By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor
Garren Colvin now has more than a year behind him as President and CEO of St. Elizabeth Healthcare but to say he has “settled into” the job would be the height of inaccuracy.
He just isn’t the kind of guy who “settles.”
Colvin with board chair Jim Votruba at the announcement of his selection as CEO
It would be fairer to say – but still short of total accuracy – that he hit the ground running and is still picking up speed since that day last June when he got the job of his dreams with the institution he had worked for since his college days at Thomas More.
He’s still the proverbial kid with the new toy – surprised beyond measure that he got exactly the gift he wanted. And he hasn’t lost an ounce of that boyish demeanor – wholesome, unassuming with a touch of shyness, a refreshing directness, a quick smile – that has earned him a legion of friends and admiring associates since his days as a Ludlow high school and Thomas More college athlete and scholar.
Colvin worked his way up at St. Elizabeth, starting as an accounting clerk in 1983 and becoming executive vice president and COO, then moving into the top spot, after the board conducted an extensive national search.
He grew up in Ludlow, the only child of adoring but demanding parents and married his college sweetheart. He and Susan live in Crescent Springs and are the parents of two daughters, Kylie, a pre-med student at UK, and Hannah, who will be a freshman at Wright State.
Colvin says a year later that the day he got the St. E. top job was the “fourth happiest day” of his life, after his marriage to Susan and the birth of his daughters.
Yes, success hasn’t spoiled this guy.
Comfortable in any setting.
After a productive and transformational year, Colvin has moved St. Elizabeth forward at a pace recognized as remarkable by the hospital’s board, its employees, the medical profession, its partners – and the community.
From the start, Colvin pledged that the region’s largest employer would be “more community engaged,” and – by design – he has lived up to that promise. He set out to re-establish the hospital as a vital corporate citizen just as much as it is a vital healthcare provider. From “Northern Kentucky Night at the Reds” to bringing the State Girls Basketball tournament to Northern Kentucky for the first time in its history, the St. Elizabeth imprint is everywhere. Other involvements included the NKY HeartChase, Paddle Fest, Special Olympics, and more.
“A year ago, the board was unanimous in its view that Garren was the right person to lead St. Elizabeth forward in what is a national healthcare environment full of both opportunity and challenge,” said Jim Votruba, retired president of NKU and chair of the hospital board. “He has exceeded even our own high expectations.
“His combination of deep understanding of St. Elizabeth, the high level of respect and trust he enjoys with physicians, associates, and volunteers, his capacity to assemble an outstanding leadership team, his knowledge of the regional, statewide, and national health care environment, his commitment to core values while demonstrating the capacity to think anew about how we go about our work, and, most importantly, his character and deep commitment to advancing the health of our patients and our community make him the right leader for St. Elizabeth.”
Known for ‘managing by walking around’
But how does Colvin himself see the accomplishments of his first year?
He has a list of favorites:
#1 – “Putting together a great team”
Colvin is all about teamwork – and crediting the team.
“We have a terrific senior leadership team – veterans of St. E’s combined with new professionals who complement them and bring fresh perspective to the institution,” he says.
He did re-shape the senior team – with a new head of St. Elizabeth Physicians, a new COO, a new position for Mission and Pastoral care, and a new general counsel, among others.
He and his team embraced a new strategic plan that focuses on “bringing the system together” and have identified focus #1: Making Northern Kentucky one of the healthiest communities in America.
#2 “Building a Habitat for Humanity home for one of our own”
Going from big-picture to close-to-home, Colvin is proud of the project that exemplifies the internal “family” at St. E. He is, according to several long-time employees who didn’t want to be identified, a popular “boss” they admire and trust. “The whole internal culture here has changed,” said one.
Insiders say his leadership style and “appreciation of every employee” has contributed to the changed environment.
Colvin says that a Habitat build that involved 800 volunteers and 2600 hours over a three-month period – making St. E the #1 volunteer company for Habitat – was a highlight of his productive year.
With his colleagues
“This allows us to start – with a first step – on the path to making NKY a healthier community,” Colvin said.
St. E provided a $1 million gift for a new Healthy Living Center at the Durr YMCA in Burlington, a partnership aimed at enriching the patient experience, improving the health of the community, and reducing healthcare costs. It gives physicians an option to refer patients to help them address risk factors, manage chronic diseases and improve symptoms.
Colvin is looking for similar partnerships around the region.
#4 The collective efforts on heroin abuse
Colvin has been an outspoken champion for needle exchanges, creating coalitions and joining other powerful advocates like Dr. Lynne Sadler of the Northern Kentucky Health Department to advance the cause.
He cites a serious – and eventually unaffordable – health crisis related to HIV and Hepatitis C and has no doubts about the potential for suffering of innocent victims.
“We’ve made great progress, but we aren’t across the goal line,” he says, citing exchange programs in Pendleton and Grant counties, a pending program in Kenton County and a Campbell County program that is half-way there, awaiting Newport action on approval of a mobile exchange unit.
Northern Kentucky Night at the Reds
The hospital also partnered with the three NKY counties to set up a 24/7 substance abuse Helpline (859.577.CARE) in association with the Addiction Services Council.
Other major initiatives during Colvin’s freshman year:
* An $8 million investment in the Health Innovation Center at Northern Kentucky University;
* A free PulsePoint App available throughout NKY, to alert average citizens and off-duty professionals trained in CPR to cardiac arrest incidents in a public place in their immediate vicinity. (Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and effective CPR administered quickly can double or triple the victim’s chance of survival;
*Partnership with Sun Behavioral Health for a new specialty hospital to address mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
* Assuming lease of the METS Center from NKU for a training and professional development site for ongoing classroom training, simulation labs, and offices for its Staff Development department;
Sports Medicine affiliations with area schools;
* The acquisition of OHC (Oncology Hematology Care), which “will allow us to take cancer care to the next level.” The clinical research that will be possible is a “major game-changer,” says Colvin. “It will give us access to drugs five years before they are available to the public – and will allow us to help patients live longer and live healthier.”
While all this represents a body of work on which laurels can be rested, don’t count on Garren Colvin to do anything more than take a deep breath and carry on at a break-neck pace.
He has a long list – responding to changes in health care reform, dealing with unreimbursed care, fulfilling healthcare needs of those too poor to pay, helping the public understand the importance of the state’s Certificate of Need process, working toward a smoke-free Kentucky . . .It’s a very long list.
Clearly, he doesn’t “settle” in any way.
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You might also want to read the NKyTribune story:
Local boy makes good as head of St. E Healthcare
Garren, the high school athlete. (Photo courtesy of his Mom)
