Each year, the May/June issue features a wrap-up of the Congress on Healthcare Leadership. This year’s event was the first in-person Congress in three years. All of us have changed and the field has accomplished so much since we last learned, networked and formed new friendships with one another.
Congress remains the premier event dedicated to advancing healthcare leadership excellence. In addition to the networking, career advising, and insights and best practices from more than 240 faculty, ACHE installed its new Chair, Anthony A. “Tony” Armada, FACHE, and Chair-Elect, Delvecchio S. Finley, FACHE. Carrie Owen Plietz, FACHE, now Immediate Past Chair, spoke of her “serendipitous journey” as Chair and the importance, fortitude and perseverance of all front-line caregivers and everyone who supports them.
Over the jam-packed four days, we also thanked our outgoing Board of Governors members for their tremendous service; welcomed new Governors and Regents into office; and honored our Fellows, friends and colleagues for their service to the healthcare profession and commitment to leadership excellence.
The Congress program and experiences were designed around the theme of advancement. Jon Meacham, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, offered lessons for leaders at the Opening Session on how to endure and prevail when everything appears hopeless; Ben Sherwood, former co-chairman of Disney Media Networks, shared personal tales from his own experience in the creative process, inspiring attendees of the Arthur C. Bachmeyer Memorial Address to turn their dreams into reality; and Nancy Snyderman, MD, a physician and former chief medical editor at NBC News, explored a variety of workforce solutions to address challenges in this new, complex world during the Malcolm T. MacEachern Memorial Address. Melinda L. Estes, MD, president and CEO, Saint Luke’s Health System, and Odette C. Bolano, FACHE, president and CEO, Saint Alphonsus Health System, both shared insights and experiences on the healthcare workforce of the future and leading through the lens of health equity at the Women Healthcare Executives Address and the Thomas C. Dolan Diversity Address and Breakfast, respectively.
As a field, we have made amazing strides over the last two years, despite the unthinkable obstacles we have faced. Keynote speaker Hakeem M. Oluseyi, PhD, astrophysicist and former space science education lead for NASA, inspired attendees of the Leon I. Gintzig Commemorative Address to face obstacles head-on—chasing impossible dreams and refusing to listen to naysayers.
The following is a rundown of the major award winners and others who were recognized throughout the week of Congress for their contributions to the healthcare field and to ACHE.
Fosina Receives Gold Medal Award
Michael J. Fosina, FACHE, ACHE’s 2020–2021 Chair, was the recipient of the Gold Medal Award, which is ACHE’s highest honor, bestowed on outstanding leaders who have made significant contributions to the healthcare field throughout their service career.
When Fosina was preparing to lead ACHE as its new Chair in 2020, he was also following an epidemic that would metastasize into a pandemic. The hospital he led, NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence, would soon provide initial treatment of the first known hospitalized COVID-19 patient on the East Coast.
As Chair, he stepped into a very different and unprecedented role. During this turbulent period, Fosina’s leadership abilities were needed not only for his hospital but also for ACHE, as it adapted to a constantly changing environment, including canceling the Congress on Healthcare Leadership for the first time in its more than 60-year history. Fosina worked to ensure ACHE remained a source of leadership and a conduit for vital information. Instead of meeting in person with executives, he adapted his methods of connection, calling colleagues to check in and working with the ACHE management team to adjust time frames for educational credits and credentials and develop virtual courses as test runs for the very first virtual Congress in 2021.
During this time, he hosted an early episode of ACHE’s COVID-19 webinar series with front-line leaders, during which he and fellow presenter Steve Corwin, MD, CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian, discussed what they had learned so far about COVID-19 and shared their experience as one of the areas hit the earliest.
Regents Recognized for Their Contibutions
His healthcare peers recognize Fosina for his ability to communicate “clearly and unequivocally,” which allows people to trust him and rely on his perspective. They say he is “a wealth of knowledge,” and that “many rely on him for his historic viewpoint and counsel.”
In addition to his service as Chair from 2020 to 2021, he has served as Chair-Elect and Immediate Past Chair, as well as on dozens of councils and committees, including the Nominating Committee, the Finance Committee and the Voluntary Giving Committee.
He has received the ACHE Senior-Level Regent Award, the Service Award, the Distinguished Service Award and the Exemplary Service Award. He has been a Congressional Fellow, is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and has given back to his community with service on a variety of boards and organizations, among them the Business Council of Westchester, the Westchester County Association, the Stellaris Health Network Board of Trustees and the Silvercrest Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation Board of Trustees.
Andrews Named Young Healthcare Executive of the Year
Callie C. Andrews, FACHE, senior vice president, Wellstar Health System, and COO of Wellstar’s flagship facility, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, received the Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year.
Andrews stands out because of her progressive career track and her commitment to the development of other aspiring healthcare executives, “paying it forward” like many of the leaders she considers mentors. She works to study and implement effective diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and is acutely aware of the important role that positive female leaders have in shaping the career paths of other young women.
Andrews joined Wellstar Health System in 2016 as vice president and COO for Wellstar Cobb Hospital, Austell, Ga., and was promoted to senior vice president and hospital president before assuming her current role. Although she has been COO only a short time, Andrews has developed and presented a revamped three-year strategic plan, launched an interventional neurorobotics program, opened a cardiovascular hybrid OR and programmed completion for a new 150-bed, $268 million tower.
Higher Education Network Award Winners
Andrews’ management of data to improve patient experience during the COVID-19 pandemic is the reason for countless testimonies of outstanding patient experiences at Wellstar Cobb Hospital. She was incident commander for a majority of the pandemic, leading daily operations and response to ensure team members were safe and could provide high-quality care for some of Georgia’s sickest patients. During her tenure at Wellstar Cobb, the hospital achieved a 38% reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections, a 56% reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections and a 14% improvement in all-cause mortality.
Andrews has been a member of ACHE since 2005. She was elected to the board of the Georgia Association of Healthcare Executives in 2015 and served as sponsorship chair from 2017 to 2018, a time during which the chapter significantly restructured its sponsorship program and increased giving by more than 400%. After leading the Sponsorship Committee, Andrews subsequently served as president-elect, president and immediate past president of GAHE. She now serves as the ACHE Regent for Georgia.
Colleagues say she is a “bright light,” both in her commitment to ACHE and the profession, and her achievements are a result of her outstanding leadership skills, personal competency, the trust she builds within her organization, and her commitment to staff, providers and patients.
Ross and Saxe Receive Lifetime Service Awards
Zeff Ross, LFACHE (right), and Steven M. Saxe, LFACHE (left), were honored with ACHE’s Lifetime Service and Achievement Award.
Ross has had a genuine and lasting impact on the healthcare community. During his 40-plus years of service, he revolutionized the delivery of healthcare in South Florida, encouraging his team at Memorial Regional Hospital to deliver the highest quality of care and achieving high patient, employee and physician satisfaction. His many contributions have added immeasurable value to the healthcare landscape in South Broward.
Ross has consistently played an active role as a mentor and supportive advocate to many in the industry. Throughout his tenure at MHS, he served as an adjunct professor at Florida International University and St. Thomas University, teaching graduate courses in healthcare. He also has served as a preceptor for the Florida International University School of Health Administration, as well as the Tufts University School of Medicine MD/MBA program in health management.
He first was introduced to ACHE as a student and has been an ACHE member for more than 40 years. He has been honored with the ACHE Senior-Level Regent Award twice and has received a Service Award. He served as the ACHE Regent for Southern Florida from 2003 to 2006.
2022 Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition Winners
Ross was a champion of ethics for ACHE, assisting with a review of the Ethics Self-Assessment, suggesting needed revisions. In addition, he has been a member and officer of a wide range of professional associations and community organizations, including the American Heart Association, Florida International University HCMBA Advisory Council, Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and the Broward Regional EMS Council. He was appointed by the governor to serve on the Florida Trauma State Advisory Council and continued to do so for over two years while in retirement. He has been recognized with more than 50 awards and honors, most recently the 2019 Excellence in Service Award from the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the 2017 Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award of IP Behavioral Health, and the 2017 President’s Award for Excellence in Healthcare by Professional Research Consultants Inc.
Saxe has embodied the ACHE values of lifelong learning and service to the profession throughout his healthcare career. A pharmacist by training, he worked in both inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings, where he rapidly rose to leadership positions.
He joined ACHE while in the Duke University MHA program in 1986 and has been a continuous member ever since, achieving Life Fellow status upon his retirement. He was instrumental in the establishment of his local ACHE chapter, the Puget Sound Healthcare Executive Forum, and then its transition to the Washington State Healthcare Executives Forum as part of the ACHE Chapter Demonstration Project in Washington that led to the formation of the ACHE chapter system.
One of the activities he is most proud of helping to implement is the chapter’s “Meet-and-Mingle” networking events. These events began with a short promo for WSHEF and ACHE activities and sometimes included short education pieces. Over the years, subsequent chapter members have continued to expand on this concept—even during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the “Meet-and-Mingle” events and educational discussions continued via videoconference.
At the national level, Saxe served as the ACHE Regent for Washington from 2004 to 2007 and has participated in ACHE’s mentor program and contributed as a reviewer and judge for the Richard J. Stull Student Essay Competition.
Saxe’s career has taken him from the front lines of USPHS Indian Health Center to hospital operations and numerous roles at the Washington State Department of Health, culminating in an executive director position at the Washington State Pharmacy Commission from 2016 to 2019.
Contributions over the duration of Saxe’s distinguished tenure include sharing hospital emergency operations center experience from two earthquakes, participating on the opioid overdose response team for Washington, developing the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program in Washington, leading the Department of Health Statewide Rural Health Office and working to address health professional shortages. He also led the development of the State Suicide Prevention Plan, overseeing grant work for stroke prevention and participating in the National Violent Death Reporting System, and working on the medication safe-disposal legislation for Washington.
Throughout his career, Saxe has supported and promoted the values of ACHE and the state chapter for networking, lifelong learning, ethical decision-making and credentialing. Colleagues recognize him for his incredible work ethic and his “humble leadership by example.”
Bluford Honored With President’s Award
John W. Bluford III, LFACHE, received ACHE’s President’s Award. This award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field and recognizes exemplary service outside the bounds of other recognitions indicative of ACHE’s formal awards program.
Bluford is currently the president/founder of the Bluford Healthcare Leadership Institute and president emeritus for Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Mo.
Throughout his accomplished career, Bluford has worked to ensure underserved populations have a voice and to eliminate healthcare disparities. Affectionately known as “Mr. B” by many, he has played a key role in developing leaders through personal support, engagement and career appointments, taking time out of his busy day to meet with, listen to and push early careerists to be the best version of themselves.
Bluford served as the president and CEO of Truman Medical Centers for 15 years, and prior to that, held various leadership positions at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis. During his 22 years at Hennepin, he spent six years as its CEO, and in 1983, he started the first public sector HMO in the country, the Metropolitan Health Plan.
Bluford has been a supporter of ACHE and its mission, vision and values for 40 years, joining in 1982. A consistent attendee of the annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership for the past 37 years, he also served as a speaker for the Masters Series at the 2014 Congress, and he has served as a faculty member for the Thomas C. Dolan Executive Diversity Program. Bluford has worked with the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals (formerly the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems) and the National Association of Health Services Executives on collaborative programming arrangements and the advancement of healthcare management excellence. He has participated in several local ACHE chapter programs, encouraging content focused on leadership principles, high performance and improving the health of urban communities through outreach.
Entire Healthcare Workforce Recognized With Honorary Fellowship
For the first time in ACHE’s history, the entire healthcare workforce was recognized with Honorary Fellowship. Healthcare workers were recognized for their selflessness in caring for all while facing the overwhelming challenges—including battling exhaustion, fear and anxiety—of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They were celebrated for the endless hours they have spent at the intersection of life and death, grappling with decisions that tested even the most experienced professionals. The fortitude those on the front lines have demonstrated and the sacrifices they have made exemplify what it truly means to care deeply for others.
Dauner, Schlichting, Berwick Inducted Into Hall of Fame
C. Duane Dauner, FACHE; Nancy F. Schlichting, FACHE; and Don Berwick, MD, were honored as inductees in the Modern Healthcare Health Care Hall of Fame.
Dauner was posthumously inducted in honor of his five decades of hospital association leadership and health policy influence. He died in a car accident in July 2020 at the age of 80.
Dauner served as president and CEO of the California Hospital Association for 32 years, where he helped improve access to care for millions by working to secure funding for the state’s Medi-Cal program. In 2013, he established the Hospital Quality Institute, a collaboration of state hospital organizations that advanced California as a leader in quality improvement efforts.
Schlichting was inducted in recognition of her success in improving hospitals, entire health systems and the industry.
Her long career spans various roles, from nurse’s aide and hospital switchboard operator to executive vice president and COO, Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio. She retired in 2017 as president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, where she worked for nearly two decades. During her tenure, the system earned the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award and a John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award.
Berwick, president emeritus of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has been at the forefront of some of healthcare’s most pivotal moments of the past three decades.
He served on the landmark Institute of Medicine committee that issued To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, literature that reframed the healthcare field’s approach to patient safety.
2022 Publication Awards
James A. Hamilton Book of the Year Award
Thom Mayer, MD, FACHE
Battling Healthcare Burnout: Learning to Love the Job You Have While Creating the Job You Love
(Berrett-Koehler, 2021)
Dean Conley Award
Aimee J. Daily, PhD, FACHE
“How One Healthcare Organization Is Creating a True System”
Published in the summer 2021 Frontiers of Health Services Management
Edgar C. Hayhow Award
Christine Pitocco, PhD
Thomas R. Sexton, PhD
Kelly Stickle
“Using Data Analytics to Improve Hospital Quality Performance”
Published in the July/August 2020 Journal of Healthcare Management