Health Care
The 2016 Leaders in Health Care Awards: Outstanding Health Care Executive Outside Puget Sound Region
By Karen West February 25, 2016
This article originally appeared in the March 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
WINNER
Thomas Martin
CEO, Lincoln Hospital, Davenport
Thomas Martin, former CEO and superintendent of Lincoln County Hospital, has increased access to health care throughout his community and continues to remain an important advocate for rural health care and critical access hospitals all across the state.
Martin promotes quality and access bringing essential health care services to people in remote locations who without us would not have the basic services they need for a healthy life. He says technology is playing a key role in improving access through advances like virtual monitoring, real-time biometrics and surrogate robotics. All of these new developments are opening new means of care delivery that will close the distance gap in access to the highest standards of care, he says.
Martin is a visionary and an innovative leader. After serving more than 26 years as a hospital administrator in Lincoln County, he retired at the end of January. In northeastern Washington, his legacy includes programs that were developed and implemented during his tenure, namely Level One Cardiac Care, F.A.S.T Stroke, Remote Presence Physicians using robotics, Telehealth, and other partnerships with tertiary facilities and services.
Martin has received a raft of prestigious awards, including the American College of Healthcare Executives Regents Award, the Qualis Health Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality, and the Healthcare Leadership Award from the Washington Rural Health Association and Beckers Hospital Review.
SILVER AWARD
Rand Wortman
Regional Chief Executive, Providence Health & Services, Richland
Having served as president and CEO of the Kadlec Regional Medical Center since 2000, Rand Wortman is retiring in May. He was named one of the 50 Rural Hospital CEOs to Know for 2015 by Beckers Hospital Review and is credited with establishing the first accredited chest pain center in the Pacific Northwest as well as with helping to develop an online physician portal. Under Wortman, Kadlec now part of Providence Health & Services grew from 700 to about 3,200 employees and added numerous services, including open-heart surgery, electrophysiology cardiology, and a freestanding emergency department in Kennewick.