Turnarounds
Filling a need
How Stephen Colecchi helps Robinson Memorial Hospital keep a clean bill of health
By Matt McClellan
Smart Business Akron/Canton | January 2008
Stephen Colecchi holds the interesting distinction of being
president and CEO of the hospital in which he was born. That
unique position ties Colecchi, a former practicing attorney, to
both the past and the present. He is currently working on completing the three-part time link by securing the hospital’s future.
One way he’s done that is by leading Robinson to a landmark
partnership with Summa Health System.
The affiliation agreement, which became effective Jan. 1, 2007,
allows Robinson to maintain its status as an independent county-owned hospital with a local board of trustees but, at the same
time, gain all the advantages that come with being affiliated with
one of the country’s top regional health care systems.
“It gives us the best of both worlds,” Colecchi says.
As the only hospital in Portage County, greater access to
health-care-related resources only enhances Robinson’s role as
the safety net for county residents in need of urgent care. The
hospital, which provides services to many indigent patients,
does not receive financial support from the county, Colecchi
says. That means maintaining the hospital’s own financial health
can be difficult. Still, Robinson had patient services revenue of
$138 million in 2006.
Here’s how Colecchi keeps Robinson healthy by focusing on
employee input, defusing disagreements and achieving solid
results.
In one ear ...
One of the most important things a CEO must do is develop a
vision. You need to know where your organization is going, and
Colecchi has a few pointers for determining a viable direction.
First, he says, look at your primary service area and identify the
need you want to fill.
“Your vision, your purpose, should be to serve the needs of the
community,” he says.
After evaluating those needs, identify what resources are available to meet them. They may come in the form of a new building,
new programs or services, or even new employees. And then, get
input from your staff.
“The key is to involve them in the process,” Colecchi says. “If the
end result includes their input, they’re going to have buy-in because
they believe and feel that they have been part of the process.”
But getting input and using it are completely different. Colecchi
could gather input from each of Robinson’s 1,150 full-time employees, and it wouldn’t mean a thing if that information went in one ear
and out the other. In order to be successful, the input gathered
must be seriously considered, and employees need to know that.
“We don’t just do that to do it,” Colecchi says. “We really do want
to hear their opinions and views. In essence, by involving them in
the process, the mission, the vision and the strategic plan become
owned by our management staff and our other employees.”
Colecchi has implemented several programs that demonstrate
how employee input becomes part of the hospital’s strategic planning process.
One component is frequent status reports, which Colecchi and his senior management team provide to all hospital employees.
The report includes updates on specific initiatives that are underway. Once the management team sets a goal for the organization to
strive toward, Colecchi makes sure the staff is notified about any
progress toward the goal. And depending on what level the
employee is in the organization, he or she may be actively involved
in the actual strategic initiative itself.
Colecchi says one of the best ways to get genuine buy-in from
employees is by constantly providing positive feedback from previously successful initiatives. It’s hard to argue with results, he says,
and puts those results directly in front of everyone — from his
management team to his employees to his board of directors.
“That really helps in the future from the standpoint of you’re
more likely to have buy-in based on your past successes,” Colecchi
says. “If we can demonstrate to our employees that the process
really does work, they’re more likely to be supportive as we develop next year’s plan or the year after’s plan.”
Address disagreements fairly
One of the challenges of running a 150-staffed-bed hospital with multiple outreach locations is that you’re managing a
very diverse group of employees.
Robinson’s 1,150 employees all contribute to the hospital’s success in different ways, whether by performing surgery, collating
patient information, or keeping the facilities and equipment in
working condition. But each of them has a different opinion
about the way things should be.
One of the keys to dealing with diversity, Colecchi says, is recognizing that everyone is important and that each person must
be treated fairly. Any situation can be resolved if the involved
parties act reasonably, even if that means agreeing to disagree
and finding a semblance of common ground.
“Let’s say we have a department director and we’re getting
feedback from employees that the person is not as visible in the
department as they should be,” Colecchi says. “Is that problem
fixable? It should be. We’d sit down with the employee and try to
figure out how we can help them become more visible in the
department.”
If the problem isn’t fixable or the person can’t be turned around,
Colecchi says you should just cut your losses. If it can be solved,
however, you owe it to the employee and the organization to
devote the necessary resources to fix it and move on.
Of course, not everyone agrees with every decision Colecchi
makes. He addresses that by ensuring that all key stakeholders have
the opportunity to voice their opinion before the big decisions are
made. But once those decisions are made, he expects his team to
support the decision and move forward. If that doesn’t happen, he’s
ready to deal with it.
“Every situation is going to be different, every situation is
going to be unique,” Colecchi says. “But if you’re consistent in
how you handle those issues, you’re reasonable, fair and make
the tough decisions, you’re going to be successful most of the
time.”
Achieve results
In Colecchi’s world, success is measured by results. His unwavering commitment to results is apparent in the hiring process.
Whether it’s a new hire or an evaluation of a current employee,
Colecchi will go over each of the person’s accomplishments with
a fine-toothed comb.
“To me, the No. 1 measure of success is the results,” he says.
“Obviously, the person has to have the necessary credentials or
educational background, and certainly, that’s important. But you
could have an undergraduate degree from the best business
school, a master’s degree from the best graduate program and an
advanced degree from law school; on paper, you look great, but
you might be the worst manager in the world.”
To uncover the true value of his employees, Colecchi evaluates
not only the results but also how those results were achieved. By
checking the validity of the subject’s accomplishments, he is able
to separate the true “A” players from the pretenders.
For example, if someone on his staff led the development of a new
ambulatory center in a particular location, Colecchi asks not just
about whether he or she got the job done but about the various delays,
roadblocks and other headaches that accompanied the job.
“If they ultimately got it done, but it was six months past the
schedule, that is going to be viewed a bit differently than a process
that went smoothly with no major issues,” he says.
There is another important factor in the evaluation of talent that
is often overlooked, Colecchi says. A CEO should never underestimate how the person is viewed by his or her colleagues. Is he or she
a team player? Will he or she fit the organization’s culture?
To learn this, Colecchi talks with colleagues from previous or
current employers. Often, talking to a co-worker will provide more
insight than talking to a supervisor. Also, if the person you are evaluating has managerial experience, Colecchi speaks to one of his or
her direct reports.
“It’s a combination,” he says. “You certainly have to have the paper
credentials, but how are the results achieved? How is that person
viewed by their colleagues? How are they viewed by their direct
reports?”
This process has helped Colecchi build a team of employees
with as much passion toward achieving success as he has. And,
it’s allowed him to know his staff won’t just sit back and wait for
accomplishments to happen.
Colecchi says he’s vigilant about Robinson’s progress toward its
goals. Each of the hospital’s strategic initiatives is designed to support the organization’s mission. And each, Colecchi says, is measurable.
“You would not see any specific strategic initiative on our plan
that cannot be measured,” he says. “If you can’t measure it, then it
doesn’t make sense to include it.”
The strategic plan is mostly composed of three-year goals.
However, some goals may have a one-year period focus. For example, a one-year goal might be to expand a wing or build a new building. Longer-term projects, like increasing market share or patient
satisfaction, have year-to-year milestones. Despite this, Colecchi
says it’s imperative not to let long-term planning restrict his decision-making abilities. Even the organization’s three-year goals are
subject to an annual review, and slight tweaks to the plan are
encouraged.
“The strategic business plan is not necessarily etched in stone,”
he says. “In some cases, we may achieve a goal earlier than we had
originally anticipated. So we would update the goal for next year
to make it more of a stretch.”
However, Colecchi never lowers the bar. The only adjustments he
will make to the plan are strategically designed to drive the organization closer to complete excellence.
And excellence is exactly what Robinson has achieved with
Colecchi at the helm. The hospital boasts 14 health affiliate practices and hospital centers in 11 locations and continues to invest in
creative initiatives designed to foster its future.
When the hospital launched its first advertising campaign in 2005
to emphasize its convenient location and raise visibility throughout
Portage County, the investment paid off. After one year, Robinson
was recognized by a national health care research organization as
having the most improved hospital image of any in the nation.
Colecchi’s plan to expand Robinson by building off-site locations
has also proven effective. The Robinson Imaging Center of Kent
opened its doors in 2006. That same year the hospital broke
ground on a second medical arts building on the main campus to
house the Endoscopy Center and a Cardiac Center of Excellence.
The broad agreement with Summa also stands as a significant
milestone in the hospital’s healthy condition.
“This affiliation will be of benefit to both hospitals, employees
and respective medical staffs, patients and the communities we
serve,” Colecchi says. “Through the creation of operating efficiencies between our two organizations, Robinson Memorial
Hospital will be able to expand programs and services offered to
the residents of Portage County and the surrounding communities.”
And that is all just part of Colecchi’s plan.
HOW TO REACH: Robinson Memorial Hospital, (330) 297-0811 or www.robinsonmemorial.org
