Health leader leaving Dayton
Bryan Bucklew has directed the region’s hospital association.
Before Bryan Bucklew was named leader of the region’s hospital association, his only health care background was an emergency room trip for a broken bone.
While Bucklew had government relations experience before, health care policy comes with a sharp learning curve and the economics of the industry is not always intuitive.
But Bucklew said he dove into the messy world of representing the interests of the local hospitals amid constant legislative and regulatory changes, and he earned the respect of his colleagues.
“His deep and expansive knowledge of health care has been instrumental to helping the member hospitals achieve their goals of providing high quality accessible health care,” said Deborah Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital and board chair of the association.
Now he is leaving to become the president and CEO of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California.
Bucklew has also been a longtime member of the community. A Chaminade Julienne graduate, he said since 1984 he has either gone to school or worked in the city of Dayton.
Whoever takes over his position will play an influential role on the region. While Bucklew isn’t as widely known as other community figures, like local elected
officials, he plays a major role by representing the interests of the association’s 28 members, which are the largest employers in the region.
Bucklew said there were four different health care reform bills introduced in Congress last year and it’s safe to assume more health care bills are ahead.
There’s big money at play. With 79 percent of Dayton-area patients on an average day paying with some type of government insurance, local hospitals’ bottom lines are reliant on favorable state and federal policy.
The hospital association made inroads on opioid crisis intervention work, including a detox center in the planning process. Under Bucklew, the association was also part of the creation of Ascend Innovations, for commercial health care licensing and spinoffs.
After he leaves, Bucklew said he expects Dayton hospitals will continue to pursue new health care innovations.
“I think Dayton will continue to be looked on as a leader across the country,” he said.