St. Luke CEO has
head for business, an ear for staff
Jensen hired as
new chief executive officer
By PAT
MURPHY
Express Staff Writer
As duty
nurses at St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center were making pre-dawn
rounds while patients slept, one of them encountered Bruce Jensen, who
extended his hand and introduced himself in his signature gentle voice,
chatted briefly, then moved on.
Director
of Medical Imaging, Dr. Tom Broderick, left, shows off a test
shoulder detail to new hospital CEO Bruce Jensen, as MRI technician Phil
O’Driscoll displays the images on the screen. Express photo by
Willy Cook
Others at
St. Luke’s tell of the same type of encounters with Jensen, 46, who
was officially named this week as the new chief executive officer of the
hospital.
With a
firm handshake, an easy smile and an interest in absorbing what staffers
say, Jensen’s style could be described as affable
management-by-walking-around.
But this
isn’t unexpected or unusual for Jensen. When he first came to the
hospital in February as interim administrator, succeeding Jon Moses, his
reputation as a popular CEO at Holy Rosary Medical Center in Ontario,
Ore., preceded him through the hospital industry grapevine.
"They
were heartbroken he might leave," one St. Luke’s staffer
remembers hearing about Jensen, a Pocatello native with 18 years in
hospital administration.
Chosen
permanently over more than 70 other candidates for the St. Luke’s
post, Jensen has set about to introduce himself to every person on the
250-member staff, get acquainted with the community, evaluate the
hospital’s progress and chart directions for the future of a
significant valley employer and economic force. His wife, Sonya, and
four children, ages 14 to 22, will join him soon.
Jensen
presides over a modern 32-bed facility that cost $32 million, some $18
million of which was donated by Wood River Valley residents. St. Luke’s
opened for business 19 months ago.
He’s no
ivory tower administrator, by any means. He began his career in hospital
housekeeping, and therefore has a bottom-to-top personal insight into
how an efficient hospital operates. His credentials are solid: a
Bachelor of Arts degree from Brigham Young University, a Master of Arts
from Washington University School of Medicine.
As he
settles into the job, Jensen sees expansion already under way: a new
suite costing more than $400,000 will house a new $1.6 million MRI
(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) system, whose first patient will be next
Monday.
Also
under construction adjoining the hospital is the new multi-story
physicians office building, with offices for 12 doctors. The proximity
of the offices to the hospital, Jensen says, will be a plus for the
physicians’ patients as well as for the hospital.
By late
July, the St. Luke’s hospital system, based in Boise, will also be
served by Air St. Luke’s, a new helicopter service that can evacuate
patients requiring special emergency attention to Boise. The service
will compete with the LifeFlight air evac operated by Boise-based St.
Alphonsus Regional medical Center.
With a
medical staff of 35 physicians, and that many more with privileges to
use facilities, St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center is evolving into
a diversified health care facility.
St. Luke’s
primary care services include surgery, mammography, medical imaging, a
mother/baby birthing center, emergency services, orthopedics, urology,
obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, and dermatology.
One
service that seems to be part of a growing health care field, treating
sleep disorders, has found its way into the St. Luke’s menu of
specialties.
Jensen
plans to add ophthalmic services soon.
Jensen is
developing a set of goals aimed at providing good primary care, as well
as more specialties. But, with an eye to the costs of running a modern
hospital, Jensen says St. Luke’s will only add what is needed and can
be supported by patient volume.
He wants
to make certain that St. Luke’s has topnotch emergency response
services. And he’ll be working with local physicians to make them more
aware of the hospital’s services for their patients, some of whom
might now be using hospitals in other cities. Jensen says the hospital
occupancy rate is about 42 percent.
The
future of health care, Jensen believes, is in more outpatient services.
Right now, Jensen says, 60 percent of the hospital’s revenues are for
outpatient services; 70 percent of all surgeries are outpatient.
On his
agenda is a survey in the Wood River Valley to learn more about the
health care needs and preferences of residents.
One of
the first things Jensen learned about the Wood River Valley was the
astonishing generosity of donors who more than matched St. Luke’s
capital investment in the hospital, and continue their philanthropy for
the hospital’s needs through the large St. Luke’s Foundation.
That
support has been thrown behind him in the early days of his work.
"Bruce
is astute in assessing the business challenges faced by small rural
hospitals," said Preston Strazza, chairman of the hospital’s
community board, "(and) possesses the ability to make hard
decisions while promoting the atmosphere of consensus building and team
player."
Perhaps a
final tribute to Jensen from a St. Luke’s medical staffer, who asked
not to be identified: she said Jensen is a regular runner to stay fit,
and therefore has a personal understanding of the importance of good
health, not merely a businessman’s eye for a hospital.