Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Kevin Donovan, CEO, Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center



Today’s guest is Kevin Donovan, FACHE, FACMPE, the CEO of Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center in Windsor, Vermont. Mt. Ascutney Hospital is a critical access hospital in rural Vermont and in this podcast Kevin explains the role the hospital and hospital CEO play in a small town where it is the largest employer and major part of the social safety net for the local community. Mt. Asctuney is such an important part of the community fabric that it won the American Hospital Association’s Foster G. McGaw Prize for demonstrated exceptional commitment to community service.

Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center made the strategic decision under Kevin’s watch to become an affiliate of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System.  We discuss this critical decision, and how it was essential to the ongoing success of the organization, but also, surprisingly how a small, rural community hospital contributes value through its affiliation to one of the country’s best known research and teaching hospitals. One would expect the relationship to be one sided, given the size and influence of Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Northern New England, but it is clear from our conversation that the relationship is a win-win for both organizations.

As regular listeners will know after many interviews, most senior health care executives seem to come to the field through trial and error, almost discovering their destiny by accident. Kevin is one of the few I have interviewed who knew from the time he was a young man that he wanted to be a hospital CEO, and through dedication and hard work has accomplished that goal. We conclude the podcast with a discussion of leadership and mentorship, and Kevin gives advice for early careerists who want to follow his path.


Links to the Podcast:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/healthleaderforge/kevin-donovan-ceo-mt-ascutney-hospital
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-health-leader-forge
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/healthleaderforge/id981989377
Transcript of the interview.

Podcast Outline

0:00:00 introduction
0:02:44 education at Syracuse Univeristy, first exposure to healthcare admin
0:06:40 MHA at George Washington University
0:09:35 work as a practice manager
0:11:46 practice manager at DHMC Children's Hospital (CHAD)
0:13:32 becoming an ACHE Fellow
0:15:05 VP of Physician Services, Chief of Clinical Operations at The Elliott
0:22:59 Windsor, Vermont - home of Mt. Ascutney Hospital
0:26:18 recruiting skilled workers in a rural community
0:29:48 organizational structure of Mt. Ascutney Hospital
0:31:19 Mt. Ascutney as a critical access hosptial
0:34:05 becoming an affiliate of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
0:44:21 employed physician network
0:45:52 Mt. Ascutney's accute inpatient rehabilitation program
0:49:45 strategic decision to close the skilled nursing facility
0:51:29 Mt. Ascutney's assisted living facility
0:53:29 Mt. Ascutney 's grant foundation
0:55:58 being the CEO
1:00:18 employment relationship with DHMC, responsiblilites to DHMC
1:03:25 the board of Mt. Ascutney Hosptial and strategic planning
1:08:38 population health
1:11:09 the Mt. Ascutney grant foundation and receiving the Foster G. McGaw prize
1:13:36 leadership - servant leadership
1:15:36 hiring and evaluating leaders
1:19:11 mentors and mentorship
1:23:46 advice to early careerists




Links to Topics Discussed:

Mt. Ascutney Hospital

Syracuse University 

MHA at George Washington

Dartmouth-Hitchcok Health System

Medical Group Management Association

American College of Healthcare Executives

CARF accredited

OneCare Vermont

Foster G. McGaw Prize 





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