a melding of the names of his two sons,Jonathan and Christopher. ✦

WAYNE LOWELL, 52

Class of ’93 Notable THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’93JOANNA DEPORTER, 42 Then: Assistantdirector, quality services, University HospitalConsortium, Oak Brook, Ill.; Now: Director ofcommunications, Harry Caray’s RestaurantGroup, Chicago, [email protected]

MAURA FIELDS, 53 Then: Director, professionalservices, North Valley Hospital, Whitefish, Mont.;Now: Chief clinical officer, North Valley Hospital,[email protected]

PATRICIA KENNEDY-SCOTT, 53 Then: VP &COO, Michigan Health Center, Detroit; Now:Regional president, Kaiser Permanente of Ohio,Cleveland, [email protected]

DEBORAH LEE-EDDIE, 53 Then: Administrator,Brackenridge Hospital & Children’s Hospital,Austin, Texas; Now: Senior VP, Catholic HealthInitiatives, Denver, [email protected]

PETER MAKOWSKI, 53 Then: President & CEO,Queen of the Valley Hospital, West Covina,Calif.; Now: CEO, St. Anthony Central Hospital,Denver, [email protected]

GAIL MARGOLIS, 53 Then: Corporate VP &general counsel, Daniel Freeman Hospitals,Inglewood, Calif.; Now: VP, gov’t., business &community affairs, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, [email protected]

JAMES ROGERS, 50 Then: President & CEO,Roper Hospital & Health Services, Charleston, S.C.;Now: CEO, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital-Columbia (S.C.), [email protected]

MARGARET SABIN, 50 Then: Administrator,Swedish Medical Center, Englewood, Colo.;Now: CEO, Sutter Health Partners, Sacramento,Calif., [email protected]

CHARLES STARK, NA Then: Administrator,HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, FortWorth, Texas; Now: President & CEO, FirelandsRegional Medical Center, Sandusky, Ohio

KENNETH THORPE, 51 Then: Dpty. asst. sec. forhealth policy, HHS, Washington; Now: Professor& chair, Dept. of Health Policy & Mgmt., EmoryUniversity Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta


Focus upon the long-term outcome and do not worry about the “short-term noise” from others whoare more interested in themselves and shallow politics. —James Rogers

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If you feel awkward asking someone for money, you mightwant to hit up Kelby Krabbenhoft for some advice.

Apparently, making the pitch at someone’s kitchen tabledoes the trick, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a com-pelling reason.

Krabbenhoft, president and chief executive officer of what wasthen known as Sioux Valley Hospitals & Health System in Sioux Falls,S.D., managed to persuade South Dakota businessman T. DennySanford to donate $400 million to the system. The gift, announcedFeb. 3, is the single-largest healthcare donation ever; the system isnow called Sanford Health, for obvious reasons.

Some might call it chutzpah.“I think the key word is courage,” says Becky Nelson, chief operat-

ing officer and senior vicepresident of health servicesoperations for SanfordHealth. “You know how difficult it would be to aska colleague for money? To sit down and ask for $400 million doestake a whole lot of courage.”

Perhaps it doesn’t hurt that Krabbenhoft, 49, was a college basket-ball player. In 1994, when he was named an Up & Comer at the ageof 36, he said playing in college taught him how to be an underdog.“You start taking punches and not falling down.”

With its recent and ongoing cash infusion, it does not appear San-ford Health will be falling down anytime soon.

David Link, Sanford Health’s executive vice president, callsKrabbenhoft a “gifted visionary.” Link and Nelson both say thatKrabbenhoft was able to gain Sanford’s trust and philanthropicgenerosity by laying out a concrete proposal based on what heenvisioned for the organization.

“Because of the work of the team, Kelby was able to presentthe dollar figure along with the vision and demonstrate toDenny why $400 million was essential to carry out the vision,”Nelson says. “It was a very systematic process to arrive at thatnumber, and Kelby felt confident that that number wouldallow us to do what we wanted to do.”

Specifically, the system has earmarked the money for fourmajor projects: establishing five pediatric clinics across the coun-try; expanding its five research institutes and creating a newpediatric research institute; creating a commission of experts toidentify a promising research area for one pressing healthcarechallenge; and creating a world-class “campus of the future.”

“The dollar amount is so staggering that it really does makea difference in terms of what you can consider doing,” Linksays. “It’s a hugely motivating factor. We’re motivated by theawesome responsibility of making sure we do this correctly.”

While securing the large gift has certainly brought San-ford Health a lot of attention, it is not Krabbenhoft’s onlyachievement. During his 10 years in Sioux Falls, he has leda development plan that has nearly quintupled the size ofthe organization. His achievements include developing a350-physician multispecialty clinic and creating the San-ford Health Plan, the second-largest private insurer inSouth Dakota.

Before joining Sanford Health, he was president andCEO of Freeman Health System in Joplin, Mo., for sixyears, and before that he was a system executive vice pres-ident for the Sisters of St. Mary of the PresentationHealth Corp. in Fargo, N.D. He is a member of the gov-ernor’s South Dakota Commission on Health Care andhas chaired the Sioux Falls Development Foundation,co-chairing a $10 million capital campaign.

At this pace, he might be the one on the other side ofthe kitchen table soon enough. ✦

Kelby Krabbenhoft, 49




A successful team must have a vibrant visionary leader who inspiresthe organization. Kelby Krabbenhoft, CEO of Sanford Health, whowas recognized as one of the 1994 Up & Comers, is one of thenation's strongest visionaries in healthcare today. Kelby and his teamat Sanford Health have been recognized throughout the United Statesas one of the outstanding healthcare delivery centers. Kelby's innateability to cultivate a team attitude, which stems from his collegebasketball days, coupled with his unwavering vision for deliveringhigh-quality, innovative healthcare are the driving forces behind hismany successful industry achievements over the years.

John Goodman & Associates, Inc. extends its sincere gratitude toKelby, and we are proud to be a part of his team as we pursue ourmission of improving the delivery of cardiac and vascular carethroughout the nation.

John Goodman & Associates, Inc. • 800-542-5435 • www.jga-net.comThe Most Experienced and Qualified Cardiac and Vascular Program Developers in the U.S.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success!

- - Babe Ruth

“”

“These times demanda team attitude.”

Modern Healthcare, September 5, 1994- - Kelby Krabbenhoft

T he crystal-ball business can beunpredictable, unless you’reforetelling “Weather forecast fortonight: dark,” as comedian George

Carlin did—presumably not in northern Alaskaduring summertime.

E. Preston Gee, a 1994 Up & Comer,probably can relate. With co-author Sandy Lutz,a former Modern Healthcare reporter, Gee wrotea book, published in 1995, called The For-ProfitHealthcare Revolution: The Growing Impact ofInvestor-Owned Systems. With a forewordwritten by Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp.’sthen-president and chief executive officer, RickScott, the book outlined the resurgence of for-profit hospital companies, especially the “risinggiant,” Columbia, and its likelihood of wresting agreater share of the industry in coming years.

Flash forward to 1997, when federal agentsbrought Columbia’s aggressive tactics to ascreeching halt with raids of the company’s

E. PRESTON GEE, 52

Class of ’94 NotableEl Paso, Texas-based facilities. The raidssignaled the beginning of a civil and criminalMedicare billing fraud investigation that wouldrock the industry, leading to Scott’s ouster, asignificant downsizing of the company’s hospitalportfolio and the abandonment of Columbia’snational branding campaign.

Gee, 52, even had an insider’s view ofColumbia/HCA—now called HCA—having workedat St. David’s HealthCare Partnership, a four-hospital joint venture between HCA and the not-for-profit St. David’s HealthCare System in Austin,Texas. He left his job as senior vice president forstrategic planning there in 2005 to join Phase 2Consulting as a senior managing director, wherehe says he advises hospitals, health systems andphysician groups with strategic planning.

In his spare time, he is working on his ninthbook, which will focus on advanced strategies forservice lines. Gee was an early pioneer of theconcept of applying product-line management tohospital operations by restructuring a hospitalaround its various service lines. ✦

Contact Gee at [email protected]


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TRACY (BARNES CHELF) ROGERS, 44 Then:President & CEO, South Bay Hospital, Sun CityCenter, Fla.; Now: Corp. VP, support operations,Alexian Bros. Hospital Network, Elk Grove,Village, Ill., [email protected]

BARBARA BIEHNER, 50 Then: COO, Children’sHospital of the King’s Daughters, Norfolk, Va.;Now: Executive in residence, University of NorthCarolina at Wilmington,[email protected]

DAVID CLARK, 45 Then: Administrator & CEO,Memorial Hospital Dumas (Texas); Now:Regional VP/CEO, Intermountain Healthcare,Provo, Utah, [email protected]

JEFFREY MARGOLIS, 44 Then: VP,information services & CIO, FHP International,Fountain Valley, Calif.; Now: Chairman &CEO, TriZetto, Newport Beach, Calif.

RICHARD MARK, 52 Then: CEO, St. Mary’sHospital, East St. Louis, Ill.; Now: Senior VP,Missouri energy delivery, AmerenUE, St. Louis

THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’94MICHAEL MCMILLAN, 51 Then: Executivedirector & CEO, Meridia Health System,Mayfield, Ohio; Now: Executive director,managed care, Cleveland Clinic,Independence, Ohio, [email protected]

MARSHA POWERS, 53 Then: Assistant VP,physician integration group, Brentwood,Tenn.; Now: Senior VP, operations, TenetHealthcare Corp., Coral Springs, Fla.

ANN RICE, 50 Then: VP, fiscal services,Central Vermont Medical Center, Barre; Now: CEO, University of California at DavisMedical Center, [email protected]

SIGRID SCHREINER, 49 Then: Administrator,Cascade Vascular Associates, Tacoma,Wash.; Now: VP, strategic consulting, Xcenda,[email protected] (as of Oct. 1)

A career in health administration is above all a career of service.

—Ann Rice

In 1995, when Sue Brody was named an Up & Comer atage 38, her former boss described her as “quietly aggres-sive” with “fire in her eyes.” Others who have workedwith her say she has “heart” and is personable.

That dichotomy has come in handy for the president andchief executive officer of Bayfront Medical Center, a 400-bed hos-pital near the downtown waterfront of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Brody, now 50, directed the hospital through a costly legal skir-mish with the city that ultimately led to Bayfront’s disentanglementfrom a joint operating agreement. And when she was chairwomanof the Florida Hospital Association, she defended the associationwhen the state’s largest hospital chain—for-profit HCA—pulled outin February 2006 in protest over the group’s president and board

composition, taking with it$750,000 to $1 million inannual dues.

Through it all, Brody has helped fortify aninstitution that has been not only financially sound but also a goodplace to work.

“She has a caring heart for the patients and for the employees,and for the people associated with this institution,” says LarryDavis, a pathologist and former chairman of Bayfront Health Sys-tem’s board of trustees.

Known as a family-friendly workplace that includes on-sitechild care and a hospital-based public school for employees’ chil-dren, Bayfront was named one of the 100 best companies for work-

ing mothers nine times by Working Mother magazine. Andemployees apparently appreciate the efforts. In a recent capitalcampaign for the hospital, they gave about $1 million, Davissays. “It relates to the fact that she’s got that kind of loyaltyand support from employees,” he says.

Under Brody’s leadership, a $32 million surgical expansionproject was completed, and a new state-of-the-art cardiaccenter was added. The hospital has recently partnered withnearby 216-bed All Children’s Hospital, St. Petersburg, in aconstruction and expansion deal that will allow Bayfront tolease space in the children’s hospital so mothers can delivertheir babies there and have immediate access to high-riskcare if needed.

Brody’s recent attempt to forge a relationship with All Chil-dren’s followed a difficult period of going it alone, however.

A couple of years after Brody was named CEO in 1995,Bayfront joined with two other systems in Florida toform BayCare Health System. Three years into thealliance, the city of St. Petersburg sued Bayfront MedicalCenter in federal court, alleging that its participation inthe alliance violated the constitutional separation ofchurch and state. The city argued that Bayfront’s agree-ment to follow Catholic ethical and religious directivesviolated its lease.

After filing a countersuit and offering to buy the city-owned land for $47 million—and after racking up morethan $1 million in legal fees—the hospital opted to leavethe alliance rather than continue the battle.

“We went through some tough times,” recalls BillHeller, a state representative and chairman ofBayfront’s board of trustees. “We went into that, wecame out of it, and now we’re doing very well on ourown. … Sue has built an awful lot of bridges that willstay very strong for a long time to come.” ✦

Sue Brody, 50



D onald Smithburg, 46, has had a roughstretch, but he’s optimistic that the worstis behind him.

He was chief executive officer ofLouisiana State University Health Care Services afterHurricane Katrina destroyed LSU’s flagship, CharityHospital in New Orleans, in 2005 and badly damagedsome of its other hospitals. And in June, Smithburg,the former head of the $1 billion public healthcaresystem that operates eight hospitals, was stripped of

his CEO title and reassigned.In late August, he became

a consultant with Phase 2Consulting in Austin, Texas,where he says he will advisehealthcare institutions andphysician practices onstrategy, operations andfinances. His move fromhospital system CEO toconsultant followed atumultuous period. Beforebeing reassigned from theCEO position at LSU,Smithburg had obtained acredit card in the system’sname and took out morethan $2,000 in cashadvances, according to theBaton Rouge (La.) Advocate.Smithburg says he paidback the credit card debt as

soon as he was asked to, “toavoid any unintended

misunderstanding.” He says he closed the accountand that the incident did not cause his reassignment.

“There were some allegations of potential conductconcerns,” he says. “Those have all gone away. Thesettlement agreement LSU made with me exoneratesme and, in fact, LSU is paying me not only severancebut what amounts to personal injury.”

Smithburg was named an Up & Comer in 1995 atthe age of 34, when he was associate executivedirector of Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.,and chief administrative officer of the University ofMissouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. ✦

DONALD SMITHBURG, 46


ELIZABETH ALHAND, 51 Then: Senior VP,finance, SSM Health Care, St. Louis; Now: CFO,Harris County Hospital District, Houston,[email protected]

ARTHUR GINSBERG, 52 Then: Senior VP & COO,Community Psychiatric Centers, Western division,Sacramento, Calif.; Now: State director, St. John’sCommunity Services, Washington, [email protected]

TIBISAY GUZMAN, 49 Then: Associateadministrator & COO, Yonkers (N.Y.) GeneralHospital; Now: Director, clinical services, WestchesterArc, White Plains, N.Y., [email protected]

SHELLEY HORWITZ, 50 Then: Administrator,Bay Valley Medical Group, Hayward, Calif.;Now: CEO, Bay Valley Medical Group, Hayward, Calif.

PETER LAWSON, 46 Then: CEO, Winter Park(Fla.) Memorial Hospital; Now: Exec VP, HealthManagement Associates, Naples, Fla.,[email protected]

TODD LINDEN, 45 Then: CEO, Grinnell (Iowa)Regional Medical Center; Now: President &CEO, Grinnell Regional Medical Center,[email protected]

GARY MENDOZA, NA Then: Commissioner,California Department of Corporations, Los Angeles; Now: Current informationnot available.

THOMAS SOKOLA, 50 Then: CFO, Easternregion, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pa.;Now: VP, finance, Geisinger Health System,[email protected]

DAVID STRAND, 50 Then: President,Medica/group VP, Allina Health System,Minneapolis; Now: Chief emerging businessesofficer, Cleveland Clinic, [email protected]

BRITT TRAVIS, 48 Then: VP, Colorado region,FHP Health Care, Denver; Now: Senior VP, sales& marketing, Metropolitan Health Networks,West Palm Beach, Fla., [email protected]


I constantly preach to young healthcare executives that our profession naivelybelieves that we are personally exempt from the same illnesses that we manage forour patients. As a two-time cancer survivor, I am living proof. —Peter Lawson

AUTOGRAPHS

No photo

available

No photo

available

Awonk is someone who is “preoccupied with arcanedetails or procedures in a specialized field,” accordingto Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary. Alan Weil,43, fits that description but also exhibits a thoughtful-ness and political savvy that enable him to reach

beyond the nerdiness that often is packaged with that wonk label.There is no doubt that Weil has all of the pertinent policy-wonk

qualifications: As the executive director of the National Academy forState Health Policy, or the NASHP, for three years and the formerdirector of the Assessing the New Federalism project at the UrbanInstitute, he has immersed himself in some of the thorniest health-care policy questions of modern times. Chief among these is how toexpand healthcare coverage at a time when the federal government

has been relinquishing moreof its responsibilities in thisarea to the states.

A nationally known Medicaid expert, he is regu-larly called upon to testify before congressional committees on Med-icaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

In March, in testimony prepared for a hearing of the House Energyand Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, Weil pleadedwith lawmakers to reauthorize SCHIP so states could plan for thefuture and count on a federal financial commitment.

“Federalism is frustrating,” he said in the written testimony. “Itallows for, indeed it celebrates, the diversity of our nation—and it isnot orderly. … My overarching message to you is that the tremendous

success and bipartisan popularity of this program is directly tiedto its flexible, federal structure. Efforts to remake the programwith a different vision run the risk of undermining the federal-state partnership that has allowed it to thrive.”

Weil knows healthcare policy from a state’s perspective. Hewas chosen as an Up & Comer in 1996 at the age of 32, when hewas executive director of the Colorado Department of HealthCare Policy and Financing, as well as health policy adviser tothen Colorado Gov. Roy Romer. He has a laundry list of pub-lished articles to his name, as well as an educational pedigreethat includes a master’s degree in public policy from HarvardUniversity’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and alaw degree from Harvard Law School.

“He is an uncommonly bright person,” says Sara Rosen-baum, chair of George Washington University’s Health PolicyDepartment and the board chair of the Center for Health Pol-icy Development, the NASHP’s fiduciary parent. “I think it’sthat uncommon brightness and ability to see the next thingthat makes him such a standout.”

The NASHP, which is based in Portland, Maine, opened aWashington office and expanded its staff by about 50%under Weil’s leadership, in part thanks to the many grants hehas been able to win for the organization, Rosenbaum says.

The not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization bringstogether state health policymakers to develop policy solu-tions to emerging healthcare issues.

“I think his big issue is healthcare coverage and financ-ing,” Rosenbaum says. “So his focus has been on lookingfor ways in which the policy environment can supportstate innovations.”

He is a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medic-aid and the Uninsured and was also an appointed mem-ber of President Clinton’s Advisory Commission onConsumer Protection and Quality in the Health CareIndustry, which drafted a patient’s bill of rights. ✦

Contact Weil at [email protected]

Alan Weil, 43



Class 1996 Sponsorof

W hen Katherine DeGrande was namedan Up & Comer in 1996 at age 40,nobody could have known that shewould only have a few more years to

make her mark on healthcare. DeGrande’s promising career was cut short in

March 2000, when she died unexpectedly at age 43while vacationing in Petaluma, Calif. At the time, shewas vice president of finance and chief financial

officer of Health Midwest’sflagship hospital, ResearchMedical Center, KansasCity, Mo., and ResearchBelton (Mo.) Hospital. She was also serving athree-year term as amember of the HealthcareFinancial ManagementAssociation’s board.

Known as a math whiz, theKansas native earnedrecognition and respect for

her ability to adjust to the shifting terrain of healthcarefinance. She had been a member of the HFMA since1984, including serving time as president of its Heart ofAmerica chapter. She had also held the position ofcontroller of Health Midwest—which at the time hadsome 35 for-profit and not-for-profit organizations underits umbrella—and vice president of finance for its HealthPlan of Mid America, a physician-sponsored HMO thatwas subsequently sold.

DeGrande grew up on a farm in Gardner, Kan., whereher father raised corn, soybeans, wheat and cattlewhile her mother was an accountant for an ammunitionplant. Her contributions to the institutions she servedwere noted by Steven Newton, then-president and CEOof Research Medical Center, at her funeral: “We will fillher job, but we will never fill her shoes.”

According to Florence DeGrande, KatherineDeGrande’s mother, she died of a twisted intestine,which occurred when she was on vacation. Thecondition presented itself in the morning, and within12 hours she was dead, her mother said. ✦

KATHERINE DEGRANDE


RODNEY ARMSTEAD, 51 Then: Exec VP &chief health officer, Watts Health Foundation &United Health Plan, Inglewood, Calif.;Now: CEO, Arizona Physicians IPA, Phoenix

ROBERT GARRETT, 50 Then: VP & COO,Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center;Now: Exec VP & COO, Hackensack UniversityMedical Center, [email protected]

KEVIN HAHN, NA Then: VP & CIO, HorizonHealthcare, Milwaukee; Now: Currentinformation not available.

BARBARA (HARNESS) LORSBACH, 49Then: VP, American Hospital Association,Chicago; Now: Senior VP, member relations,AHA, [email protected]

LAWRENCE KRASKA, 42 Then: Administrator,Atlanta Ear, Nose and Throat Associates;Now: CEO, Club Staffing, Boca Raton, Fla.,[email protected]

CYNTHIA MOORE-HARDY, 50 Then: COO,Lake Hospital System, Painesville, Ohio; Now: President & CEO, Lake Hospital System

E. MITCHELL ROOB JR., 45 Then: President &exec director, Marion County (Ind.) Health Dept.and Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis;Now: Secretary, Ind. Family and Social ServicesAdmin., Indianapolis, [email protected]

GARY SUDHALTER, 43 Then: Exec VP, AllegisHealth Services, Calverton, Md.; Now: Partner,Alliant Resources Group, Bethesda, Md.,[email protected]

JACINTA TITIALII-ABBOTT, 51 Then: Director,venture development, Tenet Healthcare Corp.,Dallas; Now: Consultant, Sarasota,Fla./Seattle, [email protected]

SCOTT WORDELMAN, 49 Then: President &CEO, Chisago (Minn.) Health Services & seniorVP, Fairview Health System; Now: President &CEO, Fairview Red Wing (Minn.) HealthServices, [email protected]


IN MEMORIAM

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available

No photo

available

I N T E G R I T Y . I N D E P E N D E N C E . I N S I G H T .

www.sullivancotter.com | 888.739.7039

Your

compensation

consultant

should be

focused on

one goal:

YOURS.


UP & COMERS: WHAT THEY THINK

As part of our retrospective on the past 20 classes of Up & Comers, we invited all 244 honorees to register and complete a survey on some overarching issues in healthcare. Some 174 registered and participated, although not every Up & Comer completed the entire questionnaire. Following are some of the findings.

Care for the

uninsured

Financialchallenges

Quality Patientsafety

Personnelshortages

Physician/hospitalrelations

Governmentalchallenges

Capacity Patientsatisfaction

Care for the

uninsured

Financialchallenges

Quality Physician/hospitalrelations

Personnelshortages

Patientsafety

Governmentalchallenges

Capacity Patientsatisfaction




And the top issue is … the uninsured

IT to have a mighty impact ...

... and diversity needs attention

Respondents to the survey were asked to rank the following issues as the top three facing the healthcare industry. The uninsured scored highest, with financial issues—a constant concern of healthcare executives—not too far behind.

Number of respondents ranking the issue No. 1

Number of respondents ranking the issue among the top three

66

108

37

107

19

79

13

51

11

48 45

7 5

24

4

16

2

11

What impact will health information technology have on overall quality and patient safety over the next five years?

Note: Although “minor deterioration” and “major deterioration” were among the options, nobody chose those answers.

How would you respond to the following statement: The lack of racial diversity among the ranks of senior healthcare administrators is not being adequately addressed.

Little or no change1.8% (3)

Disagree strongly1.2% (2)

Don’t know23.9% (39)

Agree strongly20.9% (34) Agree somewhat

40.5% (66)

Disagree somewhat13.5% (22)

Major improvement67.9% (112)

Minor improvement30.3% (50)

Exceptional People. Extraordinary Care.

1-800-MEMORIAL • www.memorialcare.org

Congratulations to our distinguished leader, Barry Arbuckle. The MemorialCare team proudly salutes you for your relentless commitment, passion and quest for excellence.

Thank you for inspiring us to raise the bar for health care and for our patients, each and every day.

Your colleagues across MemorialCare are proud to join you in transforming health care for the 21st century!

Barry Arbuckle, PhD President & CEO, MemorialCare Medical Centers


56.7%

Improved somewhat

93

1 to 3 years 4 to 6 years 7 to 9 years 10 years or more

11.6%

7.9%

Based on 164 responsesBased on 99 responses


Most believe quality has improved over the past 10 years

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents believe America will eventually see universal health insurance coverage …

How would you describe the overall quality of healthcare delivery today compared with 10 years ago?

Do you believe the U.S. will ever achieve universal health coverage?

How long do believe it will take to achieve universal health coverage?

Note: While “deteriorated greatly” was an option, nobody chose that answer.

Note: Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding.

About the same

Deteriorated somewhat

23.7%

Improved greatly

39

19

13

… but most believe it’ll take a while

Yes60% (99)

No40% (66)

26 27

43

43.4%

27.3%26.3%

3% (3)

David Shulkin knows a little about sea change.The healthcare quality expert has surfed the

dot-com wave and landed back safely on the shoresof hospital administration. A patient-safety expert,physician-executive, hospital administrator and

entrepreneur, he has paddled through healthcare quality issues withalmost every stroke imaginable.

Shulkin, 48, has never been afraid to swim upstream it seems. As anundergraduate at Hampshire College, he got his feet wet by designing hisown pre-med curriculum because the college had no formal courses orgrades. As chief medical officer at the University of Pennsylvania hospi-tals and chief quality officer at the University of Pennsylvania Health Sys-tem, Philadelphia, he made a splash by initiating a quality report card

system—linked to pay—thatgraded staff from the chiefexecutive officer on down.

In 1999, frustrated at the inability of providers toimprove quality from within, he hatched an idea in his basement homeoffice to create an online source of information on quality and safety forconsumers, providers and purchasers. And now, as the president andCEO of 794-bed Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, he has“brought a renewed, invigorating focus on quality and service andpatient satisfaction,” says Shulkin’s boss Stanley Brezenoff, president andCEO of the Continuum Health Partners system, based in New York.

In 1997, when Shulkin was named an Up & Comer, the 38-year-oldwas chief quality officer of the University of Pennsylvania Health System

and CMO of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania andPenn Presbyterian Medical Center. He was among the pioneers inthe use of disease management to improve clinical outcomes bystandardizing best practices across the continuum of care.

During the decade between his tenure at the Pennsylvania sys-tem and his current position at Beth Israel, Shulkin dove into thedot-com pond and emerged the wiser for his experience, he says.

DoctorQuality.com, which billed itself as one of the first qual-ity benefits management companies, was founded in 1999 byShulkin and a few fellow quality gurus. Shulkin served as its CEOand chairman before stepping down in 2002 after the investorswho financed the venture decided to break up the company.

“All of us who had founded the company went back intohealthcare smarter and more passionate about quality, andthe venture capitalists sold the company for the financialreturns. And I don’t regret the experience,” he says now.

So what’s Shulkin’s position on whether quality is bestaddressed within hospitals or outside them? “I’ve always thoughtthat people on the inside need help from the outside,” he says.“In other words, that’s why I truly believe the transparency ofmaking quality data public is one of the most powerful ways ofincentivizing and motivating those of us in healthcare.”

After he left DoctorQuality.com, Shulkin took leadershippositions at the Drexel University College of Medicine, theMedical College of Pennsylvania and Temple University Hos-pital, all in Philadelphia. But his current job marks his firstforay into the hospital CEO role. “Every day is a learning dayfor me,” he says. When he arrived at Beth Israel, he made nosecret of his passion for quality. “It needs to be an integralconcept in the way you manage an organization, and it reallydoes need to be owned by the top management.”

As for Shulkin’s stated goal of creating the safest hospitalin the nation, he’s not there yet, but he’s hopeful. And hisboss, Continuum’s Brezenoff, says so far so good. “For aguy from Philadelphia,” Brezenoff says, “he’s doing prettywell in New York.” ✦

Contact Shulkin at [email protected]

David Shulkin, 48



I t’s hard to think of anyone who fits thedescription of “whiz kid” more than Rep.Bobby Jindal (R-La.). By the time he was 20,he had graduated from Brown University. At

24, the Rhodes Scholar was named secretary ofLouisiana’s Department of Health and Hospitals.Two years later, he was appointed executive directorof the National Bipartisan Commission on the Futureof Medicare, chaired by former Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.)

Now Jindal is in hissecond term as aRepublican congressmanrepresenting Louisiana.

“He’s a very remarkableperson,” said formerLouisiana Gov. Mike Foster—who hired Jindal as the headof the state’s troubled healthdepartment—in Jindal’s1997 Up & Comer profile.“He’s the kind of guy, nomatter what he tackles, he’sgoing to succeed.” In 1999,Jindal returned to Louisianaas president of the Universityof Louisiana System. Twoyears later, he was appointedassistant secretary of HHS,where he served as a seniorhealth policy adviser toPresident Bush.

But even whiz kids failsometimes. Jindal was

unsuccessful in his quest to become Louisianagovernor in 2003 in a close and divisive raceagainst current Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.Still, the setback did not slow him down in hispursuit of political opportunities. He was elected toCongress in 2004 and was re-elected in 2006 for asecond term, establishing himself with positions onthe Committee on Homeland Security and theCommittee on Natural Resources.

All this by the wise old age of 36. ✦

Contact Jindal at [email protected]

BOBBY JINDAL, 36


www.huronconsultinggroup.com

Congratulations 1997Up & Comers

© 2007 Huron Consulting Services LLC. All rights reserved.

THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’97LAURENCE ABRAMSON, 49 Then: Sr VP, bus.development, PeaceHealth, Bellevue, Wash.;Now: Managing director, Huron Consulting Group,Chicago, [email protected]

BARRY ARBUCKLE, 45 Then: Exec VP,Memorial Health Services, Long Beach, Calif.;Now: President & CEO, MemorialCare MedicalCenters, Huntington Beach, Calif.,[email protected]

CORWIN HARPER, 42 Then: Medical groupadmin., Permanente Medical Group, Fresno, Calif.;Now: Senior VP/area mngr., Kaiser Permanente,Modesto, Calif., [email protected]

SANDRA HERNANDEZ, 49 Then: CEO, SanFrancisco Foundation; Now: CEO, SanFrancisco Foundation

DAVID JAHN, 48 Then: CEO, Schoolcraft MemorialHospital, Mantisque, Mich. Now: President & CEO,Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital, Sault St. Marie, Mich., [email protected]

JERRY JUDD, 44 Then: VP, treasury services,Catholic Health Initiatives, Cincinnati; Now: VP, treasury, Catholic HealthcarePartners, Cincinnati, [email protected]

PATRICIA PATRICIAN, 47 Then: Former chiefof nursing education, Army Medical Center andSchool, Fort Sam Houston; Now: Colonel, U.S.Army, Dept. of Nursing Science, San Antonio,[email protected]

MICHAEL ROWAN, 48 Then: Exec VP & COO,SMH Healthcare, Sarasota, Fla.; Now: Exec VP& COO, Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver,[email protected]

KIMBERLY RUSSEL, 48 Then: President &CEO, Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames,Iowa; Now: President & CEO, Mary GreeleyMedical Center

MATTHEW VAN VRANKEN, 48 Then: Exec VP,Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston;Now: President, Spectrum Health Grand Rapids(Mich.), [email protected]

MARIA VERRIER, 41 Then: Exec VP, corporateplanning and development, Frontier Group,Boston; Now: Principal, Third Rail Strategies,Guilford, Conn., [email protected]


Back in 2002, Jersey City Online, a Web site designed togive feedback to the community, listed Amy Man-sue—then the deputy chief of staff for former Gov. James McGreevey—as the 32nd most politicallyinfluential personality in New Jersey. It referred to her

as being a “popular no-nonsense policy wonk.”No nonsense indeed.Four years before she gained that recognition, she was named an

Up & Comer. It happened only to have been a few months after HIPHealth Plan of New Jersey tapped her to be its leader at the age of 34.Her mandate, as she described it then, was to position the 200,000-enrollee plan as a “dominant player” in the New Jersey market.

HIP was dominant all right, but not perhaps in the way she meant

it. In September 1998, stateregulators seized the HMOfor failing to meet its networth requirements. The health plan’s descent intobankruptcy sent shock waves through the regional healthcare marketas hospitals and other insurers scrambled to pick up the slack.

Mansue, however, describes in her resume the leadership strengthsthat this experience brought out. During this “difficult period,” itstates, she maintained 75% of existing business relationships and90% of employees until the liquidation was complete.

Mansue did not fade into obscurity after this financial debacle.After seven years with HIP Health Plans, she had a brief stint as anarea vice president for Cablevision before she worked under the

McGreevey administration. It was not her first foray into publicservice. She had spent a year before her tenure at HIP as thedeputy commissioner for the state’s Department of Human Ser-vices, where she oversaw five divisions, 19,000 employees and anoperating budget of $6 billion.

“Every day you were on the precipice of disaster,” she said in1998 regarding the job. She also served for three years in theearly 1990s as a healthcare policy adviser to Gov. Jim Florio.

Her current job appears to be a little farther from theprecipice. In October 2003, Mansue, 43, accepted her currentposition as president and chief executive officer of 110-bedChildren’s Specialized Hospital, Mountainside, N.J., thelargest pediatric rehabilitation hospital in the country, withsome 900 employees and 10 facilities in New Jersey. Underher watch, the number of children treated there jumped from12,800 in 2003 to 15,200 in 2006, while the hospital also grewfrom eight to 10 sites.

This year, the pediatric rehabilitation hospital—anaffiliate of the Robert Wood Johnson Health Network—raised $30 million for a new hospital in New Brunswick,N.J. The largest fundraising effort ever for Children’sSpecialized, it will culminate in the opening of the newhospital in early 2008.

Mansue stepped into the job after the sudden death ofthe previous president and CEO and “kept the team work-ing and made sure everyone in the hospital felt comfort-able with her,” says Barbara Rothman, chairwoman of thehospital’s board of trustees, in an e-mail.

“What makes Amy different is her ability to face allissues straight on,” Rothman says. “In our first meeting,her comment was that she will never, never leave the pinkelephant on the table; it will always be addressed, and ithas been.” ✦

Contact Mansue at [email protected]

Amy Mansue, 43



G etting the top spot in an organization isone thing; getting it when the getting’s notso good is another. Scrutiny abounds.

Joanne Smith, 46, has distinguishedherself as both a physician and an executive.

As the former, she is board-certified in physiatry (aspecialty in physical medicine and rehabilitation) andis researching women’s musculoskeletal medicine.As the latter, she has been president and chiefexecutive officer of the prestigious Rehabilitation

Institute of Chicago sinceOctober 2006, having takenthe reins after herpredecessor resignedfollowing a probe intoaccounting irregularities andthe dismissal of the hospital’schief financial officer.

According to a ChicagoTribune story in 2006, theaccounting irregularitiesinvolved a restatement offinances of between $1.3 million and $2.7 million,some 45 job cuts and theshuttering of some outpatientprograms. When news of thescandal broke, Smith waspresident of the institute’snational division and hadbeen with the organization forsome 13 years.

She first took the helm onan interim basis and then became

the permanent president and CEO. Smith joined thenationally known rehabilitation hospital in 1992 as anattending physician and became director of medicalplanning in 1994. By 1997—a year before she wasnamed an Up & Comer at age 37—she was senior vicepresident and chief operating officer of corporatepartnerships. Five years later, she was named senior vicepresident for corporate strategy and businessdevelopment. She also founded the institute’s Women’sHealth Rehabilitation program and is an assistantprofessor of physical medicine and rehabilitation atNorthwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. ✦

JOANNE SMITH, 46


Where else could I work that truly needs me? Where the lives of so many areplaced in our hands. And at the end of the day, I know that so many pray for ourcontinued success as I do for all those that serve in this great work. —Britt Berrett

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THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’98KEITH ALEXANDER, 45 Then: Administrator &operations officer, Intermountain Health Care’surban south region, Provo, Utah; Now: CEO,Memorial Hermann Northeast, Humble, Texas,[email protected]

BRITT BERRETT, 44 Then: CEO, Sharp ChulaVista (Calif.) Medical Center; Now: President &CEO, Medical City Dallas Hospital & MedicalCity Children’s Hospital,[email protected]

STEPHEN CORBEIL, 47 Then: CEO, MedicalCity, Dallas; Now: Senior VP, Tenet HealthcareCorp., Chesterfield, Mo.,[email protected]

JANE DURNEY CROWLEY, 49 Then: President& CEO, Bon Secours Baltimore Health System Now: Exec VP, chief administrative officer, Catholic Healthcare Partners, Cincinnati,[email protected]

THERESA DE LA HAYA, 48 Then: VP, UniversityCenter for Community Health, San Antonio;Now: VP, University Health System, SanAntonio, [email protected]

LANCE DUKE, 49 Then: President & CEO,Columbus (Ga.) Regional Healthcare System’shospital div.; Now: President & CEO, MedicalCenter, Columbus, Ga., [email protected]

WILLIAM JENNINGS, 40 Then: Interim CEO,Cookeville (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center Now: President & CEO, SSM St. Mary’s HealthCenter, St. Louis, [email protected]

ADAM DEAN SINGER, 47 Then: CEO, IPC-TheHospitalist Co., Burbank, Calif.; Now: Chairman& CEO, IPC-The Hospitalist Co., NorthHollywood, Calif., [email protected]

MICHAEL UGWUEKE, 49 Then: CEO, Sarasota(Fla.) Memorial Hospital; Now: CEO & admin.,Methodist Healthcare, South Hospital, Memphis,Tenn., [email protected]

GUSTAVO VALDESPINO, 47 Then: CEO, TenetHealthcare Corp.’s Long Beach (Calif.) campus;Now: CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of OrangeCounty, Tustin, Calif., [email protected]

If you hear someone tell Marc Boom, “Stop and give me 20,”you probably won’t see him drop down and do push-ups,but you might see him reach into his wallet.

As a patient-centered physician, Boom, executive vicepresident of the Methodist Hospital in Houston, has taken

a special interest in handwashing. Such a special interest, in fact, thathe has challenged hospital employees to follow him and other hospi-tal executives around. If anyone catches him not sanitizing his handson the way into or out of a patient’s room, he’ll give them $20, saysEwing Werlein Jr., chairperson of the hospital system’s board ofdirectors and a U.S. District Court judge.

As a result of the hand-sanitation initiative—which brought com-pliance up from the 40% range to more than 90%—hospital-acquired

infection rates have droppedsignificantly in most ofMethodist’s intensive-careunits, Werlein says. “What this means is not onlyhave we greatly enhanced the care of patients, but there are a certainnumber of them that are alive today because of this.”

Whether it’s handwashing or other initiatives, Boom, 41, has alwaysset high goals for himself and the academic 910-bed hospital that he hasled since 2005, Werlein says. An internist with a specialty in geriatricmedicine who also holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’sWharton School, Boom not only has pushed for patient-safety initia-tives, but also has helped make Methodist a good place to work.

Every few weeks he circulates through different departments at thehospital for what he calls “Bagels and Boom,” where employeescan bring up questions and concerns to him directly. If he can’tanswer a question immediately, he takes notes and respondsquickly, Werlein says. Informal programs like this that reach outto employees might be one reason the Methodist Hospital Sys-tem was ranked No. 9 on Fortune magazine’s “Best Companiesto Work For” list in January.

Before being named executive vice president of Methodist in2005, Boom held positions including senior vice president andchief operating officer of the hospital; president and chief exec-utive officer of Methodist Diagnostic Hospital; and president,CEO and medical director of Baylor-Methodist Primary CareAssociates, a network of primary-care physicians.

In addition to rising in the quality, mortality and safetyrankings among academic medical centers that make up theUniversity HealthSystem Consortium, the Methodist Hospi-tal has managed to increase its nurse-to-patient ratio and stillhave a waiting list for nurse employment. “In a time of nurs-ing shortages, nurses want to work at Methodist,” Werleinsays. “It speaks volumes about what a good place Methodistis and what a good leader Marc is.”

When he was named an Up & Comer in 1999 at age 33,Boom was still the president and CEO of Baylor-MethodistPrimary Care Associates. In three years, he helped the net-work of physicians grow to 10 offices with 32 primary-carephysicians and 170 staff members. In his current position,his ability to work closely with physicians has served himwell and has enabled the hospital to attract and retain a tal-ented pool of physician department chairs.

In addition to overseeing the complex world of a5,600-employee hospital with $900 million in annual netrevenue, Boom still manages to maintain his own physi-cian practice and see a limited number of patients.

Now that’s patient-centered. ✦

Contact Boom at [email protected]

Marc Boom, 41



T im Jarm may be out, but he’s not done,he says.

After 12 years as a hospital chiefexecutive officer, Jarm says he was

starting to feel like he was getting “beat up.” “And I’m too young to get that beat up,” he says.

With four children ages 4 to 14, he took stock ofwhat was important to him, “and my family wonout,” he says. So after 15 years at Jewish HospitalHealthCare Services, two and a half of them spent

as president and CEO of itsflagship 442-bed JewishHospital in Louisville, Ky.,Jarm, 47, took a breatherin March.

“My departure fromJewish was mutual,” hesays. “We had come tophilosophical differencesabout how to run thehealth system.” Jarm, anUp & Comer in 1999 atthe age of 39, had alsospent time as presidentand CEO of ClarkMemorial Hospital inJeffersonville, Ind., whichJewish managed, andbefore that he had beenCEO of Jewish HospitalShelbyville (Ky.).

Jarm has used themutual parting to

experiment a little. He is anadviser to a healthcare information technologystartup called BlueBob Analytics, based in Chicago.He is also doing speaking engagements and gettinginvolved with international mission activities throughhis church. “My departure from Jewish has reallyallowed me to expand my horizons,” he says.

Looking ahead, however, he still sees himself asa hospital executive at heart. He says he is in therunning for a C-suite position at a not-for-profithospital system in the South. ✦

Contact Jarm at [email protected]

TIM JARM, 47


D. WAYNE BRACKIN, 48 Then: President &CEO, South Miami Hospital; Now: Exec VP &COO, Baptist Health South Florida, CoralGables, [email protected]

CAROL DIAMOND, 42 Then: President, U.S.Quality Algorithms, Blue Bell, Pa.;Now: Managing director, health program,Markle Foundation, New York

TOM GAMMIERE, 46 Then: Senior VP & regionaladministrator, ScrippsHealth, San Diego; Now:Chief executive, Scripps Mercy Hospital, SanDiego, [email protected]

MARY HOFFMAN, NA Then: Chairwoman,financial services div., Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale,Ariz.; Now: President & CEO, Kenmore MercyHospital, Buffalo, N.Y.

TERRY HSU, NA Then: VP & CIO, Inova HealthSystem, Falls Church, Va.; Now: Currentinformation not available.

MARILYN MATSUNAGA, 45 Then: Admin,Hawaii Health Planning and DevelopmentAgency; Now: President, Belief Consulting,Honolulu

ROBERT RITZ, 46 Then: President & CEO,Monongalia Health System, Morgantown, W.Va.Now: President & CEO, St. Mary’s HealthSystem, Waterbury, Conn., [email protected]

CURTIS ROBERTS, 45 Then: CEO, PeaceHealth’sOregon region, Eugene;Now: Vice provost,innovation & econ. development, Weber StateUniversity, Ogden, Utah, [email protected]

TERRY SHAW, 45 Then: CFO & senior VP,Florida Hospital, Orlando; Now: CFO, AdventistHealth System, Winter Park, Fla.

JOHN SOLHEIM, 46 Then: CEO, St. Mary’sRegional Health Center, Detroit Lakes, Minn.;Now: President & CEO, St. Peter’s Hospital,Helena, Mont.

Lead with an open mind and fairness. Build strong teams. Focus on communityhealthcare needs over individual desires. Find mentors who are well-seasoned in theirfields and who have the gift of candor. —Marilyn Matsunaga

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Having a strong voice in the industry is one thing—having the vehicle, as “Dr. Anne” does, to deliverit clearly throughout the world is another.

When Anne Meneghetti was named an Up &Comer in 2000 at the age of 37, she had already

worked as a volunteer alongside Mother Teresa’s nuns in Calcutta,India. Back in the U.S., she was known as Dr. Anne, a physician whooffered an electronic medical-advice column for consumers on BlueCross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ Web site.

Since we last checked in, she received a doctorate in integrativemedicine, became the executive director of the World HealingInstitute in Hawaii, returned to India to volunteer at a farm clinicfor villagers in Pune, and now works as the senior managing editor

of clinical communicationsat Epocrates, a San Mateo,Calif.-based startup thatprovides medical reference material and newselectronically at the point of care.

Meneghetti, 45, also does occasional health-focused radio spots onXM Satellite Radio for the “Life, Love & Health” radio show. But incase that’s not enough to make your head spin, the triple-board-cer-tified physician says she’s planning to start up a part-time integrativehealth practice in the Bay Area and head back to India next year.

Going from seven years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massa-chusetts to a farm in India where she worked with no diagnostic toolsother than “a stethoscope and our eyes, our ears and hands,” is about

as extreme a transition as one could imagine.“There was no money exchanged, no paperwork, just the

direct experience of taking care of people,” she says. “It was achance to get back to the feeling of what it’s like to just carefor someone without all the wrappings we put around it herein the States.”

With a mother who grew up on a farm and who often reliedon natural healing remedies, Meneghetti has always beendrawn to integrative and alternative medicine. At the WorldHealing Institute, her goal was to bring together different heal-ing approaches for children undergoing transformations suchas cleft lip and palate surgery.

Throughout her career though, she has continued to teachand write for both physicians and consumers. In fact, if thereis a thread that ties all of Meneghetti’s career choices together,it’s communication. “Even though I really love the idea of car-ing for patients one on one, I also feel a certain satisfaction inbeing able to make certain decisions or create educationalmaterials that can really help a lot of patients indirectly all atonce,” she says.

At Epocrates, where she has been for a year, she selectsmedical news, topics of interest and continuing educationprograms for the company’s mobile Web products.

Those who have worked with her say she has a knack forcommunicating in an industry that is not always knownfor attracting people with that particular skill.

Ed Goldfarb, president of “Life, Love & Health,” saysthat when he was looking for a physician to be an on-airmedical authority for the radio show, Meneghetti “wastoo good to be true, and still is.”

“You can get her going on almost any medical topic andit’s going to be informed, and it’s going to be fun,” he says.“There are not going to be a lot of ‘ums’ and ‘ers.’ ” ✦

Contact Meneghetti at [email protected]

Anne Meneghetti, 45



H oward Wizig, 46, an Up & Comer from2000 at age 39, describes his healthcarecareer with a variation on Julius Caesar’s“I came, I saw, I conquered.”

“I came, I went, I’m coming back again,” he says.Wizig has been referred to as a “serial entrepreneur,”

he says, and he takes it as a compliment. He foundedVivius, one of the first consumer-driven health plans in1999, and then stepped out of day-to-day managementof the company when it moved from Kansas City, Mo.,

to St. Louis Park, Minn. In January 2005, the

company hired a financialservices firm to shop Viviusaround. By then it had“altered its business strategyto pursue a pure licensingmodel for its industry-leadingtechnology,” according to anews release. Wizig remainedon the board until thecompany was sold last year,to whom he refused to say,citing confidentialityagreements. Wizig also spenttwo years, from 2003 to2005, as the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Ewing MarionKauffman Foundation, inKansas City, Mo., where hesays he “had the privilege tobe involved in a variety of their

programs,” including workingon charter school financing issues.

Vivius was not Wizig’s first entrepreneurial venture. Hewas a consultant at Towers Perrin, where he advisedradiologists on how to manage their risk, and alsofounded a radiology practice-management company anda consulting firm for physician groups. Vivius is unlikelyto be his last attempt to revolutionize the industry.

“We’re in the process of finalizing funding for a newventure that we believe is going to be incrediblynewsworthy,” he says. That’s all he would divulge. Tune infor the next installment from this serial entrepreneur. ✦

Contact Wizig at [email protected]

HOWARD WIZIG, 46

Class of ’00 Notable THE REST OF THE CLASS OF ’00MICHELLE GASKILL, 34 Then: Manager,ambulatory-care depts., Prentice Women’sHospital, Chicago; Now: Manager, patient-flowconsulting services, Stockamp & Associates,Lake Oswego, Ore., [email protected]

ELIZABETH HUGHES, 45 Then: Exec VP & COO,Elliot Hospital, Manchester, N.H.; Now: Exec VP& COO, Provena St. Joseph Medical Center,Joliet, Ill., [email protected]

THOMAS KMETZ, 44 Then: Chief administrativeofficer, Norton Audubon Hospital, Louisville, Ky.;Now: President, Norton Audubon Hospital &south-central market, Louisville

DAVID MCINTYRE JR., 45 Then: CEO, TriWestHealthcare Alliance, Phoenix; Now: President &CEO, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, Phoenix

TONY PFAFF, 45 Then: Exec VP, Cypress HealthSystems, Shreveport, La.; Now: CEO, CypressHealth Systems, Deer Lodge, Mont.,[email protected]

SCOTT RANSOM, 45 Then: VP, medical affairs,Detroit Medical Center; Now: President & CEO,University of North Texas Health Science Center,Fort Worth, [email protected]

ERNIE SADAU, 49 Then: President & CEO,Midwest region, Adventist Health System,Hinsdale, Ill.; Now: Senior VP, patient & resident-care relations, Christus Health, Irving, Texas

CHRISTINE SCHUSTER, 47 Then: President &CEO, Athol (Mass.) Memorial Hospital;Now: President & CEO, Emerson Hospital,Concord, Mass., [email protected]

CRAIG SIMS, 45 Then: President & CEO, RHDMedical Center, Dallas; Now: VP, physicianalignment, Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas,[email protected]

KEVIN YEE, 44 Then: Administrator & COO,Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute;Now: Administrator, Henry Ford Health System,Detroit, [email protected]

Pay-for-performance indicators like core measures and Leapfrog have moved us in the rightdirection. The best news is that we are no longer in denial about the high error/accident rates inhospitals. —Michelle Gaskill

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Eugene Woods is no one-hit wonder.It took Woods less than three years to turn around

the fortunes of a U.S. Virgin Islands hospital that heonce said “had so much trouble we had difficulty pur-chasing blood,” so it’s not surprising he was able to do

the same at St. Joseph HealthCare in Lexington, Ky.In August, Woods was promoted from president and chief execu-

tive officer of four-hospital St. Joseph to CEO of a new organizationformed by its parent, Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, thatincludes all of the system’s seven Kentucky hospitals. The organiza-tion will begin operating in January.

Before his latest assignment, Woods had been the president and CEOof St. Joseph for less than three years. But you wouldn’t know that from

reading the list of his accom-plishments during that time.Having worked at four dif-ferent hospitals and health systems in the past decade,he has learned how to acclimate and achieve results expeditiously, hiscolleagues say. “It was amazing how quickly he came up to speed in anew organization,” says Gary Campbell, senior vice president andgroup executive officer at CHI, whose 54 hospitals include four-hos-pital St. Joseph HealthCare. “After six months, it was like he had beenthere five years,” he says.

Under Woods’ leadership, St. Joseph acquired Berea (Ky.) Hospitaland made it profitable, turning around more than a decade of losses.Woods has also worked to secure a certificate of need for Jessamine

County’s first emergency room, according to Jeff Murphy, a St. Joseph spokesman, which is scheduled to open in 2008 inNicholasville, Ky. The system has announced more than $70 mil-lion worth of expansions and renovations at 116-bed St. JosephHospital East, Lexington, and 41-bed St. Joseph Berea, followingan $85 million renovation and expansion at 343-bed St. JosephHospital, Lexington. In addition to his new role, Woods will con-tinue to head St. Joseph until its board names a successor.

“He’s got an amazing ability to juggle a lot of balls at once,”Campbell says. Woods, 43, has juggled his share of honors andaccolades, too. He was named an Up & Comer in 2001 at age37, when he had been CEO of Roy Lester Schneider Hospitalin St. Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands, for three years and had justleft to begin a job as vice president of clinical services at Wash-ington Hospital Center in the nation’s capital.

He had worked there for only a few days on Sept. 11, 2001,when the hospital received the burn victims from the attackon the Pentagon. Woods was also included in ModernHealthcare’s list of Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcarein 2006, by which time he had joined St. Joseph. Earlier thisyear, he was selected as the regent for Kentucky by the Amer-ican College of Healthcare Executives.

The recently announced integration—which is expectedto bring 52-bed Flaget Memorial Hospital in Bardstown,87-bed Marymount Medical Center in London, and 25-bedOur Lady of the Way Hospital in Martin together with St. Joseph’s hospitals—will be another test of Woods’ rela-tionship skills. “His participation in helping that transitionlooms very large,” Campbell says. When the hospitalscome together, Kentucky will represent the second-largest“market-based organization” within CHI, he added.

Woods said in a news release that he was “deeply hum-bled by the privilege of serving this new organization aswe enter a very exciting phase to fundamentally trans-form the way care is delivered in Kentucky.”

Sounds like it should be music to patients’ ears. ✦

Contact Woods at [email protected]

Eugene Woods, 43



G o West, young man,” the quote by JohnSoule that was popularized by 19th-century journalist Horace Greeley,probably resonates with Richard Liekweg.

Named an Up & Comer in 2001 at age 40 whilechief executive officer of Durham (N.C.) RegionalHospital, Liekweg, now 46, has since pushedwestward. In March 2003, he became CEO of theUniversity of California at San Diego Medical Center.Going to the Golden State was a financially fortuitous

thing to do, although it broughtwith it some media scrutiny.

In 2005, when a unionpublicized a report to the UCBoard of Regents, theuniversity system cameunder fire for offering its topexecutives hefty bonuses. Inone 2005 story in the SanFrancisco Chronicle,Liekweg was mentioned asreceiving a $71,231 bonusin 2004 that represented16.4% of his annual salary.The university defended theincentive bonuses—11 ofwhich topped $50,000—asnecessary for attracting topcandidates, while criticscomplained that thosepricey payouts showed anindifference to lower-paid

employees. Liekweg, who leda financial and operational

turnaround while at Durham Regional, has led thedevelopment of a long-range strategic plan at UCSD toexpand the medical center’s outpatient facilities andreplace and consolidate inpatient beds.

Liekweg is also currently the chairman of the board ofdirectors of the Hospital Association of San Diego andImperial Counties, as well as a member of the board oftrustees of the California Hospital Association. He alsoserves on the scientific advisory board of IntelliDotCorp., a healthcare information technology vendor. ✦

Contact Liekweg at [email protected]

RICHARD LIEKWEG, 46


G. OWEN BAILEY, 45 Then: President & CEO,Thomas Hospital, Fairhope, Ala.; Now: ExecVP, corp. services, Infirmary Health System, Mobile,Ala., [email protected]

NINA TUCKER BEAUCHESNE, 42 Then:Administrator, Joe DiMaggio Children’sHospital, Hollywood, Fla.; Now: Administrator,Joe DiMaggio Children’s, [email protected]

JOHN DANIELS, 44 Then: CIO, U.S. militaryhealthcare services, seven-state region, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Now: CIO,Evolvent Technologies, Falls Church, Va.,[email protected] FLAKS, 36 Then: Corp. VP, supportservices & strategic initiatives, St. VincentCatholic Medical Centers of N.Y.; Now: Exec VP &COO, Hartford Health Care Corp.-Midstate Med.Center, Meriden, Conn., [email protected]

MARK GOLDSTEIN, 45 Then: Director,payment systems, Boston Medical Center;Now: VP & CFO, Anna Jaques Hospital, Newburyport, Mass., [email protected]

DAVID JONES, 45 Then: VP, human resources,Bon Secours Health System, Marriottsville, Md.;Now: Sr VP, human resources, Bon SecoursHealth System, [email protected]

MAULIK JOSHI, 39 Then: chief quality officer,exec VP & co-founder, DoctorQuality,Philadelphia; Now: President & CEO, Networkfor Regional Healthcare Improvement, Easton, Md., [email protected]

MARSHA MILLER, 44 Then: Senior VP,Evanston (Ill.) Northwestern Healthcare;Now: Exec VP, Evanston NorthwesternHealthcare

CRAIG OWENS, 42 Then: President & COO,Verde Valley Medical Center, Cottonwood, Ariz.;Now: COO, Kingman (Ariz.) Regional MedicalCenter, [email protected]

SIMON SAMAHA, 39 Then: CIO, CooperHealth System, Camden, N.J.; Now: Seniorexec VP & CMO, Cooper Health System,[email protected]

DEBORAH (VERES) MIZEUR, 36 Then: publicpolicy dir., Ascension Health, Washington; Now:Professional staff, Ways & Means Committee,Washington, [email protected]

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, especially early on in your career. Be engagedand volunteer to do projects outside your comfort zone.You can learn from all levelsof the organization. —Marsha Miller

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It’s safe to say that not many businesses in the U.S. VirginIslands fear having customers seek services elsewhere, butthat’s what Rodney Miller was up against when he becamepresident and chief executive officer of St. Thomas-basedRoy Lester Schneider Hospital five years ago.

It was no paradise at the time. The Joint Commission had neveraccredited the hospital, and people often traveled off the islandwhen they needed medical care.

Since Miller’s arrival though, revenue has doubled, the 123-bedhospital has been accredited and re-accredited by the Joint Com-mission, a state-of-the-art $20 million cancer center has beencompleted and the overall perception of the hospital in the com-munity has greatly improved, says Amos Carty Jr., the hospital’s

chief operating officer andgeneral counsel.

“For somebody of hisage, (Miller) carries himself, he governs, he hasthe respect of somebody much more his senior,” Carty says. “He’sone of a kind.”

When he was named an Up & Comer in 2002, the then-30-year-old Miller was already an accomplished healthcare executivewith a successful naval career behind him. While in the Navy—where he went from deck seaman to administrator of the medicaland dental practice—he came across a brochure for the manage-ment-training program at the Institute for Diversity in HealthManagement. After completing the program, he landed an

administrative resident’s position at the Medical Center ofCentral Georgia in Macon.

When still in his 20s, Miller was credited with turningaround and selling a financially struggling rehabilitationdivision of Memorial Health, in Savannah, Ga. He thenoversaw Memorial Health’s cardiovascular unit, a divisionwith a $70 million operating budget at the time.

Moving into his 30s, he became the first alumnus of thediversity institute to reach the rank of CEO, according tothe institute’s then-president and CEO, Rupert Evans Sr.

Now 35, Miller has transformed the St. Thomas hospi-tal into the renamed Schneider Regional Medical Center,which reflects the integration of the hospital, an ambula-tory-care facility it operates in nearby St. John, and thenew cancer institute. Patients can access their recordsfrom any of the facilities, and their infrastructures arelinked. “This was one of his major goals: having a seam-less delivery of healthcare throughout the system,”Carty says.

What is most striking about Miller is his ability tobuild bridges both with patients and industry insiders,colleagues say. He has been known to handle patientcomplaints himself, and he has worked steadily tobuild up the hospital’s reputation as a “clean andfriendly” facility.

“He’s able to connect with every stakeholder when itcomes to healthcare,” Carty says. “Mr. Miller can con-nect with policymakers and explain the most difficulttechnical policy issues to them, but he can also relateone-on-one to patients.” ✦

Contact Miller at [email protected]

Rodney Miller, 35



R icky Nelson obviously didn’t have AndrewAgwunobi in mind when he sang the firstline to “Travelin’ Man.” Agwunobi wasn’teven born yet. But the song sure fits.

After all, Agwunobi, 42, is a traveling man who madea lot of stops all over. The son of a Nigerian father and aScottish mother, Agwunobi spent considerable time inLondon, earned his medical degree in Nigeria, andreceived an MBA from Stanford University.

A pediatrician, Agwunobi was a 37-year-old chiefexecutive officer of Tenet

Healthcare Corp.’s SouthFulton Medical Center in EastPoint, Ga., when he wasnamed an Up & Comer in2002. By June 2003, he hadtaken over the financiallystruggling Grady HealthSystem in Atlanta, where hestayed until the end of 2005.

His next career stop was atSt. Joseph Health System inOrange, Calif., where he waschief operating officer. Butwithin a year, “Dr. Andy,” ashe is known, was headed toFlorida to become secretary ofthe Florida Agency for HealthCare Administration.

Don’t confuse Dr. Andy withhis older brother, JohnAgwunobi; both are physicians

and both have served theFlorida governor. Earlier this month

John Agwunobi resigned as HHS assistant secretary forhealth and as admiral in the U.S. Public Health ServiceCommissioned Corps for a job in the private sector. FromOctober 2001 to September 2005, John Agwunobiserved as the Florida secretary of health. A spokesmanfor the state’s Agency for Heath Care Administration saysthe two departments are completely separate, and thatAndrew Agwunobi was hired based on his qualifications,not because of connections to his brother.

At this pace, it’s hard to predict where Dr. Andy willend up next, but the Beatles may have had it right whenthey sang “Here, there and everywhere.” ✦

ANDREW AGWUNOBI, 42


ASIF AHMAD, 40 Then: CIO, Ohio StateUniversity Medical Center, Columbus; Now: VP,diagnostic services, CIO, Duke University HealthSystem, Durham, N.C., [email protected]

TERRY BOHLKE, 43 Then: CFO, Hospice ofMarion County, Ocala, Fla.; Now: CEO,University Surgery Center, Merced, Calif.,[email protected]

CRIS (CURNUTT) DASKEVICH, 39 Then: Director,health centers & community initiatives, TexasChildren’s Hospital’s integrated delivery systems,Houston; Now: VP, Texas Children’s Hospital,[email protected]

KRIS DOODY, 44 Then: CEO, Cary MedicalCenter, Caribou, Maine; Now: CEO, CaryMedical Center

MICHAEL GILLEN, 44 Then: CEO, Sterling(Colo.) Regional MedCenter; Now: President,St. John’s Lebanon (Mo.) Hospital,[email protected]

MICHAEL HARLOWE, 43 Then: VP, operations,Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services,New Albany, Ind.; Now: President & CEO,Tipton (Ind.) Hospital, [email protected]

OLAS “CHIP” HUBBS, 36 Then: CEO, CommunityMemorial Hospital, Hicksville, Ohio; Now: President& CEO, Memorial Hospital of Union County,Marysville, Ohio, [email protected]

KRISTIN JENKINS, 38 Then: Corp. compliance& quality officer, JPS Health Network, FortWorth, Texas; Now: Senior VP & administrator,JPS Diagnostic and Surgery Hospital, Fort Worth, [email protected]

SALLY MASON BOEMER, 38 Then: VP,finance, Massachusetts General Hospital,Boston; Now: Sr VP, finance, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, [email protected]

ANTHONY MUNROE, 43 Then: President & CEO,Economic Opportunity Family Health Center, Miami;Now: Chairman & CEO, Munroe ManagementGroup, Chicago, [email protected]

RACHEL REED, 44 Then: Program director,Virginia Coordinated Care for the Uninsured,Richmond; Now: Director, businessdevelopment, Sentara Healthcare, VirginiaBeach, Va., [email protected]

In 1996, a wonderful mentor and professor, Jeptha Dalston, challenged me as a graduate

student to create a career plan with short-term, long-term and stretch career goals and aspirations.

Being named an Up & Comer was one of those aspirations. —Cris (Curnutt) Daskevich

AUTOGRAPHS


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Although his facility sponsors the Rex HospitalOpen, chances are you won’t find David Strong inhis office practicing his putting. In fact, you prob-ably won’t find him in his office at all. The 42-year-old president of 621-bed Rex Healthcare in

Raleigh, N.C., spends a lot of his time making rounds with physi-cians, in the surgeon’s lounge or at the nursing unit. For him, it’spar for the course.

“Typically, he starts conversations with, ‘What can I do foryou? What can I get you?’ ” says Rex Chief Financial OfficerBernadette Spong. “He’s always posing those questions topatients, co-workers and physicians.”

That’s not a surprise given Strong’s philosophy of healthcare.

“I try to be a servant-leader,”he told Modern Healthcarein 2003 when he was namedan Up & Comer at age 38. Those around himhave said that he is not above picking paper off the floor, replac-ing a broken fax machine or cleaning operating room floors,which, as a high school and college student, was his entree intothe healthcare industry.

In addition to improving Rex Healthcare’s finances, Strong’sattention to detail and to the needs of other members of the hos-pital community have paid off. In the three years he has been atRex, he has increased the physician staff from 800 to about 1,000in an extremely competitive environment in one of the fastest

growing counties in the country.“He’s adamant about visiting physicians,” Spong says.

“He’s visiting all the surgeons over the next couple ofmonths to ask what we can do to garner their loyalty.”

While Spong would not provide Rex’s specific financialinformation, she says the hospital’s net patient service rev-enue rose 24% between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2007, andthat the hospital’s cash on hand grew more than 30%during the same period.

In addition, Strong has overseen the opening of a newurgent-care center in Wakefield, N.C., the implementa-tion of an electronic health-record system and theopening of a new surgery center with 12 digital operat-ing rooms.

Strong has also worked to strengthen the ties betweenRex and UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill, with which itmerged in 2000, Spong says. Until now, the two systemshave not merged their clinical operations very much,but that is soon to change with a new branding cam-paign and other efforts to bring the two organizations’capabilities together. “We’d like to take their technol-ogy and their research and combine them in a com-munity setting here at Rex,” Spong says. “UnderDavid’s leadership, that’s what we’re looking at.”

Strong also expects the rest of his team to adopt acollaborative approach to their work. “We’re expectedto make sure we understand what’s happening outthere and not stay in our offices,” Spong says.“That’s been wonderful for me as the CFO, tounderstand the business better.” ✦

David Strong, 42



F rank Molinaro does not like to draw attentionto himself, one colleague says.

In fact, it’s difficult to find mention of theunder-the-radar Molinaro, chief executive

officer of Chicago’s 192-bed Weiss MemorialHospital, on the hospital’s Web site, let alone in thegeneral media.

Molinaro, 43, has been CEO since July 2006, twoyears after he arrived at Weiss as chief operatingofficer. He came to Weiss the month after his quiet

exit from a West Virginiahospital that is still trying torecover from a publicrelations nightmare thatnearly led to its closure.

In 2003, when Molinarowas named an Up & Comerat age 39, he had been CEOof Putnam General Hospitalin Hurricane, W.Va., forslightly more than a year andsaid that he’d inherited anunhealthy mess of a hospital.“Probably the biggest thingwe’ve done in the past 15months is to build a positive,cooperative relationshipbetween patients anddoctors and staff,” he saidthen. But a legal nightmarewas looming.

In June 2004, Molinaroresigned for personal reasons,

according to the hospital. Themove followed reports of botched orthopedic surgeriesperformed at the hospital by an osteopath and a growingnumber of malpractice lawsuits against the doctor. In July2007, a jury ruled the hospital had been negligent when ithired the doctor, failing to meet the standard of care inscreening his application. That means the hospital will bea co-defendant in at least 122 medical malpractice cases.

Modern Healthcare made several attempts tocontact Molinaro for this article, but he did notrespond to requests for an interview. A Weissspokeswoman confirmed his employment andexecutive roles at the hospital. ✦

FRANK MOLINARO, 43


MARY “MIKKI” CLANCY, 41 Then: VP & CIO,Premier Health Partners, Dayton, Ohio;Now: VP & CIO, Premier Health Partners,[email protected]

BRIAN DIETER, 49 Then: VP & CFO, MaryGreeley Medical Center, Ames, Iowa;Now: Information to come.

LOU FIERENS, 43 Then: VP, supply chainmanagement, Trinity Health, Novi, Mich.;Now: Senior VP, supply chain & capital projectmgmt., Trinity Health, Farmington Hills, Mich.

CYNTHIA FINTER, 44 Then: President, KaiserFoundation Health Plan and Hospitals, NWregion, Portland, Ore.; Now: Senior VP, CoventryHealth Care, Kansas City, Mo., [email protected]

JON JOFFE, 38 Then: Director, employment &workforce relations, OhioHealth, Columbus;Now: VP, OhioHealth, [email protected]

CHRIS LANE, 35 Then: President, DeGraffMemorial Hospital, North Tonawanda, N.Y.; Now:President, Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital,Williamsville, N.Y., [email protected]

KEVIN REHDER, 43 Then: Pharmacy director &patient safety officer, Little Company of MaryHospital, Evergreen Park, Ill.; Now: VP, clinicalservices, Little Company of Mary Hospital andHealth Care Centers, Evergreen Park

TABITHA RICE, 33 Then: Director, clinical bus.operations, nursing, Texas Children’s Hospital,Houston; Now: Asst. VP, Texas Children’sHospital, [email protected]

RHONDA SCOTT, 45 Then: Chief nursingofficer, South Fulton Medical Center, East Point,Ga.; Now: Senior VP, patient-care services &CNO, Grady Health System, Atlanta

DAVID WALLACE, 41 Then: President & CEO,Brown County General Hospital, Georgetown,Ohio; Now: COO, Medical Center of S.E.Oklahoma, [email protected]

If every decision you make is values-based and serves the needs of the communitythat you serve, your leadership will always have long-term positive results, even intough times. —Jon Joffe

AUTOGRAPHS


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Atimeless classic comes to life as never before …OK, few would call the TV show “Doogie

Howser, M.D.” a “timeless classic,” but whenMichael Lauf, 36, was named an Up & Comer in2004 at 33, he was described as having had to live

down an image of being compared with the wet-behind-the-earsteenage doctor. Not only was Lauf the youngest hospital chiefexecutive officer in Pennsylvania when he became the 30-year-oldpresident and CEO of Miners Medical Center, in Hastings, Pa.,but he looked even younger than his years, colleagues said.

But looks can be deceiving. Behind the youthful exterior was aseasoned professional, says Richard Salluzzo, who at the time wasCEO and chief medical officer of Miners’ parent, Conemaugh

Health System, Johnstown, Pa.“Mike has always been

extremely mature,” Salluzzosays. Lauf, having worked as a community andeconomic development specialist for U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), “knew how to handle himself around presidents, sena-tors, and other congressmen,” Salluzzo said.

At Miners, Lauf helped turn around a $4 million loss, was ableto negotiate a new contract with the hospital’s union and was ableto bring physicians onboard, Salluzzo says.

“It was like night and day,” he says. “It was unbelievable the jobhe did there.”

When Salluzzo left Pennsylvania to become president and CEOof Wellmont Health System in Tennessee in 2004, he did notthink he would cross career paths again with Lauf, whosefamily was in Pennsylvania.

But when Lauf—by that time vice president for businessdevelopment at Conemaugh—called him up askingwhether Salluzzo had any job opportunities available, Sal-luzzo didn’t hesitate to consider him for the chief operatingofficer position at 348-bed Bristol (Tenn.) Regional Med-ical Center.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since Lauf accepted theposition, and already he has made a mark on the hospital,Salluzzo says.

He has introduced a culture of process improvementat Bristol Regional, creating a manual on the subject andleading the training of 1,500 employees. He has devel-oped a hospital performance score card with quantifi-able goals, and he has cultivated service improvementinitiatives that have dramatically increased hospitalpatient satisfaction and physician satisfaction scores,Salluzzo says.

“I think he stepped right up to it in a seamless wayand had an impact almost immediately,” Salluzzosays. “The place got cleaner, and (patient satisfaction)scores improved.”

Lauf has also worked with physician partners to cre-ate a rehabilitative medicine program, an outpatientdiagnostic imaging center and multiple surgery centers.

Although he has helped build upon a recent finan-cial turnaround at Bristol Regional, Lauf adheres tothe philosophy that patient care is at the heart of whata hospital does. “It’s a culture of service,” Salluzzoexplains. “He says we need to be like Disney, onstage24-7. Only your imagination can prevent you fromdoing even better things for your patient.” ✦

Contact Lauf at [email protected]

Michael Lauf, 36



M aggie Koehler is no secret shopper.Koehler, 43, the chief financial officer

and senior vice president of WyomingValley Health Care System in Wilkes-

Barre, Pa., has been shopping quite a bit of late. She has been looking for a partner to help the

system achieve economies of scale, maximizeefficiencies and help develop clinical centers ofexcellence. The shopping has led the system toenter preliminary talks about a merger with two other

area hospitals, and it hasalso led Koehler to explorethe level of interest ofprivate equity investors whomight want to buy into aspinoff of some of thesystem’s vascular services.

The hypothetical spinoffwas to have three parts: thehospital, physicians andprivate equity. But whileKoehler says that she hasreceived calls from about adozen interested privateequity firms, so far therehas been no sale. Thechallenge, she says, is thatthe system is still unsurehow to structure a deal withphysicians that won’t runafoul of the ever-changingStark laws on physician self-

referral. “The problem is thegovernment keeps changing the

regulations,” she says. The system consists of 348-bed Wilkes-Barre

General Hospital and a 96-bed acute-care behavioralhealth hospital in Kingston, Pa. Since she wasnamed an Up & Comer in 2004, Koehler has beenput in charge of the financial functions of thebehavioral health affiliate, in addition to herresponsibilities for the acute-care hospital’s finances.She has also headed up a $100 million capitalexpansion campaign. ✦

Contact Koehler at [email protected]

MAGGIE KOEHLER, 43


ROLAND ABELLERA, 41 Then: VP, quality &corporate compliance, St. Bernard Hospital,Chicago; Now: VP, quality & corporate compliance,St. Bernard Hospital, [email protected]

CATHY EASTER, 40 Then: VP, operations,Methodist Hospital, Houston; Now: VP,operations, Methodist International,[email protected]

KURT GENSERT, 37 Then: Director, emergency,trauma & critical care, Platte Valley MedicalCenter, Brighton, Colo.; Now: Director,emergency, trauma & critical care, Platte ValleyMedical Center, [email protected]

BRADFORD MATHIS, 37 Then: Director,community benefits, St. Mary’s Health Care,Grand Rapids, Mich.; Now: Director,community benefits, St. Mary’s Health Care,[email protected]

LORI PRICE, 42 Then: President, St. JosephRegional Medical Center’s Plymouth &Mishawaka, Ind., campuses; Now: COO, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, SouthBend, Ind., [email protected]

DENEEN RICHMOND, 43 Then: Executivedirector, Delmarva Foundation, Washington;Now: VP, quality & care management, HolyCross Hospital, Silver Spring, Md.,[email protected]

BRIAN SMITH, 42 Then: VP & COO, St. Rita’sMedical Center, Lima, Ohio; Now: Exec VP &COO, St. Rita’s Medical Center,[email protected]

TRACE SWARTZFAGER, 42 Then: VP,behavioral health services, St. Dominic-Jackson(Miss.) Memorial Hospital; Now: VP,professional services, St. Dominic Hospital,Jackson, [email protected]

DIONNE VIATOR, 42 Then: Sr VP & CFO, BatonRouge (La.) General/General Health System;Now: Sr VP & CFO, Baton Rouge General/General Health, [email protected]

CHRISTINE WINN, 38 Then: Senior VP,ambulatory/operations, Bridgeport (Conn.)Hospital; Now: Senior VP,ambulatory/operations, Bridgeport Hospital,[email protected]

The other end of the spectrum is that uncompensated care continues to climband creates a cost-focused environment that is not always congruent with anevidence-based foundation of practice. —Kurt Gensert

AUTOGRAPHS


At 29, when many people are still trying to find them-selves, Alan Levine had already found himself in ahospital chief executive officer role. By the time hewas 37, Levine was finding his way around then-Gov.Jeb Bush’s proposed Medicaid overhaul as head of the

Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. And now, at 40, hefinds himself the president and CEO of North Broward Hospital Dis-trict, a four-hospital public health system in Fort Lauderdale.

Levine clearly found himself early on and hasn’t lost his way.Throughout his career, Levine has balanced his penchant for pub-

lic service with his talent as a hospital administrator. Being a health-care executive involved stepping out into the community, which gavehim a platform from which to launch his public service career, he

told Modern Healthcarewhen he was named an Up& Comer in 2005 at age 38.

He joined Gov. Bush’s administration in Febru-ary 2003 as health policy adviser and deputy chief of staff, taking apay cut and moving his family to do so. He served in that positionuntil Bush named him secretary of the Florida Agency for HealthCare Administration in July 2004, where he oversaw a major andcontroversial overhaul of the state’s Medicaid program and a budgetof more than $16 billion, in addition to regulating the state’s health-care facilities and publishing healthcare data and statistics.

The state’s market-based Medicaid reform proposal involved movingMedicaid beneficiaries into private managed-care plans in two coun-

ties—Broward and Duval—for a one-year pilot project and then, asof July, beginning to expand the program statewide. “Mr. Levinewas instrumental in bringing together an unbelievably talentedteam to help us with that,” says Paul Sallarulo, chairman of theNorth Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners.

Levine, one of the Medicaid plan’s key architects and spokes-men, has said it would enable the state to share its considerablefinancial risk with private hospitals and physicians.

Levine got his start in healthcare as the chief operating officerof Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, Fla.,which was at the time part of for-profit giant Columbia/HCAHealthcare Corp. He also held positions as the CEO of Doctors’Memorial Hospital in Perry, Fla., and as CEO of South BayHospital in Sun City Center, Fla., before joining Bush’s team.

He became the president and CEO at the North Browarddistrict in July 2006, replacing Wil Trower, who resignedunder pressure, according to local news reports.

Among the efforts Levine has led are mandating the pub-lic reporting of health provider outcomes, implementingprivacy-protected electronic health records in the state, andincreasing hurricane and disaster preparedness for Florida’shealthcare facilities.

At North Broward, Sallarulo says, Levine has brought in anew and energized management team. He is committed totransparency and has changed the district’s financial report-ing methodology, and is also leading an initiative to assessand incorporate safe medication practices. He drafted a codeof conduct and ethics for the board that the state Legislaturerecently approved, and has forged relationships not onlywith legislators but also with other healthcare executives.

So where will Levine end up? Sallarulo says that hehopes Levine will stay in Florida but he wouldn’t be sur-prised if Levine aspires to greater things.

“He’s a young man, and I’m sure someday he wants tobe the secretary of health for the president of the UnitedStates,” he says. “I could see him there.” ✦

Contact Levine at [email protected]

Alan Levine, 40



I t has only been about two years since CaraFarrell, then 40, was named an Up & Comer.She still works for Women’s Health Connecticut,in Avon, and she still helps provide management

services to physicians. But she has been promotedfrom director to vice president of managed-carecontracting, and she now works with about 47physicians in New York as well as 155 in Connecticut.

The parent company is now called Women’s HealthUSA to reflect its reach beyond the Connecticut state

border. Farrell is also a facultymember at the AmericanCollege of Obstetricians andGynecologists, educatingphysicians on managed-carecontracting to help them fulfilltheir continuing medicaleducation credit.

In her Up & Comer profile,it was noted that Farrell,now 41, wasn’t afraid tofight for what she thinksphysicians deserve. Thatincluded a clash with thestate attorney general, whowarned the company in2004 that a $500 fee it hadproposed charging pregnantwomen to offset risingmalpractice insurance costsmight be illegal. While thecompany backed away from

the charge, the strategyworked in her opinion.

Farrell says she was less familiar with a morerecent tangle with Connecticut Attorney GeneralRichard Blumenthal, who announced in April 2006that Women’s Health USA would pay Physicians forWomen’s Health $198,000 in restitution for improperrebates it accepted from insurers and a broker inreturn for business from the physician group.

The most rewarding aspects of her career have todo with creating clinical quality programs that helpphysicians and patients, she says. ✦

Contact Farrell at [email protected]

CARA FARRELL, 41


TODD CALIVA, 38 Then: CEO, East HoustonRegional Medical Center; Now: CEO, WestHouston Medical Center,[email protected]

DONNA FOX, NA Then: VP, government affairs,Cambridge (Mass.) Health Alliance;Now: VP, government affairs, Cambridge HealthAlliance, [email protected]

LAURA IRVINE, 35 Then: President, MethodistMansfield (Texas) Medical Center;Now: President, Methodist Mansfield MedicalCenter, [email protected]

PETER JUNGBLUT, 41Then: VP, medicalaffairs, Shore Memorial Hospital, Somers Point,N.J.; Now: VP, medical affairs, Shore MemorialHospital, [email protected]

KATHLEEN (BENFIELD) KANEY, 35Then: VP, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte,N.C.; Now: VP, Carolinas Medical Center,[email protected]

MICHAEL PANICOLA, 36 Then: VP, ethics,SSM Health Care, St. Louis; Now: CorporateVP, healthcare ethics, SSM Health Care,[email protected]

RICK STEVENS, 39 Then: Exec director, supportservices, Caritas Health Services, Louisville, Ky.;Now: VP, operations, JPS Health Network, FortWorth, Texas, [email protected]

KATHARINE VANDENBROEK, 30 Then: Policyspecialist, St. Alphonsus Regional MedicalCenter, Boise, Idaho; Now: AHRQfellow/doctoral student, Univ. of Mich. School ofPublic Health, Ann Arbor, [email protected]

MARIE VIENNEAU, 40 Then: CEO, Millinocket(Maine) Regional Hospital; Now: CEO,Millinocket Regional Hospital,[email protected]

JUDITH WATSON, 39 Then: Exec dir.,Greenburgh Health Center, White Plains, N.Y.Now: Exec dir., Mount Vernon NeighborhoodHealth Center Network, Greenburgh and WhitePlains, [email protected]

For those who can afford complex care, the U.S. is the best place to experience acomplex illness. —Katharine VandenBroek

AUTOGRAPHS


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There was nothing easy about it. For those who stayedbehind, it took unflagging courage and incredibleperseverance to weather the storm.

While Warner Thomas probably wouldn’t havechosen it, guiding a health system and a community

through the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was oneof the defining moments of his career.

But it’s not as if he had been slacking off until that point. As pres-ident and chief operating officer of Ochsner Health System in NewOrleans, he had already overseen the merger of the Ochsner Clinicwith the Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation. He then turned aroundand sold the system’s health plan, and helped orchestrate a majorbond offering to help modernize the system.

Each of these and otheraccomplishments could havebeen his career-definingachievement, says Patrick Quinlan, Ochsner’s chiefexecutive officer.

Then Katrina hit.During and following the chaos and ruin that uprooted a commu-

nity, Thomas held his ground. He showcased his talent for motivat-ing employees and ensured his health system was prepared torespond to the desperate needs of the Crescent City.

Working 20-plus hour days and sleeping in his office at OchsnerMedical Center, Thomas proved his mettle not only by providingleadership for the institution through the crisis, but also by clean-

ing the cafeteria, transferring patients and stocking supplieswhen necessary.

Both modest and courageous, Thomas doesn’t ask anybody todo anything he would not do himself, Quinlan says.

“His skills are multiplied through the organization by makingothers better,” he says. “That’s a defining characteristic of a suc-cessful executive.”

While some managers would have seen a devastating hurri-cane as a reason to hunker down and try to protect existingoperations, Thomas had the foresight to see the opportunitiesthat would emerge from it. Among them was the chance topurchase three New Orleans-area hospitals formerly ownedby Tenet Healthcare Corp.

“It’s not that he took something easy to fix and fixed it,”Quinlan says. “He took something that seemed to be stuckand found a way out.”

Thomas, 41, a 2006 Up & Comer, was promoted to COOin 2005 after serving as chief administrative officer atOchsner since 1998. Ochsner Health System employs 600physicians and operates seven hospitals, a subacute facilityand 25 health centers.

Thomas led the financial turnaround of the system;established a program that has improved customer servicescores as well as physician and staff morale; and helped thesystem expand into new markets as the region’s demo-graphics shifted in Katrina’s wake. In past comments toModern Healthcare, Thomas attributed his success tobeing able to connect with people at all levels of thehealthcare system.

No matter the weather. ✦

Contact Thomas at [email protected]

Warner Thomas, 41



W ell that didn’t take long …Some Up & Comers stay in one

place for their entire career. Otherslike to move around. Ray Shoemaker’s

new business allows him to do just that. He founded his own rural hospital management and

acquisition company, Rural Healthcare Developers, inDecember 2006, a few months after being named anUp & Comer at age 34, and after a 13-month stint aschief executive officer of Tri-Lakes Medical Center Health

Systems in Batesville, Miss. Inhis new role as president andCEO of the rural startup,Shoemaker, 35, has alsotaken on the task ofmanaging 28-bed HumphreysCounty Memorial Hospital,Belzoni, a struggling hospitalin the Mississippi Delta,where he is serving as CEOand administrator.

Shoemaker’s company isalso working with facilities inthree other states, he says.Among its projects arereopening shutteredhospitals in Okolona andRaleigh, Miss. RuralHealthcare Developers isalso negotiating a handful ofother acquisitionagreements, he says. The

company, which alsoprovides consulting services for

geriatric psychiatry and some other service lines, hasabout 15 permanent employees and another staff of15 to 20 project-specific consultants.

Before starting the company, Shoemaker was on afast track at Tri-Lakes, where he rose from programadministrator of its behavioral health-services unit in2002 to CEO in 2005. He says the recognition that theUp & Comers award brought allowed him to start hisnew business. He has attributed his leadership skills tohis six-year stint in the U.S. Army, where he started outat age 17 as a “young, immature kid,” he says, and leftwith an honorable discharge as a captain. ✦

RAY SHOEMAKER, 35


EROL AKDAMAR, 40 Then: CEO, St. David’sSouth Austin (Texas) Hospital; Now: CEO, St. David’s South Austin Hospital,[email protected]

BOB DENT, 40 Then: CNO, Sterling (Colo.)Regional MedCenter; Now: VP, nursing & CNO,Midland (Texas) Memorial Hospital,[email protected]

CORINNE FRANCIS, 39 Then: VP, St. Anthony’sHealth Care, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Now: VP, missionintegration, St. Anthony’s Health Care/BayCareHealth System, [email protected]

SUE LUNSFORD, 40 Then: VP, King’sDaughters Medical Center, Ashland, Ky.;Now: VP, King’s Daughters Medical Center

DONNA MCGREGOR, 41 Then: CFO & VP,Health Quest, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Now:President & CEO, Putnam Hospital Center,Carmel, N.Y., [email protected]

BREEANN ROBINSON, 32 Then: Vice chair,planning services, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Ariz.;Now: Chairwoman, div. of planning services, MayoClinic, Scottsdale, [email protected]

JOHN SINGERLING, 35 Then: Exec VP & COO,Palmetto Health Richland, Columbia, S.C.;Now: Exec VP & COO, Palmetto HealthRichland, [email protected]

MIKE TRACHTA, 36 Then: CEO, Waverly (Iowa)Health Center; Now: CEO, Waverly HealthCenter, [email protected]

AIISYA WILLIAMSON, 30 Then: Executivedirector, Mercy Primary Care Center, Detroit;Now: Executive director, Mercy Primary CareCenter, [email protected]

LAUREN YEDVAB, 37 Then: Senior VP, NewYork Methodist Hospital; Now: Senior VP, NewYork Methodist Hospital, [email protected]

Political will on all sides of government as well as crucial support by those whoadvocate against universal healthcare will be a key component. “Good capitalism”will need to win out over “bad capitalism.” —Corinne Francis

AUTOGRAPHS


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VICTORIA BAYLESS, 37 Chief operating officer, Anne Arundel Health System,Annapolis, Md.


UP & COMERS CLASS OF 2007

SAAD EHTISHAM, 37Senior vice president of clinicaloperations and chief nursing officer, Via Christi Wichita (Kan.) Health Network

LORI EVANS, 37Deputy commissioner, New York State Department ofHealth, Office of Health InformationTechnology Transformation, Albany

LLOYD FORD JR., 39Chief executive officer, Muhlenberg Community Hospital,Greenville, Ky.

ANAND JOSHI, 32Clinical procurement director, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York City

KIP KIRKPATRICK, 35Co-founder and principal, Water Street Healthcare Partners,Chicago

ALEX MENDEZ, 39Senior vice president and chieffinancial officer, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Fla.

TERIKA RICHARDSON, 29Associate administrator,Reston (Va.) Hospital Center

PATRICK STAPLETON, 39, Chief executive officer,Sherrill House, Boston

DEBRA SUKIN, 37Chief executive officer, St. Luke’sCommunity Medical Center-TheWoodlands (Texas); and vicepresident, St. Luke’s EpiscopalHealth System, Houston

PAMELA SUTTON-WALLACE, 37Chief operating officer andassociate vice president ofambulatory-care operations, Duke University Health System,Durham, N.C.

KEVIN UNGER, 37President and chief executiveofficer, Poudre Valley Hospital, Fort Collins, Colo.

Read more about this year’s class of Up & Comers in the Sept. 17, 2007 issue of Modern Healthcare.


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How did a person with amaster’s degree in health-care administration andmore than 28 years experi-ence in the healthcare

industry end up in the used-car business?Burnout? Midlife crisis? Administratorsgone wild? Read on.

In 1992, when I was honored to be selectedas an Up & Comer, I was at the pinnacle ofmy healthcare career. I was in charge ofinformation systems at a large, progressivehealthcare system working with some of thebest and brightest minds in the industry.We were working on several of the most

exciting and leading-edge initiatives in theindustry at that time. In fact, one of thoseprojects was one of the most comprehensivepoint-of-care systems installed at the timeand still in use today. It was an excitingtime, and I learned a lot that prepared mewell for future endeavors.

Although I enjoyed what I was doing, Ihad an entrepreneurial itch that neededscratching and decided to go into consult-ing. So I went to work with a small consult-ing firm, planning to move into an owner-ship position. After a few years, that didn’tpan out, so I then went to work with a com-

pany doing quality indicators for hospitals.Once again, it never quite materialized intothe ownership role. At that point, I decidedto take the plunge and start my own consult-ing company.

I was hooked on having my own company,but the travel was exhausting! After a fewyears, I had an opportunity to sell my company,so I did and took some time off, even dabblingin the financial planning field for a while. I stillwanted to have my own company, but with-out the travel.

My stepson then presented me with anopportunity to get into the automobile busi-ness. He and his partner had quite a few years

experience and wanted to open their own carlot, but did not have the capital or the busi-ness experience. I had no experience in theauto industry, but obviously had the businessexperience, so at the end of 2003, I agreed tofund and operate a car lot. After a year in thebusiness, my stepson moved on to other ven-tures and I was left with a used-car lot that Istill operate today.

What do the car business and healthcarehave in common? More than one realizes.Both are huge industries. Both representproducts and services that most people wouldconsider necessities. Both are governed by

A long drive from healthcare

GUEST COMMENTARY: DARRYL BOLLINGER

myriad regulations at all levels of government.What is the biggest difference? The car

business is as close to a pure competitivemodel as possible. Consumers are armedwith a tremendous amount of informationwhen they walk on my lot. They have accessto a wide variety of cost and quality infor-mation. Automobiles are a commodity, andtoday’s consumers are well-equipped tomake an intelligent buying decision.

Furthermore, I can sit at my desk at homeand view information on car sales nation-wide. I can even bid on cars at auctions acrossthe country, pay for them and have themdelivered to my lot, all done electronically.Competitive information is at my fingertips. Ican see exactly what other lots in my marketarea are selling.

None of this is true in healthcare. It is not atrue competitive model. Comparative costand quality information is extremely limited.Take the scenario of me going to a primary-care provider, who then refers me to a special-ist who then admits me to a hospital.

In most cases, I end up with three separatemedical records not linked together, three (ormore!) bills, three insurance claims, etc.

I distinctly remember going to a healthcareseminar more than 30 years ago where speakerstalked about connecting information from var-ious healthcare providers so that, in the abovescenario, all of the information would be seam-lessly linked together. What happened?

At one stage in my healthcare career, Iworked at a for-profit hospital companywhere the mantra was to take the shacklesoff and let competition rule. That is not theanswer in healthcare. Most consumers donot have access to the information thatwould allow them to make an intelligentbuying decision, let alone the ability toproperly evaluate it.

I treasure the many years I spent in health-care and still care deeply about the industry.But, I enjoy the rewards and challenges ofowning my own small business without thetravel, even if it is not in healthcare. ✦


Darryl Bollinger is president of Seaside AutoSales in Panama City, Fla. When he was anUp & Comer in 1992, he was director ofinformation systems at Lee Memorial Hospitalin Fort Myers, Fla. Bollinger can be reached [email protected].

AUTOGRAPHS

At the end, what truly counts is

not how many meetings that you

attended or how many deals that

you closed. Always strive to do

the right thing for the best interest

of your patients, and don’t

believe your own press clippings.

—Michael Ugwueke,

Class of ’98

Dr.Brater(dean of theIU Medical School)

told me “in health care it

pays to be polygamous.” In

other words because of the

“networked” nature of health care, it is

important to have several partners for

important projects. —E. Mitchell Roob Jr., Class of ’96

Early in my career, Modern Healthcare’s recognition was an

important confidence builder that I was headed in the right

direction. Sometimes when one strays from the common path,

external recognition is even more important

than internal support. In my case, my career

had begun a focus on quality and safety,

something considered “soft” many years ago.—David Shulkin, Class of ’97

If you don't want someone toget your goat, don’t let themknow where you got it tied.—Rachel Reed,

Class of ’02

A career in health care administration encompasses all of theelements of the journey we call “life”—happiness, joy, pain,sadness, loneliness, confusion, and yes, even despair. Thiscareer has often energized me; it has sometimes threatened todefeat me; it has never bored me, or ceased to amaze me.—Ruth (Williams) Brinkley

Class of ’89

We still have not reached a state where the executive and staff of most hospitalsare reflective of their community. This often leads to well-intentioned butnonculturally competent care. —Michael Rowan, Class of ’97This is not glamour or big-

money television. This is daily

judgments based on a value

system of compassion and

fairness that conflicts with big

power and big money all the

time. There is not a better career

choice if one keeps their humility,

knows they are the best joke in

the organization, and is willing

to live a shorter life in pursuit of

making a difference.

—Kelby Krabbenhoft

Class of ’94

The U.S. healthcare system canno longer operate under theassumption that we have the besthealthcare system in the world.—Robert BurgClass of ’91



AUTOGRAPHS

For people who like c

reativity, innovati

on

and change, it is

a great field. People who

long for the “good

ol’ days” should

find

another profession

.

—Nathan Kaufman, Class of ’8

7

Pace yourself. 65-70 hour workweeks were seemingly the normand mandated just to keep up.

It’s not always realistic, and it’sdifficult to make the decisionson what you can do vs. what you

are capable of doing whilemaintaining a quality family life.—Glen KazahayaClass of ’90

I feel like I entered the business in the Dark Ages when I look

at the technological advances that have been made since the

early eighties, and in reality we are just scratching the surface.—Phillip Robinson, Class of ’92

I think recognition like this brings with it some level of added

responsibility to be sure and represent the field in the most

positive manner possible, performing with integrity and ethics

that are unquestioned. Hopefully I have and continue to be

able to make a positive impact on our community.—Lance Duke, Class of ’98

Continued misalignedeconomic incentivesamong providers havedriven us into systematicfragmentation. The poorand underserved, thosewith the smallest voiceand the greatest need,are left between thecracks without anycoordination of care—if they get care at all.

—William Jennings, Class of ’98

Have highexpectations, so that you canachieve excellent

results. —Nina TuckerBeauchesne, Class of ’01

There are no longer down periods in our industry. There used to be a time whenwe could catch our breath before taking on the next big issue. The agility ofthe organization is constantly being tested. —Amy Mansue, Class of ’98

Prior to being a healthcare

administrator. I was a

practicing attorney. Practicing

law was rewarding work,

but I find that being directly

involved in healthcare

administration allows an

individual to participate in something

much larger than themselves and even more

basic and human than legal practice.

—Kristin Jenkins, Class of ’02

20th anniversary yearbook

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