Lakeland, FL – Lakeland Regional Health is pleased to share that Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Danielle Drummond, MS, FACHE, is named one of the nation’s Top 25 COOs in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare.
Editors of the publication, a leading national source of news and information for healthcare executives, selected Ms. Drummond for her leadership and sustained contribution to the healthcare industry.
“This year’s class of the Top 25 COOs in Healthcare recognizes executives who have been pivotal to record growth and quality improvement for providers and payers,” said Aurora Aguilar, Editor of Modern Healthcare. “The COO is responsible for navigating all arms of the business, standardizing practices and getting staff to buy in.”
The award honors chief operating officers for working in the complex business of healthcare while delivering top results in quality, safety and efficiency.
“We are deeply proud of Ms. Drummond and the collaborative ways she leads our team to ensure that Lakeland Regional Health efficiently delivers world-class healthcare,” said Elaine C. Thompson, PhD, FACHE, Lakeland Regional Health President and CEO. “She cultivates an environment of innovation and transformation, mindfully placing the patient and family at the heart of all she does.”
Accomplishments under Ms. Drummond’s collaborative direction include:
- Nimble and successful leadership as Incident Commander as the eye of Hurricane Irma passed directly over Lakeland.
- Recruitment of 47 physicians and advanced practitioners brought critically needed healthcare providers to Polk County.
- Maintenance of a strong operating margin to manage provision of care with an engaged and productive workforce, despite increasing patient volumes, a decline in state Medicaid reimbursement rates, and unplanned personnel expenses incurred during Hurricane Irma.
- Reorganization of the cardiothoracic service line and construction of a bi-planar suite, where complex neurosurgical interventional procedures can be performed for the first time in Polk County, ensuring the availability of these critical lifesaving services in Polk County.
- Construction and operationalization of the 32-bed Bannasch Institute for Advanced Rehabilitation Medicine.
- Oversight of innovative capital projects, including the Carol Jenkins Barnett Pavilion for Women and Children, Hollis Cancer Center and Grasslands Campus.
- Launch of Gemba, a LEAN-management philosophy, which produced a 28.5% improvement in central line infection rates and 15.2% in falls rates; and reduced readmission rates over the prior year of 16.0% for congestive heart failure, 23.7% for COPD, and 27.4% for pneumonia.
Ms. Drummond joins a prestigious list of COOs, including Dr. Kevin Churchwell of Boston Children’s Hospital, Samuel Hazen of HCA Healthcare, Robert Allen of InterMountain Healthcare, and Dr. Laura Forese, of New York-Presbyterian. For a complete list, visit http://www.modernhealthcare.com/community/top-25-coos/2018/.
About Lakeland Regional Health
Not-for-profit Lakeland Regional Health reaches beyond its hospital walls to promote wellness, education and discovery in new places and new ways, providing a wide range of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services at its Medical Center, Hollis Cancer Center and ambulatory care locations. Lakeland Regional Health earned Most Wired Advanced and Most Wired status four times since 2013 from the American Hospital Association and has earned workplace awards from Forbes, Gallup and Becker’s Hospital Review. Its 849-bed comprehensive tertiary referral hospital, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, operates a Level II Trauma Center, a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Bannasch Institute for Advanced Rehabilitation Medicine and the nation’s busiest single site Emergency Department.
About Modern Healthcare
This weekly print magazine, websites, e-newsletters, mobile products and events is ranked No 1 in readership among healthcare executives. Modern Healthcare leads the market in editorial excellence and has received awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors, American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors, Trade Association and Business Publications International and the Association of Health Care Journalists, affirming Modern Healthcare’s status as a top source for healthcare business and policy news, research and information.