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Inducted in 2011

From Sinai Hospital in Detroit to University Hospital of Brooklyn to Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, Percy Allen II took over a string of financially troubled healthcare organizations that at least some thought wouldn’t make it. 
“I’ve taken over places that people ‘knew’ were going to go under,” says Allen, who made his mark in the wider profession as president of the National Association of Health Services Executives. “Nothing goes under under my watch. Nothing.” 

From his first position as assistant administrator at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind., Allen, 70, says he succeeded by believing in those around him and building their morale in any way he could. 

Allen says his first boss, David Ridderheim, then CEO at Parkview, took a risk in hiring an African-American to help run a hospital that probably had fewer than 10% African-American patients. 

“At that point in time, we weren’t going into private hospitals. Most of us were going into public systems,” Allen says of black healthcare executives. “David was different: He took risks, and he was a smart man. I’ve been breaking these barriers all the time.”