Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Digital Health
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Unwell in America
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. People
February 09, 2019 12:00 AM

ACHE honors three executives for inspired leadership

Modern Healthcare
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Leading a healthcare organization has never been easy. That's never been more true than today when the promise of disruption lurks around every corner.

    The American College of Healthcare Executives each year recognizes industry leaders for their work in transforming care delivery at organizational, local and national levels. ACHE's Gold Medal Award is the organization's highest honor. This year's winners are Christine Candio, president and CEO of St. Louis-based St. Luke's Health, and Kenneth White, associate dean for strategic partnerships and innovation at the University of Virginia's School of Nursing. He served on ACHE's Board of Governors from 2004 to 2007.

    Alan Keesee earned the Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year.

    Candio, White and Keesee will be honored during the ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership, March 4-7 in Chicago.

    Grooming the next generation of leaders

    Christine Candio first got interested in healthcare when she landed in a hospital bed as a child. She chose to become a nurse, inspired by two aunts in that profession.

    After working as a bedside nurse for many years, she decided she could have a broader positive impact on patients and hospital staff as a hospital administrator.

    Since 2015, Candio has served as CEO at St. Luke's Health in St. Louis, an independent, two-hospital system with 32 sites of care.

    There she launched a physician leadership institute to groom up-and-coming medical leaders. She established an exclusive clinical affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic's heart and vascular program. She oversaw the building of a $40 million ambulatory services center. And last year, she spearheaded the acquisition of Des Peres Hospital, another community hospital in St. Louis, from Tenet Healthcare Corp.

    Having previously served as CEO of Inova Alexandria Hospital in Virginia and as vice president of Inova Health System, Candio said she's committed to developing and mentoring future healthcare leaders. She works as an advisory board member for the George Washington University graduate program in health administration. And each summer she has a graduate student from St. Louis University shadow her.

    “One day we'll be older patients, and we want to be in great hands” is how she explains her dedication to mentoring.

    For her exemplary leadership in improving healthcare, the American College of Healthcare Executives has honored her with its 2019 Gold Medal Award. —Harris Meyer

    Educator has mentored roughly 2,000 healthcare execs

    Ken White didn't plan to come out as gay at his inaugural meeting as a board member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. But nerves got the best of him at that 2004 gathering and, introducing himself to the group, he inadvertently said “he” while describing his partner.

    The reaction wasn't what he expected. Colleagues praised his courage, and the blunder ultimately strengthened his resolve to bring change to the organization from the inside. Twelve years later, he founded ACHE's LGBT Forum.

    “I think they needed to be shaken up a little bit,” said White, associate dean for strategic partnerships and innovation at the University of Virginia's School of Nursing.

    The ACHE has bestowed upon White its 2019 Gold Medal Award for advancing the profession through his leadership as a researcher, author and clinician.

    White views his biggest contribution to ACHE as helping providers improve performance and quality. He teaches ACHE continuing education classes, has served on several task forces and has mentored roughly 2,000 people who now serve in senior leadership roles. White said he works to instill in health systems a culture of transformation and responsiveness to stakeholders.

    “From the housekeeper and the cleaning person all the way up to the medical staff and the nurse practitioners, they should all be able to identify opportunities for improvement,” he said.

    He also preaches the importance of using metrics to gauge quality and safety and protecting frontline caregivers against burnout.

    White is currently doing research focused on palliative and end-of-life care. —Tara Bannow

    Taking pride in being a community leader

    Alan Keesee calls the night of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting one of the defining moments of his career.

    He was the on-call administrator at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas when the emergency room received 230 victims from the tragedy at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Keesee, who was chief operating officer of Sunrise from mid-2015 to early 2018, oversaw the team of clinicians triaging and treating the patients late into the night.

    “That is a huge mark of something I've done, leading through that. I will carry it with me for the rest of my career,” he said.

    The experience exemplified why Keesee wanted to be a hospital administrator in the first place.

    “We are here for our community no matter what. Every single person in our community relies on us, and I take that responsibility with a lot of weight,” he said.

    For his achievements and dedication over his 10-year career, Keesee is the 2019 recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives' Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year.

    Keesee, 35, has since left Sunrise and is currently CEO of Capital Regional Medical Center, a 266-bed community hospital in Tallahassee, Fla. Both facilities are part of HCA Healthcare. Keesee got his start in healthcare leadership through HCA's Executive Residency Program in 2010.

    Since taking over as CEO of Capital Regional last March, Keesee has focused on recruiting new physicians and improving employee retention.

    In less than a year, 20 new physicians have joined the hospital. The goal is to provide more services locally, so patients will choose Capital instead of traveling, Keesee said.

    Additionally, his focus on engaging employees lowered the nurse turnover rate from 30% to 11%. Keesee said he conducts about 14 town hall meetings every quarter, participates in daily rounding and elicits questions from staff through an online portal. Capital has 1,200 employees and 400 providers.

    If employees “don't have what they need to be successful, it doesn't matter what strategy we have. They are our mission in a lot of ways, to care for them so they can care for our patients,” he said. —Maria Castellucci

    Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated when Christine Candio became CEO of St. Luke's Health; she moved to that position in 2015.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Chris Van Gorder
    How volunteerism shaped the Scripps Health CEO's leadership
    Sutter Health CEO Warner Thomas
    New Sutter Health CEO sets sights on staffing, capacity
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    People on the Move Newsletter: Sign up to receive a bi-monthly, sponsored content newsletter announcing new hires, promotions, and special accomplishments in the healthcare industry.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Digital Health
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Unwell in America
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing