Fire Starter Hall of Fame

Frank V. Sacco is CEO of South Broward Hospital District, d/b/a Memorial Healthcare System, in Hollywood, Florida. Frank holds a Master’s Degree in Health Care Management from Florida International University and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Miami.

Frank’s commitment to service is outstanding. He is a Fellow and past Regent of the American College of Healthcare Executives; past chairman of the Association of Community Hospitals and Health Systems of Florida; board member of the Broward County Health Planning and Development Council; past chair and board member of the Hollywood Business Council; and former chair of the Coordinating Council of Broward.

Frank is a past president of the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and received their Community Service award in 1994. In 1996, Frank chaired the Governor’s Medicaid Reform Task Force. Frank Sacco also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Healthcare Reform and represented non-profit and public hospitals at the 1992 Florida Healthcare Summit. He served on Governor Jeb Bush’s Transition Policy Team in 1998 and 2002. In 2006, he was honored with a Silver Medallion Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Retired President and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, New Jersey. She joined the hospital in 1989, assuming CEO responsibilities in 1998, and has been the driving force for quality and performace excellence resulting in stellar growth of the organization and improvement in quality outcomes.

Christy is a results oriented leader achieving best results in all five pillars:

• Patient satisfaction from 44th to 93rd percentile within a 5 year period
• Employee satisfaction from 67% to 90%
• Reduced employee turnover to 10%
• Consumers Digest rated RWJ Hamilton one of the top hospitals for patient safety
• Top 10% rank on quality outcomes
• Rated highest on all ten top attributes for Community Image survey in 2004

In 2004, Christy was recognized with the nation’s highest honor for performance excellence…the prestigious national Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.

Christy received an MBA in Health Administration from Temple University, a BS in Business and Liberal Studies from Rider University, and an RN degree from the Borgess School of Nursing.

Tom Wright is the Chief Operating Officer of Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva, Illinois. He holds a BS in Mathematics and a MBA degree from Loyola University of Chicago with a concentration in finance. Tom’s healthcare career started in 1978 as Cost Manager for Columbus Cuneo Cabrini Medical Center in Chicago. He also has worked at Lutheran General Hospital in the Finance Department and Henrotin Hospital as the Vice President of Finance.

Tom has been at Delnor for 20 years and is a well respected leader noted for his enthusiasm and determination. He has published articles including:

• Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change: How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership” contributor to Chapter 3, Delnor Hospital.
• A Case Study in Staff Retention and Achieving Excellence in Employee and Patient Satisfaction contributor; winner of ACHE 2005 Management Innovations Poster Session Award

He serves on the American Cancer Society Regional Board, currently as Chairman, the Heartland Blood Bank Board, and is an active member of the St. Charles Kiwanis Club and Treasurer of his church. Tom is not a stranger to giving back to his community. When Tom leaves healthcare, it will be a better place because of Tom’s contributions.

Charles S. Lauer “Chuck” has been the publisher of “Modern Healthcare” for more than 25 years, taking it from a monthly money-losing proposition when Crain Communications purchased the magazine in 1976 to the nation’s leading healthcare news weekly. Chuck is…

• Known throughout the healthcare industry and beyond as a leader in the field
• Known as a public speaker & award-winning businessman
• Known as an author. His books include:
• Soar with the Eagles
• Reach for the Starts
• In his books he shares his wisdom about:
• Qualities that define personal success
• Principles of success
• Anecdotes from both his personal and professional life
• Chuck has been presented with several awards including:
• Diversity Champion Award
• National Healthcare Award from B’nai B’rith International
• A Lifetime Fellowship from the American College of Medical Administrators
• Distinguished Service Award for Leadership and Service from Ohio State University

Mr. Lauer continues to provide individuals with insights that echo a strong set of personal values and his mantra that customer service is everything.

An experienced CNO, RN and nursing director, Gail brings 35 years of practical, hands-on credibility creating work environments that reflect service and operational excellence, high patient satisfaction, and efficient clinical operations management.

• She successfully led an organization to the 99th percentile ranking for six consecutive years.
• She has been published in Oncology Issues, the journal of the Association of Community Cancer Centers. She also successfully lead a nursing retention initiative for a large health system that generated a 12% reduction in RN turnover as well as increasing the patient satisfaction from the low 20th percentile to nearly the 90th percentile in only two years.

Gail is known across the country for achieving excellent results and rave reviews. Her passion and internal flame drives the Studer Group to the highest level.

“I feel I am very lucky. Not only do I get to do work that I love and truly believe in, but I also get the opportunity to work with the best people – people who are making a difference in the lives of patients in hospitals across America each and every day. It’s not what we (at Studer Group) do. It’s what they do.” - Gail Boylan

Clay Sherman is an educator by training, an executive by experience, and a performer by preference. As chairman of Management House Inc., Dr. Sherman is a leading proponent of revolutionary change models that have proven successful in his client list of more than 1,000 hospitals and Fortune 500 companies.

His strategies have consistently produced a track record of winning organizations, notably award winners for national best practices in quality, customer satisfaction, and staff motivation and retention. Dr. Sherman’s insight and experience with benchmark healthcare management practices are readily apparent in his breakthrough books, Raising Standards in American Healthcare and Creating the New American Hospital.