FROM THE EDITOR
Adeep sense of service connects the two most recent inductees into Modern Healthcare’s Health Care Hall of Fame. As founder and CEO of SSM Health, Sister Mary Jean Ryan led efforts to improve the quality of care that ended up winning the St. Louis-based system the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2002. SSM was the first healthcare organization to win the coveted prize. Twelve years later, she was the second person to receive the Harry H. Hertz Leadership Award from the Baldrige Foundation.
“She is as focused on patient safety and quality as any human being I’ve ever known,” said Chris Howard, COO for SSM, recalling that Ryan also remained focused on “ensuring that the rights of all patients, employees, physicians and the community were represented.”
While working at a hospital in South Carolina during the era of segregation early in her career,
Ryan broke the rules and placed white babies next to black babies in the hospital’s nursery. “And as far as we know, nobody ever suffered any kind of permanent damage from that,” Ryan recalled with her signature spunk.
George Caldwell, this year’s other inductee, found purpose in using human capital to leverage innovations aimed at maintaining access to quality healthcare at low cost.
Early in his 40-plus year career as a hospital administrator, Caldwell saw the shifts in relationships between payers and providers and the need to control costs, and he responded by integrating physician and hospital services. He served for 12 years as president of Lake Forest Hospital in suburban Chicago and ended his executive career as president and CEO of Lutheran General Healthcare System, also in the Chicago suburbs and now part of Advocate Health Care.
Over the course of his career he expanded services in mental health, substance and alcohol abuse, long-term care and more. “He believed in helping others. It was that simple,” said James Caldwell, his son.
Among Caldwell’s many strong beliefs was the idea that no one accomplishes much alone, and that influence was best practiced with humility.
“He told me that the job of the CEO was to lead the board without them feeling like they were being led,” said Steven Seiler, a former hospital executive who Caldwell mentored.
The life stories of these two influential healthcare leaders serve as examples of the courage and kindness needed to make a lasting impact in the industry. Indeed courage is a prominent trait among all the trailblazers and influencers we’ve recognized in the Hall of Fame over the past 30 years.
We celebrate Sister Mary Jean Ryan’s and George Caldwell’s accomplishments and invite you to read about previous inductees at ModernHealthcare.com/HOFgallery.