A Strong Team for What Comes Next

Over the past year, one of the most important things I’ve focused on has been making sure we have the right leaders in the right roles.

If you follow sports, you know that assembling a strong team isn’t simply about finding talented people. It’s about understanding what the team needs, putting people in positions where their strengths can make the biggest difference, and making sure everyone is working toward the same goal.

That’s very much how I think about leadership at GBMC HealthCare.

Last week, I shared our refreshed mission, vision, values, and strategic direction. Those words matter, but ultimately, people bring them to life. And I feel very good about the leadership team we have in place to help us move that work forward.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve welcomed three new executive leaders to GBMC and named two longtime GBMC HealthCare leaders to important roles.

Ann Kane, MD, Associate Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Affairs, joined us from Johns Hopkins, bringing extensive experience in quality, patient safety, clinical operations, and interdisciplinary improvement.

I asked Ann what drew her to GBMC.

“What drew me to GBMC was its commitment to patients and families,” she said. “During the interview process, I was deeply impressed by the team’s energy, warmth, and dedication, qualities I have continued to experience since joining. From day one, I felt welcomed into the GBMC family and community.”

She also pointed to something I’ve experienced myself: a genuine curiosity here — a willingness to listen to new ideas, work together, and embrace change when it can produce better outcomes for our patients and community.

Michael Pulido, MHA, SPHR, our new Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, saw many of those same qualities.

Michael brings more than three decades of healthcare, human resources, and operational leadership experience, including many years with an organization recognized with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Michael shared that what initially caught his attention about GBMC was our commitment to quality, community, and people. But what really mattered was seeing whether what he had read about GBMC matched what he experienced when he came here.

It did.

He saw people making eye contact and saying hello. He saw engaged leaders who believed in the organization. He felt the energy and the culture of caring.

As Michael put it, what he saw “on paper” during the search process was validated when he walked through our doors. That made GBMC a place he wanted to be part of.

And Janine Lairmore, our new Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of GBMC Health Partners, described a similar experience.

“From the moment I stepped onto the GBMC campus, I could feel the pride and commitment people have for this organization,” Janine said. “It quickly became clear that GBMC is much more than a health system. It’s a team of dedicated individuals united to provide exceptional care to patients and families.”

She was especially struck by the relationship GBMC has with the community — generations of families who have entrusted us with their care.

“What excites me most is the opportunity to be part of that journey,” she said. “I am eager to roll up my sleeves, learn from this talented team, and help build on the tremendous progress that has already been made.”

While Ann, Michael, and Janine are bringing important outside experience and new perspectives to GBMC, two other recent leadership appointments demonstrate something equally important: the tremendous talent we already have here.

Mike Stein, MHSA, FACMPE, has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of GBMC Hospital after serving in the role on an interim basis since December. Mike has been part of GBMC since 2014, and I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with him. He knows this organization, understands our operations, and has earned the trust of people across GBMC. Just as importantly, he is collaborative, approachable, and deeply committed to our patients and our people.

And Meghan Chan, who provided outstanding leadership as Interim Chief Operating Officer of GBMC Health Partners over the past ten months, is continuing her leadership as Vice President of Physician Enterprise Access & Service Line Development. Meghan’s knowledge of our physician practices, strong relationships throughout the organization, and experience in operations and strategic growth make her exceptionally well suited for this work.

These appointments represent different paths to leadership — some from outside GBMC and some from within — and I think that combination makes us stronger.

New leaders bring different experiences, questions, and ideas. Leaders who have spent years here bring history, relationships, context, and knowledge that cannot be learned quickly. We need both.

And I want to emphasize something else.

Leadership at GBMC is much bigger than the executive team.

Our responsibility as executives is to set direction, remove barriers, listen, and make sure our organization has what it needs to succeed. But our mission is carried forward every day by colleagues of all roles throughout GBMC HealthCare — directors, managers, supervisors, physicians, nurses, clinicians, and team members closest to our patients and families.

Ultimately, that’s the team.

As we begin putting our refreshed strategy into action, I’m excited about the people we have around the table and throughout this organization. We have important work ahead of us, and I believe we have the experience, institutional knowledge, new perspectives, and — most importantly — the shared commitment to move GBMC HealthCare forward together.