KBA Interim Success Story STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE: Franciscan St. James Health, Chicago, IL
February 25, 2016
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KBA Interim Services is to hear from one of our clients.
Franciscan St. James Health in Chicago is a faith-based hospital that has served the south suburban region for over 100 years. As a two-campus health care system, it was challenged with finding a Director of Critical Care Services.
The position had been vacant for the better part of a year when the hospital CEO turned to KBA for an interim leader based on a prior positive experience with another organization. This interim director would oversee Critical Care Services at both campuses and provide a comprehensive assessment and action plan for achieving a new direction and significant improvements in Critical Care.
KBA presented a slate of seasoned nurse leaders, all of whom had strong and successful leadership experience in critical care and related areas. Of those presented, the hospital chose to interview four candidates. All candidates were viewed favorably; however, one stood out with what appeared to be a compatible management style and organizational fit.
The final candidate was selected and began as the Interim Director of Critical Care in July of 2015. As good fortune would have it, the interim lived within about a thirty-minute commute to the hospital. Over the five months of the interim engagement, the interim successfully achieved deliverables including improved standards of professional practice, enhanced educational activities for staff, improvements in adopting a culture of patient safety, and renewed focus on expectations for staff in delivering quality and compassionate care.
Throughout the engagement, the interim demonstrated a skill set and expertise that the organization viewed as potentially being successful beyond the Critical Care Services. The CEO began to explore a different organizational structure and decided to make the interim an integral component of the new permanent structure for the organization. In mid-December 2015, the interim director became a permanent employee and was promoted to the position of Chief Nursing Officer for Franciscan St. James Health.
Arnie Kimmel, Regional Chief Executive Officer of South Suburban Chicago Region/Franciscan Alliance and President, Franciscan St. James Health, describes the outcome best: “Our hospital spent months searching for an interim senior nursing executive with a particular skill set. After retaining Kirby Bates, we were presented with several qualified candidates. We have hired the interim manager we selected on a permanent basis and had even promoted her. We could not have been more pleased with the service and advice we received from Kirby Bates.”
This was a success story for both the
client organization and our Interim Leader.
Doris leads Kirby Bates Interim Management division. She is an accomplished healthcare executive, bringing over 30 years of nursing and healthcare leadership experience to her responsibilities. Her previous roles as a CNO, COO, and regional senior healthcare executive have encompassed acute care, behavioral health, and long-term acute care settings including public and private hospitals, for-profit organizations and private industry. SEE DORIS’ PROFILE
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