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THROUGH THE WIRE: HOSPITAL CEO GOES UNDERCOVER FOR THE FBI
Welcome ... Together, we have been conducting health care searches for almost 60 years.
Edward Hospital CEO Pam Davis hates the term whistleblower despite the fact she’s a pretty good one
are having fun! One of the things we have enjoyed most is the chance to meet so many fascinating people in the health care world. We thought it might be fun to share with you some of the folks we’ve met and why we felt they were so interesting.
By Sheila Ahern
We hope you had a good summer and that the fall is starting out well. Enjoy. Roger Quick President & CEO
Pam is a Chicago-suburban hospital CEO who felt she was being shaken down by construction company executive Jacob Kieferbaum when she went to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board in 2004 to was told if she hired Kieferbaum to build the hospital — at a more expensive rate than a company she had already chosen — she’d get her hospital. If she didn’t, no hospital. It just sounded wrong, so Pam went to the FBI. The end result was the conviction
Chairman INSIDE: - Quint Studer - “Results That Last” - Recent Placements - ASHHRA Leadership Forums
of Kieferbaum, health facilities planning board member Stuart Levine, and former political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Some experts say Gov. Rod Blagojevich is next. At the very least, Pam’s actions probably prevented Blagojevich from running for president, which was a serious possibility before all the convictions. This isn’t what Pam signed up for four years ago. continued on page 2
Continued from page 1 she’d unseat some bad apples on the state’s health facilities planning board after Levine tried to lure her by promising approval of the hospital’s request in exchange for using a contractor he picked. During his trial, Levine related how he conspired with Kieferbaum to shake down Pam over her institution’s application to didn’t play ball, so the board denied her plan. “To get shut down like that, to get kicked in the teeth like that, it’s unheard of,” said Pam about the vote. After a meeting with Pam, Levine spoke with Kieferbaum in a conversation taped and played back at Levine’s trial. The two men joked about how well the meeting had gone. “It went perfectly. She understood,” Kieferbaum said. Kieferbaum and Levine had no idea Pam “understood” on a level they did not. “They were arrogant beyond belief,” Pam said. “This was about construction, about what they were talking about.” Pam worked with the FBI for more than eight months, sometimes wearing a wire to tape conversations.
Imagine if this were your Monday: 2. Have breakfast with corrupt politicians and businessmen. 3. Debrief with the FBI about the breakfast. 4. Start your work day as a hospital CEO. Stressful? You bet. But Pam had a knack for it. “I was good at it,” she said. “I mean, I knew it was something I could do. Mostly because I was so mad.” Indeed, if not for her anger and courage, none of this might have ever come to light. Her tapes were played throughout the trials of Rezko and Levine. She read about the tapes in the newspapers. The FBI told her to stay away from the trials and not to talk to the media. Today, life is close to normal for Pam, but it will never really be the same. Every day people ask her about the Rezko trial or what it was like to wear a wire and work for the FBI. She hears the term “whistleblower” all the time. It’s not a term she’s particularly fond of. “Say ‘whistleblower’ and the general public thinks you’re involved or that you received money,” Pam said. Pam is arguably the most famous whistleblower in recent history of the state
QLK TO HOLD 8TH ANNUAL STUDY GROUP
of Illinois. The term will probably follow her around for the rest of her life. “I don’t want the spotlight, in fact I hate it,” she said. “I’m in a tough business and people say things. I still get my feelings hurt.” But she wouldn’t change a thing, even four years later. “It’s like that saying, ‘Evil thrives when good people do nothing,’” Pam said. “I had to speak up because what was happening was wrong. It was wrong. I couldn’t be passive. And you know, today, I can live with myself.”
Pam Davis, Chief Executive Officer Edward Hospital & Health Services
QLK will hold its eighth annual study group in Scottsdale, Arizona, from February 22 - 24 at the Four Seasons Resort. We hope you can join us for this learning and networking experience. Educational sessions are held on two mornings. Attendance at the study group is limited to 20 people. For more information, please email:
Mike Kieffer - mkieffer@qlksearch.com Brian Barton - bbarton@qlksearch.com
or call Brian at: (312) 876-9800
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QUINT STUDER - “RESULTS THAT LAST”
There’s a mantra in health care: “Don’t give up on anyone. No matter what.” And while that’s a great motto to have when helping someone who is sick, it’s not so great when it comes to some leaders in health care, said Quint Studer, an author of two books and founder of Studer Group, Florida. “People in health care are not good at
William Ferniany We are pleased to announce William Ferniany, Ph.D., has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of UAB Health System. UAB Health System is an innovative network of services that provides a complete continuum of care for patients from all over the world. Will has been a senior leader in health care since 1975 and in academic medicine since 1988. He was most recently the Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson, having previously held key leadership positions at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and at UAB. At UMMC, Will was responsible for the overall operation of three hospitals and the adult and pediatric clinics in Mississippi. UMMC is the only academic health science center in the state. Will earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Manpower and Industrial Relations from the University of Alabama, and his Master’s Degree in Hospital and Health Administration and Doctorate in Administration – Health Services from UAB. A Mobile native, Will looks forward to returning to Alabama where he and his wife enjoy spending time at their second home on a lake not far from Birmingham. He also enjoys bike riding and is involved with the United Way.
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because those low performers bring down everyone else.” That’s just one of Quint’s revelations in his book “Results that Last,” which came out last fall. Quint has written two best-selling books. “Hardwiring Excellence,” which is the bestselling leadership book ever written for health care, with over 300,000 copies in print. His latest book, “Results That Last,” a general leadership book, came to print on October 2007. In just four weeks, his book has hit the Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list of business books. “I never expected that kind of success,” Quint said. “I just wanted to write a book not just about health care systems, but about general leadership principals.” In “Results That Last,” Quint shows how to build an organizational culture that develops great leaders today and instills
the mechanisms and the mindset that will continue to foster great leadership tomorrow. leadership practices and shows how to apply them across every group, department or division, resulting in improved leadership and performance on the individual, group and organizational levels.
Quint Studer Author, “Results that Last”
CONGRATULATIONS, SANDRA BRUCE! Resurrection Health Care, a system of eight hospitals in Chicago, has selected Sandra Bennett Bruce to be their next President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing longtime executive Joe Toomey. Quick Leonard Kieffer was honored to conduct the search and will be hosting a reception for the Chicago hospital community in honor of Sandra. The event will be held at the John Hancock Building on October 28.
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IN OTHER NEWS
Byron V. Garrett The National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) has named Byron V. Garrett as volunteer child advocacy organization in the United States, with over six million members. Byron comes to the NPTA from Washington, DC, where he of the US Department of Homeland Security. Before joining US Customs and Border Protection, Byron served as the National Program Leader of Youth Development for 4-H, through the US Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. Prior to beginning his tenure with the Federal government, Byron worked as a Policy Advisor and Director to Arizona’s Governor, Janet Napolitano. voice for those who are voiceless. He continually strives to be an agent of change by recognizing, highlighting and valuing people of varying perspectives and backgrounds including race, ethnicity and socio-economic status. In addition to the positions he has held, Byron is a motivational speaker, advocating on behalf of youth and education organizations across the nation.
Kevin J. Gross RehabCare Group, Inc. announced it has named Kevin J. Gross Senior Vice President, Operations of its Hospital Division. A resident of Wayne, Pennsylvania, Kevin and his family will relocate to RehabCare headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, where he will become a member of the company’s executive management team. Prior to joining RehabCare, Kevin served as President of the Acute Care Division of Universal Health Services (UHS), overseeing operations of 24 hospitals across the United States. Before UHS, Kevin was President of the Oklahoma Division for Ardent Health Services, managing a nine-hospital system in Northeast Oklahoma for four years. In the years preceding, he held pivotal management roles for several hospitals and health care systems in Texas, Kansas and Colorado. Kevin holds an MBA in Healthcare Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Kimberly A. Russel We are pleased to announce Kimberly A. Russel has accepted the position of President and CEO of BryanLGH Health System. BryanLGH is a full service tertiary care community health system in Lincoln, Nebraska. Kim comes to BryanLGH from Ames, Iowa, where she Center. Kim honed her hospital administrator skills at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Kim brings with her a wide array of skills and experiences. She believes that health care is delivered by teams of professionals, which is why she focuses on developing good relationships with Kim joined BryanLGH in March and says that she and her husband, Dirk Brom, MD, are looking forward to exploring bike paths in Lincoln and becoming Huskers and a part of the Lincoln community.
ASHHRA - THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FORUM QLK is pleased to announce a collaboration with ASHHRA and will host three Thought Leader Forums. These “think tanks” will bring together a high level of thought leaders — proven professionals and up-and-comers — to share thoughts, experiences and insights. After each session, we will provide a white paper summary that will share the thoughts and conclusions of the group. was held in San Diego and dealt with patient safety and quality. The next session will be in October and will focus on health care workforce issues. A white paper summary will be available on our website (www.qlksearch.com) in the coming months. “It’s a win-win partnership,” said Cathy Sewell, Executive Director of the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration of the American Hospital Association.
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