85.7 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

In the Business of Caring

Growing up in Colorado, Morre Dean found his lifelong passion in an unlikely place: the hospital. He knew it well Dean was just 5 when his mother died of Hodgkin’s disease then watched as his brother grappled with cardiac problems. The experiences were challenging, but for Dean they also laid the groundwork for a career in health care administration, one that would eventually take him from Denver to Central Florida and on to the Pacific Northwest. There, and still in his 30s, he starting running the 72-bed Walla Walla General Hospital, an Adventist Health facility in Walla Walla, Wash. Dean is credited with spearheading the community hospital’s $4 million financial turnaround and building a $20 million retirement center The stunning about-face was enough to attract the attention of Adventist execs, who appointed the 38-year-old to a new and more prominent post: President and CEO of Glendale Adventist, the largest facility owned by the Rosemont, Calif., company. The 448-bed, nearly 2,200-employee hospital is also undergoing a massive expansion, including the construction of a multi-million-dollar- patient tower opening next month. Dean sat down with the Business Journal to discuss the hospital’s future, what brought him to California and the challenges of moving from tiny Walla Walla (pop. 29,686) to Glendale (pop. 200,065). “We think the people here are wonderful and the hospital is doing an incredible mission in this community,” he said. “Sure, it’s big. But it’s only as big as you make it. I love it.” Question: How did you get into the health care business? Answer: Pretty early on in life, I wanted to be a physician, (which was) partly formed by my family’s history of dealing with health care. But I met a hospital administrator when I was 16, about the time I started to realize I really didn’t enjoy science He was able to work each and every day with people to make a positive difference at the bedside. And he got to do it in the realm I enjoyed, which is the business side and the relationship side. I built my educational experience and my summer jobs around that. My first health care job out of college was at Florida Hospital for a few years. Then I came back to Denver, where I was president of two south Denver hospitals (Porter and Littleton Adventist hospitals). Then I went to Washington for the past seven, where I was CEO (of Walla Walla General Hospital). Q: And then you came here. Did Adventist Health come after you for this position? A: They asked me if I would be interested in coming down here and really felt that my skill set matched what Glendale Adventist needed at this time. The answer was absolutely yes after I met this team and saw what this organization was all about. It was easy for me to get excited. Q: Why do you think you were picked? A: I think because of how I interact with people. I believe what the people at Adventist thought Glendale needed was somebody to build relationships in a positive way. Q: How is this hospital different from the one in Walla Walla? A: Obviously, size. It’s a lot bigger. The range of specialties we offer is much bigger and is compared to those you would see in an academic center. In Washington, we were a small hospital, very community-based. So this organization has much more going for it because that’s what Glendale residents need and are asking for. But from my perspective, health care is health care. It’s delivered from a person to a person. So it doesn’t matter if you’re in a small hospital or a big hospital. Q: But isn’t the health care business itself different in California? A: California is a more difficult business environment for health care organizations than Washington is or Colorado is. I don’t see it as drastically different. I think there’s differences in any state you’ll go to. Q: Do you think it’s easier for you to come from the outside to address the challenges? A: I think it comes down to the fact this organization has a lot of people that understand the dynamics of running an organization in California and I don’t have to be one to get up to speed. It’s already happening. Q: Are there challenges unique to this hospital that you see? A: Just meeting the needs of the community. Growing into our vision. That’s the biggest challenge. I don’t see it as insurmountable. I’m a piece to make that happen. Q: Part of that is the new patient tower A: Yes, which should be finished in April. We’re going to start moving in and see patients May 14. Q: Is that a challenge that you’re coming on mid-stream versus seeing from the beginning? A: No. (Chief Operating Officer) Warren Tates has that very much under control. What I add to the expansion is not really the operational side, but the next steps to growth from that. Q: The bulk of your patients comes from Glendale or is that changing? A: As we’ve grown, our volume over the past few years has come from secondary service areas. And that’s mainly because of the hospital’s ability to grow into being more than just a community hospital. So as we grow our neurosciences program, as we grow our cardiac program, we’ve really branched out to people not only in Glendale, but those in other areas. We do things here that you wouldn’t get in most medical centers. Q: Where would you like to see this hospital in 10 years? A: I’d really like to keep capitalizing on our tertiary growth and moving this from a community-based hospital to a regional medical center. There’s a lot of opportunities for us. We can continue to help not only the residents of Glendale, but the surrounding communities. That’s really my vision, taking that next step. I think we’re on the brink. The team has really led us to that point. And I think I’m one more piece to make that happen. SNAPSHOT Morre L. Dean Title: President and CEO, Glendale Adventist Medical Center Age: 38 Education: BA, business administration, Union College in Lincoln, Neb., MA, University of Central Florida in Orlando. Source of Inspiration: “Every day, I work in a job that not only affects people but one that raises the bar in health care. That inspires me.” Personal: Married to Katrina; two children, Tyler and Jillian, 10 and 7.

Featured Articles

Related Articles