Mend On the
Providence Southwest Chief Executive Darin Goss on Navigating a Pandemic & The Future of Health Care
by Heidi Smith • Photos by Tracy Jameson
Since moving from Southern California to Olympia to take on his new role as Chief Executive of Providence Southwest Service Area, Darin Goss has met with multiple leaders from the business and health care communities. He collaborates with some of them so often that it was a shock to realize that, after nearly one year, he has yet to meet many of them in person. “I have great relationships with them,” he explains. “It’s strange to think that we’ve never met other than online.” Goss started on August 3, 2020, and he has been adapting to both his new home and the unprecedented challenges posed to the healthcare industry by COVID-19. Fortunately, Providence had strong plans in place to address the pandemic by the time he arrived. “My priority was understanding those plans and getting up to speed on what had already been done,” he says. The next step was tapping into existing expertise available through the network’s 51 hospitals and applying that knowledge locally within Thurston and Lewis counties. Before joining the Southwest service area, Goss served as COO of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank California after more than a decade at the Mayo Clinic. During his time at Providence in Southern California, he focused on streamlining operations, enhancing quality and led a $78M Emergency Room expansion currently under construction. When the opportunity thurstonchamber.com
arrived to venture up north, he felt the move to Washington made sense for him both professionally and personally. “It was an easy decision,” he explains. “Providence is the market leader in health care for our community and has a wide array of resources. They’re a national player among top hospitals. I knew I could come here and build on their success while navigating the future of health care and dramatic changes in how we deliver care.” Two of his current initiatives involve behavioral health and the use of technology. Providence recently was approved for a new behavioral health hospital that will address patient needs that go beyond the scope of traditional practice. Behavioral health encompasses the connection between the health and wellbeing of body and mind, and how factors like eating and drinking habits, exercise and addictive behavior patterns affect physical health. The new hospital will bring Thurston County Chamber VOICE
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