Entrepreneur Of The Year

Lifesaver

In a business where perfection is the driving force, Michael Gilligan is the ultimate perfectionist.

Constantly willing to tweak systems and evolve the Mayfield Clinic and Spine Institute, Gilligan has transformed the treatment process through his entrepreneurial spirit and problem-solving capabilities.

Since he took over as president and CEO in 1987, Gilligan has helped Mayfield grow into one of the largest neurosurgical practices in the world, as it treats 20,000 patients in a typical year. Priority Consult, a Gilligan system that moves Mayfield’s patients through the treatment process with greater efficiency than at any other time in the company’s 70-plus-year history, has been an impetus to that growth. Overall, it has decreased the average wait time for a first appointment from 30 days to just a couple of days, helping give Mayfield the opportunity to positively affect more lives on a daily basis.

Gilligan has also helped Mayfield uphold and improve upon one of its most important assets — its reputation. Gilligan prides himself on listening to employee feedback and conducts a biannual survey to check the pulse of Mayfield’s staff. A team analyzes the data and then makes a presentation to the entire Mayfield management team to begin a discussion on ensuring the overall satisfaction of each employee in his or her job and the direction of the company. The result is constant updating of systems to make sure there is buy-in for Gilligan’s vision.

Gilligan has done all of this through the many hardships the health industry has faced in his tenure — a narrow list of which includes physician shortages and towering malpractice rates. But through it all, Gilligan has encouraged Mayfield to continue improving on each process to build on a vision of better care for patients. So while no one is perfect, Gilligan never gives up the fight at Mayfield.

How to reach: Mayfield Clinic, (513) 221-1100 or www.mayfieldclinic.com