St. Luke CEO to Retire at Year End
By David Patch, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Mar. 30–After 21 years in charge at St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, Frank J. Bartell III has decided the time has arrived to devote a little more to himself and his family.
The 60-year-old Mr. Bartell, known to friends and colleagues as Jack, advised the hospital’s board of directors during their annual meeting this week that he will retire as president and chief executive officer at the end of this year.
“It’s time that I let somebody else step in, so I can do some of the things I’ve been meaning to do for a long time,” he said.
He wants to spend more personal time with his wife and to visit children who live out of state, including one who is due to bear his first grandchild in August.
He gave notice to provide the St. Luke’s board with time to search for and select a successor.
“I would rather have waited until the last day so I could avoid all the emotional stuff, but that wouldn’t give them any time,” he said.
Barbara Machin, vice president of the St. Luke’s board of directors, said, “He’s been the cornerstone, the rock on which many of the board’s policies and institutions have been founded.
“We’re very sad to see him go, but we respect his wishes. It’s going to be difficult to find someone who can replace him.”
A search committee is being organized, she said. It is likely the board will use both “internal and external resources” to identify candidates, she added.
After completing a master’s degree in hospital and health services administration at Cornell University in 1975, Mr. Bartell became the vice president, professional services, at St. Luke’s.
He held that position until December, 1985, when he became acting chief executive officer.
Three months later, he was named hospital president.
His positive relationships with hospital employees and medical staff, support for the hospital from local communities, and the institution’s continued independence in an era of corporate conglomeration are his greatest accomplishments, he said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that St. Luke’s can continue to be independent and be successful,” he said.
“We have the right strategies, the necessary knowledge, and the support in place.”
Said Mrs. Machin, a 13-year board member:
“Mr. Bartell has been successful at maintaining our scope as a community-based, independent hospital that is driven by its interest in its patients first, but also its physicians.”
With 302 beds and 1,400 to 1,500 full-time and part-time employees and medical staff, St. Luke has a range of services appropriate for a hospital of its size, but is somewhat more expansive than average, Mr. Bartell said.
“Most hospitals this size don’t have open-heart surgery,” he said.
On the down side, he said, his hopes of organizing a cooperative effort among Toledo-area hospitals to provide better community health care at reduced cost has been frustrated.
He resolved at least three times to retire, but until now talked himself out of it, he explained.
“This is a great place. This has been my career,” he said.
“We’ve got fabulous employees you can count on, a great staff, and community support. It’s hard to walk away from that, but it’s time.”
Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.