01
You began your career as an accountant. Did you think when you were starting out that you would be running a major hospital today?
I spent the first 11 years of my career trying to convince myself my career was in accounting, but I finally realized it was not what I wanted to do with my life. I was fortunate enough to get into hospital operations and truly enjoyed the work. As the COO, I was perfectly happy running the hospital on a day-to-day basis, and I never gave much thought to becoming a hospital CEO. But now that I’m doing it, I just love it.

02
The University of Kansas Hospital has been receiving all kinds of accolades and recognition for patient care, for heart care and more. How do you define success for the hospital?
The accolades are nice, but they certainly aren’t our focus. Our biggest reward is having highly satisfied patients who are receiving the best care from qualified professionals – quality care that results in outstanding outcomes.

03
Do you have a favorite patient success story?
I have thousands of them, but there is one that really sticks in my mind.

In mid-2006, a man from Parsons, Kansas, fell more than 30 feet from his barn onto concrete. Nearly every bone in his body was shattered. His prognosis was terrible, and his wife was told he would most likely die or be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. When a helicopter brought him to our hospital’s trauma center, our team rushed him into surgery, and he was in the hospital’s intensive care unit for the next month. He had to go through a lot of rehab, but nine months after his accident, he walked into our executive offices.

With tears in his eyes, he thanked us for not only saving his life, but helping him return to the life he had before the fall. It was a tremendously emotional experience for all of us.

04
How is an academic hospital different than a traditional hospital, and how does education coexist with medicine at KU Hospital?
There is such energy at an academic medical center, an energy you don’t see at other hospitals. This is where learning and discovery happen every day and where you see the cutting-edge in diagnosis and treatment. I think our staff loves the fact they are providing outstanding care to our patients, but also training the next generation of health care professionals.

05
In your time in the health care field, what is the biggest change you have seen?
The change in focus from cost to quality has been remarkable. Don’t get me wrong, cost is still a major concern. But our turnaround as an academic medical center has been, in large part, due to our focus on quality. Last year, we were recognized by the University HealthSystem Consortium as the fifth-ranked academic medical center in terms of patient safety and quality, and we will continue to do everything we can to be a national leader in quality.

06
How would you describe KU Hospital’s partnership with KU Medical Center?
Obviously, it is one of our longest and most important associations. The partnership greatly benefits the hospital, the school and the medical staff.

I am confident our relationship will grow and prosper in the future. Barbara Atkinson, Kirk Benson and I share a positive determination to maintain a cooperative climate in which the hospital, the School of Medicine and the medical staff can succeed together.

07
With the national shortage of health care providers, has it been a challenge to attract top-flight physicians and nurses to KU Hospital?
We’ve been fortunate the nursing shortage hasn’t significantly impacted our hospital. As a matter of fact, this year, we had over 300 applicants for 100 nursing vacancies. The physician shortage, however, is very real to us, but we have still had tremendous success in attracting great doctors. For example, despite the loss of a neurosurgeon in one of our key service areas, we were able to recruit a prominent neurosurgeon from Boston as a replacement.

08
What do you do to relax?
I love to play golf, and I play on the hospital’s softball team. I also fulfilled a lifelong dream this year and attended the Chicago Cubs’ fantasy camp in Arizona.

09
The Kansas Jayhawks won the NCAA basketball championship this year. Are you ready to go out on a limb and predict your beloved Cubs will win the World Series in 2008?
I have been a Cubs fan for 50 years and have learned predicting victory is a very slippery slope. But, wouldn’t it be great if this was the year for the Cubs? I know if they make it to the World Series, I’ll find a way to get there.

10
When you eventually look back on your work at KU Hospital, what would you like to be most proud of?
I sincerely hope I’ll be able to say I was part of an organization that became the best hospital in the country. When you look at where we were 10 years ago, we weren’t even expected to survive. So being the top hospital in the country…that would be an extraordinary achievement. +