Hospital CEOs have been getting a lot of bad press lately—and not necessarily ill-deserved. In fact, HealthLeaders Media Editor John Commins chronicled the personal faux pas of several hospital leaders in his September column, Executives Gone Wild: Paying the Price for Personal Conduct. But for every CEO who tarnishes his or her hospital's name, there are hundreds who should be hailed for their dedication to healthcare . Here's a look at five chief executives who are going beyond the call of duty to improve patient and employee satisfaction.
Cindy Kreutz, President and CEO, Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital, Denver, CO
When a colleague asked Kreutz to compete in a sprint triathlon, Kreutz thought the idea was crazy.
"I consider myself a recreational athlete so I'm not in awful shape, but I thought I couldn't do it," she said in the October issue of HealthLeaders magazine. (She may be the only executive to have graced the Personalities page wearing spandex, by the way.)
But Kreutz did compete, and for the past six years she's been trying to convince hospital employees to participate with her. Last year, she upped the ante by offering to pay the $100 registration fee for each entrant. The first year, 27 people signed up. This year, the number increased to 32.
"We're a rehab hospital, so you see really catastrophic things every day that happen to people," she said. "Our motto is 'Rebuilding Lives, Renewing Hope,' and you never know when the ability to be active might be taken away from you. My goal is [for] people to enjoy and live a healthy lifestyle."
It's commendable that Kreutz paid the triathlon entry fee out of her own pocket, but it's her demonstrated interest in the health and happiness of her employees that really counts.
Jim Dague, CEO, Goshen (IN) General Hospital
Dague is another hospital CEO who knows how to put his money where his mouth is—or rather, his buzzer where his hair is. The 143-bed hospital exec told his employees that if they found a way to shave$3.5 million off the budget, he'd do the same to his head.
Hospital employees submitted more than 4,500 cost-saving ideas, including renegotiating contracts, receiving grants, or changing materials. One worker suggested changing the type of napkin used on patient trays, which saved $4,000, and switching from disposable paper gowns to cloth gowns in the GI department, which saved $22,000.
Employees wound up cutting more than $7 million from the budget.
"And so I've got no choice but to live out my word," Dague told the local NBC affiliate in January. "In the last year, when our community has been besieged by economic conditions, we've kept it outside the hospital."
It may have started off as a simple gesture, but Dague's bet certainly got employees involved in cost saving initiatives to the hospital's benefit. A $7 dollar haircut in exchange for $7 million in savings? Not a bad return on investment.
Jim Hornell, President and CEO, Brant Community Healthcare System, Paris, Ontario
It can be a trying process for a new CEO to get to know the hospital its staff, but for Hornell it's like an undercover mission. The Brant Community CEO, who was appointed in April, threw on a sweater and headed to the Brantford General Hospital ED one Sunday night in August.
"When I walked in through the waiting room it was almost full with people of all ages and I had the feeling that some had been there for quite a while," he told the Brantford Expositor. As they waited, they looked up at each new person that arrived knowing that the list of patients waiting was about to grow even longer."
Hornell sat in the ED for several hours and observed staff and patients. He noticed that while physicians and nurses gave efficient care, many patients visiting the department did not need emergent care. He also paid close attention to staff's efforts to improve patient satisfaction.
"One thing that struck me right away was the worried look on the faces of relatives as our staff cared for their family members," says Hornell, adding: "This is natural. A nurse brought a Popsicle for a young child as other caregivers tended to the child's needs as anxious parents stood nearby. I witnessed a clerk who was handling five tasks at once and beside her stood a physician with yet another request."
Later revealing himself as the CEO, Hornell told staff that he was proud and impressed with their work. By getting into the trenches with employees, Hornell showed Brant Community staff and patients that their new CEO is committed to their welfare.
Phyllis Baum, CEO, Leesburg Regional (FL) Medical Center
Baum began working at Leesburg Regional as a nurse in 1986. Over the years, she has climbed the ladder of clinical and management positions to become the CEO for the 309-bed hospital in July 2009. Baum can actually trace her hospital roots back to when her grandparents contributed to the hospital's building fund. But that's not why she chose to stay with the organization all these years.
"It really is all about teamwork," she told The Daily Commercial in June. "One of the great things about working at Leesburg Regional is that we invest a lot of time and energy in developing our team. We have a mentoring environment where people are very focused on making those around them succeed."
Baum understood the importance of teamwork before she became CEO; At a time when the hospital was concerned about its 15%-15% turnover rate, she took it upon herself to discover why nurses were leaving.
"We really wanted to bring that down," she said, adding the turnover rate is now 5%. "I took the time to call everybody that left and ask, 'Why did you leave? How can we create an environment that would have made you want to stay?'"
Having started her career as one of the rank-and-file, this new CEO can relate to employees in a way that many chief executives cannot.
Jennifer Roel, CEO, Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, Prescott Valley, AZ
Roel's path to a career in healthcare started with a car accident that left her with a spinal cord injury. Once she recovered, the Mountain Valley CEO decided to help others with disabilities and began working as a medical social worker before earning her MBA in healthcare administration.
As the chief executive, Roel continues to help those in need.
"Our hospital focuses on giving back to our community and volunteering time to assist others in need," she told The Daily Courier. A recent Mountain Valley Regional Rehabilitation Hospital fundraiser raised more than $1,000 toward a company-wide relief effort for victims of the Haiti earthquake, for example. And parent company Ernest Health hospitals will send clinical staff to Haiti. "I am proud to say that Mountain Valley will be sending 10 clinicians composed of nurses, occupational, physical, and speech therapists to Haiti in September."
Though Roel and the other four CEOs in this article have unique stories, there are countless other hospital executives with equally inspirational backgrounds and experiences. It's up to the hospitals' marketers to make sure the staff and community know about them, or else their stories may get lost amidst those of misbehaving CEOs..
Marianne Aiello is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.