Things You May Have Missed: Part 2
Several of your CIO colleagues were honored, promoted or took new positions recently.
My congratulations go out to Pat Skarulis who was named CHIME-HIMSS CIO of the Year recently.
I haven't had the privilege of working with Pat, but her colleagues at CHIME-HIMSS know of her and supported her efforts in IT leadership.
Skarulis Named CHIME-HIMSS 2008 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year
CHIME and HIMSS named Patricia C. Skarulis as the recipient of the 2008 CHIME-HIMSS John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Award. Skarulis is vice president and CIO at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where she oversees computing and communications for the clinical, research and educational enterprise.
"Pat has been an extraordinary leader both as a CIO for health care organizations, as well as for CIO professional organizations," said CHIME President and CEO Rich Correll. "It is entirely fitting that she be bestowed with this great honor for her many contributions."
Active in the health care community and as a member of both organizations, Skarulis is a charter member of CHIME and has served as its chair. She is a recognized and frequent speaker at the annual HIMSS conference & exhibition. Before joining Sloan-Kettering, Skarulis served in a similar capacity as vice president and CIO at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where she was also an assistant professor in the department of health systems management.
In her nomination of Skarulis for the award, Sue Schade, CIO at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, said, "Pat has become one of the leading CIOs in the country -- someone who many turn to for advice and guidance...she often speaks at industry conferences sharing [her] insight and experience with others. She has written numerous articles and serves on several advisory boards. However, as any good CIO should, she focuses most of her time and energy on her own organization."
Established in 1990, the CIO of the Year award is named in honor of John E. Gall, Jr., who pioneered the implementation of health information systems at El Camino Hospital in the 1960s. The board of directors of CHIME and HIMSS jointly select the award recipient, who, in the opinion of the boards, has best demonstrated the qualities of leadership in health care as described in the award criteria. Skarulis will be recognized for a lifetime of success and achievement as a CIO in the health IT industry at the annual awards banquet, which will be held on April 4 at HIMSS09 at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago.
"HIMSS and our members join with CHIME to congratulate Patricia Skarulis on receipt of this award," H. Stephen Lieber, CAE, president/CEO of HIMSS, said. "We recognize the contributions this CIO has made to our industry and her organization through her outstanding leadership skills and business acumen."
George Hickman Promoted
My congratulations also go out to George Hickman. Everyone knows him as "Buddy" Hickman, and he is an outstanding leader and communicator. We have the honor of his serving on our magazine's editorial advisory board. George provides great insight into the technology and management issues that each of you face each day, and gives the editors at ADVANCE his undivided attention whenever we speak with him. I remember speaking with George one time when he was CIO at United Hospital Center in West Virginia. George was in mid-sentence when he said something to the effect, "Oh, we just lost our electricity...one, two, three, four, okay, there go the backup generators..." The outage didn't phase him and we continued with our discussions.
George was recently promoted to executive vice president at Albany Med. Congratulations!
Here are the details from Albany Med:
CIO George Hickman has been named an executive vice president at Albany Medical Center. Hickman joined the Albany Medical Center in 2003 as senior vice president/CIO and oversees all IT activities, including managing the medical center's $150 million, multi-year investment in evolving its electronic health record.
"We at Albany Medical Center are privileged to have George on our team. With one eye on the needs and complexities of health care and the other on the latest advances in IT, George's insight and guidance have been invaluable in helping Albany Med advance patient care and safety through IT," said James J. Barba, president and CEO at Albany Medical Center.
A recognized national leader in health IT, Hickman is a fellow, past board chair and past executive compensation committee chair for HIMSS. Hickman serves on the executive council for the editorial advisory board of ADVANCE for Health Information Executives and was the 2007 recipient of the CHIME/HIMSS John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Award. He also sits on the certification committee for CHIME and the advisory board for KLAS. He recently co-authored The Healthcare Information Technology Planning Fieldbook. In addition, he is on the nominating and communications/education committees for New York eHeath Collaborative (NYeC) and is chair of the planning committee for the Health Information Exchange of New York (HIXNY).
O'Rourke Named SVP, CIO
And final congratulations go out to your colleague, Michael O'Rourke who recently took over as senior vice president and CIO at Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI). I have not yet had the honor of working with Mr. O'Rourke, but hope to do so in the coming months.
O'Rourke, who helped transform CHI's IT structure while serving as interim-CIO, has been named the organization's senior vice president/CIO.
O'Rourke, who previously served as the technology officer for two large health systems, was responsible for the complete restructuring of CHI's IT structure and transforming 40 autonomous, distinct IT operations into a single, centralized enterprise.
The new system-wide IT organization, which includes an enterprise program management office and business intelligence function, has saved millions of dollars for Denver-based CHI, the second-largest non-profit health system in the nation.
O'Rourke officially becomes CHI's CIO, directing an IT enterprise that includes 850 people working in 77 facilities across 20 states. A veteran of the health care technology field, and an expert on electronic medical records for physicians, O'Rourke had served as interim-CIO since August 2007.
"We're thrilled that Michael will be joining us for the long term in this important position," Michael Rowan, executive vice president and COO at CHI, said. "He's done a fantastic job in the time he's been here. He brings extraordinary experience and skills to help deal with the serious global and local challenges we are facing."
Congratulations to these three individuals. And, for other news on CIO promotions and honors, please be sure to check our print issue and here online.