The Premier healthcare alliance Board of Directors has named leaders from seven top U.S. not-for-profit hospitals and health systems to the committee that provides strategic oversight of group purchasing and member relations for healthcare’s largest purchasing network.
The Group Purchasing and Member Relations Committee plays a vital role in setting direction for Premier’s purchasing program, which negotiates cost-saving discounts for more than 1,500 hospitals and thousands of other healthcare providers. In turn, patients and taxpayers benefit from reduced healthcare costs on the more than $27 billion in supplies, services, drugs and equipment purchased annually through Premier’s group contracts.
Appointed by the Premier Board of Directors as new members of its Group Purchasing and Member Relations Committee are:
Gary Bebow, administrator/CEO, White River Health System, Inc., Batesville, Ark.;
Gary Strong, chief operating officer, Fairview Health Services, Minneapolis;
James Hill, executive vice president, Resurrection Health Care, Chicago;
Jim Rosenberg, executive vice president, hospital operations, West Penn Allegheny Health System, Pittsburgh;
Keith Callahan, vice president, supply chain management, Catholic Healthcare West, Phoenix;
David McCombs, vice president, enterprise resource planning/supply chain operations, Bon Secours Health System, Columbia, Md.; and
Gary Bowers, executive director, Western North Carolina Health Network, Asheville, N.C.
Promoting innovation, supporting small suppliers and protecting the environment are among the key strategic imperatives for the purchasing network. Input from the GPMR Committee is vital to Premier’s efforts to safely reduce the cost of care by fostering competition and ensuring that the needs of hospitals, clinicians and patients are represented in the development, distribution and sale of healthcare products.
The member-focused approach has been effective. In 2006 Purchasing Partners, Premier’s group purchasing unit, added $172 million in new net value and grew acute care hospitals served from 1,459 to 1,508 while maintaining a 98 percent retention rate.
“Premier owners and members as well as our organization will profit from the experience and expertise these seven highly regarded healthcare leaders bring to one of our most important committees,” said Premier President and CEO Richard A. Norling. “This committee is essential to our approach of putting the needs of patients and providers at the center of our alliance activities.”
Among its duties, the committee oversees policy development and implementation; advises management regarding the owner recruitment plan, general owner and affiliate relations, and ways of strengthening those relationships; advises management regarding group purchasing strategies and implementation plans; and reports to the board on member policy issues.
Premier COO Susan D. DeVore highlighted the strategic nature of the committee. “The committee is representative of our membership. Its members are a valuable source of input and feedback especially as we together develop effective one-year and three-year strategies.”
According to Mike Alkire, president, Premier Purchasing Partners, “The new committee members understand the complexities of today’s healthcare industry and the value Premier brings. They will ensure that Premier positively helps our owners, members and affiliates to perform in the best quartile of both quality and costs.”
Other members of the committee are John Day, CEO, Southcoast Health System, New Bedford, Mass.; Gerald Fulks, CEO, West Georgia Health System, La Grange, Ga.; Warren Green, CEO, LifeBridge Health, Baltimore; Thomas Jones, CEO, West Virginia United Health System, Fairmont, W.V. ; Kurt Metzner, President & CEO, Mississippi Baptist Health System, Inc., Jackson, Miss.; Michael Murphy, President & CEO, Sharp HealthCare, San Diego; Tommy Smith, President & CEO, Baptist Healthcare System, Louisville, Ky.; J. Luckey Welsh, President & CEO, Southeastern Regional Medical Center, Lumberton, N.C.; Robert Swinnerton, President & CEO, Seagate Alliance, Rochester, N.Y.; David Jimenez, COO, Catholic Healthcare Partners, Cincinnati; and Michael O’Boyle, COO, Cleveland Clinic Health System, Cleveland.
About Premier, 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving 1,700 hospitals and almost 45,000 other healthcare sites, Premier Inc. is the largest healthcare alliance in the United States dedicated to improving patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates the nation’s largest healthcare purchasing network, the most comprehensive repository of hospital clinical and financial information and one of the largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability risk-retention groups in healthcare. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier has offices in Charlotte, N.C. and Washington. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com.
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