CEO, Henderson County Community Hospital
One may say Dale Humphrey’s career has been one that he certainly did not choose, but one that chose him. A 1988 graduate of Belmont University with a Business Administration degree, his first job was as a pathology lab assistant and one that made quite a lasting impression on him. Although it was a clinical position and one that was new to him, he learned that if he applied himself he could learn to do something he was unfamiliar with and even enjoy it. Today, he is the CEO of the 45-bed Henderson County Community Hospital.
“While working toward finishing my degree at Belmont, I had taken a part-time job at a pathology laboratory in the evening, backing up their computer accounting system. When they found out I was graduating, they offered me a full-time position just on the clinical side of things as a pathologist assistant,” said Humphrey. “I had to quickly learn a lot of medical terminology, as well as the technical aspects of the job, in order for the pathologists to make an accurate analysis. It made an impression on me that how well I did my job could have a huge impact on the health and well being of another person.”
As he progressed in the company outside of the lab, Humphrey took a marketing position making sales calls to hospital CEO’s. “When I saw how many different skills it took to be a good hospital administrator it gave me a lot of respect for what they did,” said Humphrey, who earned his Masters degree in Health Services Administration from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. “When the lab company was bought out, I went to work as a physician liaison with Baptist Hospital, which really solidified for me that I wanted to be in a hospital setting.”
Humphrey went on to work for HealthTrust as the physician liaison for their Nashville facility, which was ultimately bought by Columbia HCA. “Instead of being the main tertiary referral hospital for the system, we became one of five hospitals and were the new one in the family,” said Humphrey. “I moved into the Columbia HC Network calling on small hospitals across Tennessee to try to get them to join the Independent Practice Association (IPA).”
In an effort to move closer to his family and his wife’s, whom he had met while with HealthTrust, Humphrey took the position of director of physician recruitment/practice relations and business development with Gateway Health System in January 1999. Ten years later he joined the staff of another Community Health System affiliate, Regional Hospital of Jackson, where he has served as chief operating officer and interim CEO. In August 2013, he took the reins of CHS’s facility in Lexington, Henderson County Community Hospital.
“The hospital was not growing, we had lost physicians and services,” said Humphrey. “I came in to turn things around. In the first six months of being here we have had a 25 percent growth in volume. It is a smaller hospital than what I had been in but there is a lot to do here and great people to work with. The transition has been wonderful, the staff, board and community have been very welcoming.”
Humphrey’s management style, which he attributes to his mentors, is one of motivating and encouraging his team in a positive manner. “I believe to be happy working in healthcare you have to have true compassion for caring for others. Hospital staffs contain a wide variety of skill sets, different levels of education and training, and numerous outside pressures and regulations, yet everyone plays an equally important role when it comes to taking care of patients,” said Humphrey. “I feel my job is to see that everyone has the right tools and skills to do their jobs effectively, and I believe that if we are going to make patients feel as if we truly care about them, the employees must feel that way as well.”
As with many leaders, Humphrey sees healthcare as one of the most dynamic industries in existence. “In addition to being highly political, few industries are as regulated by so many different local, state, and federal authorities. The industry is also ever changing by way of mergers and acquisitions,” he said. “By far the biggest challenge however, has been and will continue to be adapting to Healthcare Reform’s impact on how hospitals deliver care. Declines in reimbursement mean we have to be much more efficient and deliberate in how we offer services and at the same time we must increase the quality, safety, and level of satisfaction of the patients we serve.”
One area Humphrey is focusing on is securing the hospital as an irreplaceable asset for the community. “Part of that requires being visible and engaged in the community so we find ways to partner with local government and industry to ensure we are meeting their needs,” said Humphrey. “Not only does that require we have the right physician specialties and hospital services available, but we also have to do a better job engaging patients in the process so that we are optimizing their health instead of just dealing with the consequences of poor health-related decisions. In addition we are continuing to invest in the facility itself so that we continue to offer the latest technology in a clean, safe, and inviting atmosphere. My short-term goal is to make HCCH a busy, high-quality community hospital that is a trusted partner for the community.”
When looking over all he has accomplished in his career, Humphrey counts being able to balance things with his family as one his most important. “My wife Gloria is a very talented and successful physician recruiter who has been willing to move and make other sacrifices in order to advance my career,” he said. “My 14-year old son Rob is active in sports, the outdoors and is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout. My 11-year old daughter Mary is active in the performing arts and beauty pageants. Even though our schedules are crazy with activities, they’re both great students and are doing well.”
For the facilities he has worked in Humphrey has been successful not only in growing the hospitals, but also improving the quality of care, patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction. He also counts among his blessings that he has been able to continue to advance in his career during difficult times for the economy and within the healthcare industry.
Humphrey says his passion is building relationships. “It requires time and effort but it pays such big rewards. There are so many outside pressures in healthcare that without developing a level of trust with those you work with as well as those you serve it is hard to succeed,” he said. “The team consists of everyone from the physicians and nurses to the support services staff, the administrative staff as well as patients and their families. It’s proven that outcomes are better for those who have a trusting relationship with their caregivers and when you really come down to it, we exist solely to take care of others.”
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