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GHS Board of Trustees selects former University of Chicago Hospitals administrator as new CEO for Upstate’s largest healthcare s

Date: July 12, 2006
Contact: Sandy Dees, 864/455-8466 (office) or 864/303-4115

GHS Board of Trustees selects former University of Chicago Hospitals administrator as new CEO for Upstate’s largest healthcare system

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Michael C. Riordan, named Tuesday as Greenville Hospital System’s new CEO and president, will officially begin leading the Upstate’s largest healthcare system on Aug. 15.

The Greenville Hospital System Board of Trustees unanimously selected Riordan, former president, CEO and trustee of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System, at its board meeting on Tuesday, July 11. He will succeed Frank D. Pinckney, who is retiring after a tenure of nearly 44 years at GHS.

Riordan, 47, was selected after an extensive six-month national search with Korn/Ferry International, the nation’s leading healthcare executive search firm. The board selected Riordan at its July 11 board meeting.

“In looking for the next CEO, we sought a candidate that demonstrated extraordinary leadership, a commitment to quality and a history of collaborative relationships with physicians and staff, as well as an outstanding track record of cooperation with the community and government,” said C. Dan Joyner, the chairman of the GHS Board of Trustees. “Michael Riordan is an established leader in academic medicine and has a proven ability to quickly bring the benefits of academic medicine to the patient.”

“The board believes we have found an executive with uncommon vision to carry on the high standards of leadership and excellence that Frank Pinckney and his predecessors have set for Greenville Hospital System,” said Joyner. “We believe that today’s decision builds on the 90-plus years of excellence achieved by past GHS boards and chief executive officers. We are confident our search has yielded a leader who will work well with our outstanding doctors, nurses and staff to lead us in a time of unexcelled opportunity and challenge.”

Out-going CEO Pinckney will work with the new CEO to provide a seamless transition.

“I’m very excited at the prospect of building on the distinguished foundation of academic medicine that Greenville Hospital System has already established. I thank the Board for giving me this opportunity,” said Riordan.

“Academic medicine has always been important, but the contribution may be more meaningful now than ever. By educating tomorrow’s clinicians, supporting research for new therapies and providing physicians an environment of continual learning, academic medical centers give patients the best care they can get today and assurances of continued excellence in the future,” he said.

“My first priority will be to meet as many employees and physicians as possible in the next 100 days. I’m very impressed with the consistent commitment to clinical excellence that I see here and can’t wait to be part of the GHS team. In addition to the Greenville Hospital System’s fine reputation, another very significant factor in my accepting the position as president and CEO was the knowledge that GHS’ Jerry Youkey and I would be working together to build on the cornerstone of the multi-disciplinary group that he has helped put in place here,” he said.

“Recognizing that hospitals relate to physicians in various ways, I am pleased that GHS operates under the concept of an open medical staff. I believe all physician relationships contribute to the success of an organization, and I look forward to working with each of the members of the GHS Medical Staff in the coming days,” said Riordan.

“On a personal note, my family and I were impressed by Greenville and look forward to living in such a thriving dynamic community,” he added.

Riordan comes to GHS from his previous position with the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System (UCHHS), which was named to U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals – the top 16 hospitals in the nation.

From 2001 to 2006, Riordan led UCHHS’s nearly 600-bed teaching hospital staffed by University of Chicago physicians and ranked by net patient revenue as one of Chicago’s largest hospitals. He also served as an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees for the enterprise.

While there, he guided a strategic process that led to Vision 2010, a plan that resulted in an unprecedented period of financial success and introduced a way of thinking about institutional excellence that dramatically changed the organizational culture, leading to breakthroughs in patient, employee and physician satisfaction ratings. The new state-of-the-art Comer Children’s Hospital also opened during this time, and the system embraced diversity by changing the face of the UCHHS’s Board of Trustees and Senior Management Group to include more women and minorities in key leadership roles. Vision 2010 also reached out to the community by collaborating with other health care providers in the community to deliver quality care in the most appropriate setting and with the education and social services organizations to support the needs of community members.

From 1995 to 2000, Riordan served as chief executive officer and, later, senior hospital administrator of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., and Crawford Long Hospital.

Prior to that, he served for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a lieutenant.

Professional and civic affiliations include serving as a leader in the Association of American Medical Colleges, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Illinois Business Roundtable, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, the Illinois Hospital Association’s blue ribbon panel on Medicaid, Workforce Chicago 2.0 Business Leadership Group, the Chicago Club, the Commercial Club, the University Club of Chicago and the Economic Club.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts/English from Columbia University in New York in 1980, and completed his master’s degree in education/psychology from Columbia in 1981. He earned a Masters of Science in health systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Riordan is married to the former Susan Stewart. They have five children -- Meghan, 18; Christopher, 17; Clare, 14; Andrew, 5; and Ethan, 3.

Established nearly a century ago, Greenville Hospital System is a university medical center committed to providing high-quality patient care through advanced technology, leading-edge procedures and experienced healthcare professionals. With more than 7,700 employees and 1,000 beds, the hospital system is the state's most comprehensive non-profit health network. The system includes five medical campuses; four acute care hospitals; inpatient, outpatient, and specialty services throughout Greenville County; medically based wellness facilities; primary care physicians; medical education and research. Its mission is to improve the health of people in our communities in a caring, cost-effective manner. Recent honors include being named one of the top 100 integrated healthcare networks, top 50 teaching hospitals, and 10 best-led hospitals.

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EDITORIAL NOTE: A high-resolution photo of the new CEO is available on the www.ghs.org site or by contacting Sandy Dees (455-8466).

Michael C. Riordan

Michael C. Riordan was previously President, CEO and Trustee of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System (UCHHS), which was named to U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals – the top 16 hospitals in the nation.

From 2001 to 2006, Riordan led University of Chicago Hospital’s nearly 600-bed teaching hospital staffed by University of Chicago physicians and ranked by net patient revenue as one of Chicago’s largest hospital.

While there, he guided a strategic process that led to Vision 2010, a plan that resulted in an unprecedented period of financial success and introduced a way of thinking about institutional excellence that dramatically changed the organizational culture, leading to breakthroughs in patient, employee and physician satisfaction ratings. The new state-of-the-art Comer Children’s Hospital also opened during this time. The system also embraced diversity by changing the face of the UCHHS’s Board of Trustees and Senior Management Group to include more women and minorities in key leadership roles. Vision 2010 also reached out to the community by collaborating with other healthcare providers in the community to deliver quality care in the most appropriate setting and with education and social services organizations to support the needs of community members.

From 1995 to 2000, Riordan served as chief executive officer and, later, senior hospital administrator of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Ga., and Crawford Long Hospital.

Prior to that, he served for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a lieutenant.

Professional and civic affiliations include serving as a leader in the Association of American Medical Colleges, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Illinois Business Roundtable, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago, the Illinois Hospital Association’s blue ribbon panel on Medicaid, Workforce Chicago 2.0 Business Leadership Group, the Chicago Club, the Commercial Club, the University Club of Chicago and the Economic Club.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts/English from Columbia University in New York in 1980, and completed his master’s degree in education/psychology from Columbia in 1981. He earned a Masters of Science in health systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology.