FREMONT, Calif., May 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nancy D. Farber, Chief Executive Officer of
Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS), this week announced
her retirement after 25 years as CEO and 35 years of
service to the Healthcare System. Per her contract, Ms.
Farber submitted her 180-day notice to the board on May 1, 2019. The board of directors will be
appointing her successor.
Ms. Farber announced her retirement to the Healthcare System in
a personal letter to the Hospital's staff and physicians.
"I have been considering retirement for some time now … it is
not an easy decision," she wrote. "After 35 years of being a
WHHS employee, and the last 25 years as its CEO, it has become
a way of life. I am extremely proud to work with all of you."
A visionary from the beginning, Ms. Farber first joined
Washington Hospital as chief of strategic management in 1984. One
of her early strategic achievements before being named CEO was the
acquisition of Washington West, which today houses many outpatient
programs. There was also the creation of the Washington Outpatient
Surgery Center, a very successful partnership with local community
physicians that remains in place today. Ms. Farber's 25 years
as CEO are exemplified by numerous strategic initiatives that
define Washington Hospital Healthcare System today and have
positioned the Hospital as one of the regional providers of choice
that competes with large systems, including academic medical
centers.
"We cannot thank Nancy enough for her dedication, vision, and
service to this Hospital and our community," said Bernard Stewart, DDS, president of the board of
directors. "It is an understatement to say that the next person has
big shoes to fill. We have been fortunate to have Nancy's
leadership successfully navigating the growth of this Healthcare
System for the past 25 years."
Under Ms. Farber's leadership, Washington Hospital has remained
true to the vision of community members who in the late 1940s,
worked tirelessly to establish an independent local
community-serving hospital for the residents of the Tri-City Area.
Ms. Farber believes that her commitment to the provision of
not-for-profit health care within the district is best encapsulated
in a speech that was given by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin in 1995 to the Harvard Business
School Club of Chicago, entitled
"Making the Case for Not-For-Profit Healthcare." In his
speech, Cardinal Bernardin emphasized the basic tenant that health
care services should never be treated as a commodity and that the
not-for-profit structure is the preferred model for delivering
health care services. Ms. Farber is a faithful proponent of an
independent and locally owned and operated hospital, which ensures
that the broad scope of acute care services meets the health care
needs of the diverse communities the Hospital serves. She has kept
the covenant with the founders of Washington Township by embracing local
accountability. She was instrumental in helping create
legislation to ensure that assets of any district hospital in
California could not be sold to
private entities without a public vote. And when she was appointed
CEO 25 years ago, she was instrumental in bringing the core value
of the Patient First Ethic to the organization, which today is
engrained in the culture from the board of directors to the front
line staff, ensuring that all decisions made have the patient at
the center.
"I want to single out the community's commitment to building and
supporting our Hospital and allowing it to grow with the
community," said Ms. Farber. "The community owns Washington
Hospital, which makes residents of the health care district the
Hospital's stakeholders. This is why profits are reinvested into
the Hospital's programs and services rather than being sent to
distant investors. That local ownership is what makes this
community unique and we should all be thankful for this
treasure."
Washington Hospital celebrated its 60th anniversary as a
community hospital this past year. The Hospital was founded and
financed by residents seeking to have quality medical care
available to them in their community. With a commitment to local
control and locally focused health care, Ms. Farber's leadership
led to the Hospital being named one of the top 100 hospitals in the
U.S. by Healthgrades in 2018. This recognition placed Washington
Hospital among the top 2 percent of U.S. hospitals for
clinical excellence. Additionally, during her tenure, the
Healthcare System has experienced overall unprecedented financial
success.
While the average tenure nationally for a hospital CEO is less
than five years, Ms. Farber's tenure of a quarter century is
uncommon and has strongly contributed to the success of the
Healthcare System. Since leading the Hospital as CEO in 1994, Ms.
Farber has expanded numerous Hospital programs, including
neurosurgical care through the formation of the Taylor McAdam Bell
Neuroscience Institute. The Ohlone Student Health Center at the
local community college was established in 1996 and to this day,
the college campus clinic is operated by Washington Hospital. The
award-winning Institute for Joint Restoration and Research program
was established in 1999 and has since become an internationally
renowned program that continues to draw patients from throughout
the U.S. and beyond. A community mammogram program was established
in 2000 for underinsured and uninsured women in need of mammograms.
To safeguard that community residents have access to comprehensive
specialty care locally, Ms. Farber created the Washington Township
Medical Foundation in 2010, which today is home to close to 90
providers caring for thousands of Tri-City Area residents. To
better serve our community locally, in 2013, Ms. Farber led the
strategic affiliation with UCSF Health, which brought academic
medical care and programs into Southern
Alameda County. At the same time, she embraced innovative
programs to improve Hospital efficiency such as LEAN (The Toyota
Management System). These are only a few of Ms. Farber's strategic
initiatives that are helping address the community's health care
needs today and into the future.
While expanding health care programs for the greater community,
Ms. Farber led the organization to successfully obtain community
support for the construction of new medical facilities to meet the
growing needs of the community and the state's stringent earthquake
standards. This included the Central Utility Plant and most
recently in November 2018, Washington
Hospital celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art Morris
Hyman Critical Care Pavilion, a 224,800 square-foot medical
facility that houses an expanded Emergency Department and Critical
Care, as well as oncology, telemetry and intermediate care units.
Under Ms. Farber's leadership, this is the largest public works
project in the district and will make it possible for the Hospital
to apply for trauma designation. This project was completed on time
and on budget. This new Hospital building completed phase two, of
three phases, of a Facilities Master Plan that commenced in
1992.
During her years of service, Ms. Farber has been active in the
health care industry and in her local community, having previously
served on numerous health care boards and committees, including the
Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard, a legislative appointee to the
California's Managed Care
Improvement Task Force and the California Hospital Association
Board of Directors, among others.
Ms. Farber received her Bachelor of Arts with honors from
Stanford University and received a
Master of Public Health from the University of
California, Los Angeles School of Public Health.
About Washington Township Health Care
District
Washington Township Health Care District is
governed by an elected board and includes Washington Hospital
Healthcare System. Unlike a municipal or county hospital,
Washington Hospital's operating expenses, research, community
programs, and employee salaries are funded by revenues generated
through providing patient and other health care services. Opened in
1958, Washington Hospital Healthcare System has grown to include a
415-bed, acute-care hospital; the Taylor McAdam Bell Neuroscience
Institute; The Gamma Knife® Center; Washington Radiation Oncology Center;
Washington Outpatient Surgery Center; Washington Outpatient
Rehabilitation Center; Institute for Joint Restoration and
Research; Washington Township Medical Foundation; and Washington
West, a complex which houses UCSF – Washington Cancer Center, Washington Women's Center, Outpatient Imaging Center, Sandy Amos
RN Infusion Center, Washington
Urgent Care and additional outpatient hospital services and
administrative facilities. Discover more at whhs.com, and through
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Contact: Gisela Hernandez
Phone: (510) 818-7802
Email: gisela_hernandez@whhs.com
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SOURCE Washington Hospital Healthcare System