OHIOHEALTH

us,” Blom said. “It just gave us the luxury of time. The most important thing that we do is to make sure that this transition is smooth and the organization sustains itself as it is.”

Blom is wrapping up a career at OhioHealth that will span more than 35 years when he leaves. He is 63, and will be 65 when he retires.

He first joined the organization in 1983, holding several management positions before being promoted to CEO in March 2002.

OhioHealth was losing money through the end of the 1990s, but it made $23 million during Blom’s first year leading the organization, according to a recently published history of the nonprofit system.

He has overseen expansion of OhioHealth, including the addition of Grady Memorial Hospital in Delaware and construction of Dublin Methodist Hospital. The system expanded both north and south in 2014, when O’Bleness Hospital in Athens and the MedCentral System in Richland County joined OhioHealth.

The company also is spending $89.6 million on a 270,000-square-foot headquarters near its Riverside Methodist Hospital. Louge Columbus agreed to make $40 million in infrastructure improvements, including removing a highway exit ramp off Route 315, and promised $6 million in tax breaks for that project.

Markovich said OhioHealth’s growth strategy will not change as he assumes the CEO role next year. The hospital system will focus on growing in its existing markets, he said, rather than looking to new ones.

“There’s no intention for the bar at OhioHealth to go down,” Markovich said. “As the leadership transitions over the next year, we will continue to raise the bar.”

As a senior vice president of OhioHealth’s acute-care operations, Markovich oversaw hospital operations, home care, nursing and several other areas for the organization. He began his career in 1993 as a family medicine resident at Riverside Methodist Hospital, where he rose through the administrative ranks.

Markovich, 59, also is a major general and commander in Ohio’s Air National Guard. He plans to retire from that command in October 2018.

Blom said the leadership transition will be his focus over the next year, but added that OhioHealth must continue to find ways to simplify health care, reduce costs and make it more accessible.

“We have deliberate strategy in those three areas. Continuing down that path is something we are committed to doing,” he said.

OhioHealth has 11 hospitals with more than 3,100 beds. The company employs 26,500 associates and physicians today, compared with 12,600 in 2002. Its operating revenue has jumped from about $1.3 billion to $3.8 billion between 2002 and 2017.

Outpatient and emergency room visits grew from about 1.7 million in 2002 to 3 million in 2017 as the hospital system expanded its outpatient footprint. Meanwhile, admissions ticked up slightly from about 97,000 in 2002 to 107,000 in 2017.

“Our philosophy is to keep care local and help those institutions,” Markovich said.