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St. Luke's CEO to Retire in 2020, COO to Take Over

Analysis  |  By Jack O'Brien  
   November 07, 2019

Dr. David Pate has been at the helm of the Boise, Idaho–based health system for a decade.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of St. Luke's Health System announced Wednesday afternoon that he will retire at the end of January 2020.

Dr. David Pate has been at the helm of the Boise–based health system for a decade. Pate previously served in executive positions at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.

He will be succeeded by Chris Roth, the organization's chief operating officer (COO), who previously served in executive roles at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center in Seattle and Ochsner Health System in New Orleans before arriving at St. Luke's in 2007. 

Related: Every Hospital Board Needs a CEO Succession Plan. Half Are Failing.  

Related: 4 Steps for Planning CEO Succession  

"I could have accomplished nothing without the amazing team that I have had the honor of leading; St. Luke’s success has been the result of our collective effort," Pate said in a statement. "The depth of talent we have in our organization is remarkable, and that depth will carry St. Luke’s forward. We have among the best leaders in health care that I have ever been privileged to work with; the team and the leadership within the team give me great confidence in the direction and future success of St. Luke’s Health System."

Last year, St. Luke's opened a 24-hour 35,000-square-foot virtual virtual care center to provide telehealth services to five critical access hospitals in Idaho and eastern Oregon.

Related: St. Luke's Opens 'Virtual Hospital' in Boise

The virtual care center receives 80,000 virtual visits annually and its transfer center handles 23,000 calls per month. Additionally, St. Luke's has 63 virtual care work stations and eight transfer work stations. 

Krista Stadler, RN, senior director of telehealth services for the system, told HealthLeaders that Pate "refers to the Virtual Care Center as 'a laboratory for change that benefits the patient.' That is really our culture. We want people to come up here and think about the possibilities, and not be afraid of trying new things."

Related: Got Rural? Go Virtual. St. Luke's Did.   

Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.


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