Kettering

Dr. Thomas J. Graham

More than a regional medical destination, Kettering Health stands at the intersection of a legacy of historic innovation and a resolve to transform today’s model of healthcare for the future

Charles F. Kettering famously said, “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” And the legendary inventor and industrialist’s career left no room for doubt in his conviction. An Ohio native, born in 1876, Kettering revolutionized the auto industry, powered flight and delivered 186 patents, countless processes and product advancements that improve our lives still today. He led research at General Motors, Delco Electronics and the National Cash Register Corporation (NCR), becoming responsible for famed inventions like the electric car starter, freon gas (enabling refrigeration) and leaded gasoline. However, his greatest contribution may be his insight into how healthcare is delivered. Today, the dynamic monument to his brilliance is the thriving healthcare system that bears his name: Kettering Health. Comprising 14 medical centers and over 120 sites of care, the Dayton-based system reaches patients throughout western Ohio and beyond. Over the past year, nearly 100 player-patients have sought care at Kettering Health, a preeminent destination for the care of the professional athlete, specifically for hand and wrist surgery. In that time, they’ve come for the care of Dr. Thomas J. Graham, the world-renowned hand surgeon—and Kettering Health’s inaugural Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer. Kettering Health couldn’t have picked a better leader who understands the challenges of patient-centered care, the nuances of the process of innovation, and the manifold opportunities the latter offers to elevate the former. In addition to his unique clinical practice, Dr. Graham directs “Innovation Kettering,” the health system’s technology-transfer and entrepreneurship arm that seeks to establish the contemporary expression of Charles Kettering’s innovative legacy. A prolific inventor himself, Dr. Graham holds over 60 medical device patents and is a serial entrepreneur, having launched five companies. He is also healthcare’s first Chief Innovation Officer (at Cleveland Clinic), authoring the best-selling book Innovation the Cleveland Clinic Way, describing how to build innovation at-scale within large corporations. After stints in Baltimore—where he served as the Chief of the Congressionally-designated National Hand Center—and in New York City, Graham admitted, “It was time to come back to Ohio. I was born here; my wife was born here; I got my medical education here; my first job was here.”

Dr. Thomas J. Graham [left]; Charles Kettering standing behind Augustus Post, Alfred P. Sloan and David H. Morris during a General Motors luncheon [right]

“I embrace the ‘maker economy,’” stated Dr. Graham. “I was always so proud to have been from a place that contributed so much to the development of our country, but still has so much contemporary potential to remain at the vanguard of creative thought.” Raised in the former “pottery center of the world” in East Liverpool, Ohio, Dr. Graham later attended boarding school in Pittsburgh and college in Massachusetts, learning early on about the symbiotic dynamics of economics and innovation. “I saw the region’s dominant industries, pottery and steel, crumble before my eyes in the 1970s,” he said. “And I got the memo early that you need to continue to innovate and collaborate to remain relevant and sustain leadership in any endeavor—healthcare is no different.” Among his colleagues, Dr. Graham emphasizes “practicing innovation as a discipline, one that improves and extends human life while creating economic opportunity for the communities we serve.” And it’s that comprehensive approach he’s taken with him to Kettering Health. “Innovation Kettering” reflects Kettering Health’s system-wide commitment to solve big problems for large populations, faster and more economically. The system prides itself on agility, enabling its leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. It not only pivoted its clinical operations to care for patients amid the everevolving complexities around COVID-19, but it also took a leadership role in helping thousands of citizens confidently receive vaccination and pioneered protocols to monitor the population and transfer high-acuity cases. “Yes, we’re a multibillion-dollar company,” Dr. Graham described. “We’re one of the largest employers in our region, but healthcare is always a local phenomenon. The center of the medical universe is where the patient and doctor get together, and we must always strive to render the right care for the right problem, at the right place and time.” Dr. Graham infuses lessons from his three-decade’s long career of caring for over 2,000 professional athletes to establish that “major-league” level of care at Kettering Health. “We deliver the same level of world-class care for the schoolteacher and the assembly-line worker that we render for the professional athletes I serve.” Dr. Graham is a self-described “culture guy,” drawing upon his decades in professional sports where teamwork is paramount and critical to building an “innovation

IT CAME FROM DAYTON

In the early 1900s, Dayton, Ohio, held the most patents per capita. Here are a few Dayton inventions:

• Airplane • Cash register • Self-starting ignition for automobiles • “Pop top” beverage can • Ice cube tray • Stepladder • Flight simulator for training pilots • Electric wheelchair • Statoscope • Electric lights for automobiles • Spark plugs • Leaded gasoline • Automatic transmission • Four-wheel brakes • Freon • The Internet search engine

ecosystem” that defines Kettering Health’s creative culture and promotes collaboration between the other regional medical systems, research universities, industry partners, investors and philanthropists. “Here at Kettering Health, the leadership comprises some of the most dedicated and thoughtful people; the way they conduct their personal and professional lives was extremely attractive to me. We have a real opportunity here to be the laboratory for the new post-pandemic healthcare delivery system.” Having seen Kettering Health grow from a collection of full-service community hospitals into a nationally recognized regional health system, Dr. Graham has been applying his unique expertise from leading at some of the largest medical centers in the world to accelerate that transformation. He takes regular inspiration from Charles Kettering’s thinking, noting the namesake’s relationship with innovation was a “perfect balance of optimism and realism.” Graham remains impressed with Kettering’s consistent use of genius to solve practical problems. “If you drove in a car, flew in a plane or enjoyed a cold drink today…thank Charles Kettering.” Charles Kettering led “the Barn Gang,” so named because they invented and tested many things we take for granted in an old structure on the property of John Patterson, NCR’s founder. The group consisted of the likes of the Wright Brothers and Edward Deeds—who helped lead the rebuilding of Dayton after the Great Flood of 1913—with guest appearances from Thomas Watson (IBM’s founder) and Henry Ford. This brain trust established Dayton as the “Silicon Valley” of last century–a mantle Dr. Graham is working to re-establish. Among the many famous Charles Kettering quotes Graham encourages his colleagues to read and heed, his two favorites are “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail,” and “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” To call out the importance of collaborating and gaining perspective from others, Graham humbly adds one of his own: “Innovation happens best at the intersection of knowledge domains.” “I would hope that Charles Kettering would be proud of us,” reflected Dr. Graham. “Despite our established thought-leadership, we are always questioning and innovating. I am just as proud of the way we conduct our business; caring for our community and also positioning ourselves as the ‘best partner in healthcare’ and one of the most dynamic systems in the country.” Another dimension to Dr. Graham’s personal history is his close relationship with Arnold Palmer. “Like any kid growing up around Pittsburgh in the 1960s and 1970s, I was first a fan. Then we became very close friends. He was my patient and my partner in launching the Arnold Palmer SportsHealth Center (Baltimore).” Graham admitted, “I certainly miss Arnold, but his lessons of humility and how to treat people live on in all of us who knew him; it is one of the greatest privileges of my life to have shared such a close relationship with such a great man.” Three decades of caring for the world’s most elite athletes and teams have given Dr. Graham an intimate glimpse into one of the world’s most unique subcultures: professional sports. “I have come to understand championship organizations. They put their most valuable assets, their people, in the position to succeed and contribute to the bigger collective goal.” Graham shared that Kettering Health unequivocally qualifies in this stratum, and it continues to grow and innovate to maintain leadership in the future.