Clinton Hospital's new president relishes homecoming

Courtesy Lisa Colombo will join Clinton Hospital as president of Clinton Hospital. Long-time President Sheila Daly will retire at the end of the year.

Write a Comment

By Emily Micucci

For Lisa Colombo, assuming the role of interim president of Clinton Hospital is a dream come true.

“I’ve been working towards this,” Colombo said. “It’s the job I was hoping I would find.”

Colombo, a nurse who has held senior executive leadership roles in the healthcare industry since the age of 28, will step in at the helm of the community hospital, owned by UMass Memorial Health Care, on Nov. 1. She will work in conjunction with longtime President Sheila Daly, a 42-year veteran of the hospital, until Daly officially retires on Dec. 31, according to a statement from UMass Memorial Health Care.

This is not Colombo’s first stint within the UMass Memorial Health Care system. From 2009 to 2013, Colombo was the corporate vice president for clinical operations and chief nursing officer at Leominster-based HealthAlliance Hospital. There, Colombo is credited with making significant improvements in operations, implementing new technology and developing the Simonds-Sinon Regional Cancer Center in Fitchburg, according to UMass Memorial.

Then, in 2013, Colombo joined UMass Memorial Medical Center, where she was interim senior vice president and chief nursing officer, working on several operational and quality improvements. She then left the UMass Memorial system for a job as senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington.

Joining Clinton Hospital marks a return to roots for Colombo. A native of Framingham, she received an undergraduate degree in nursing from Worcester State University before attending graduate school at Clark University. Colombo holds a doctorate in nursing and a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Even her first job in senior leadership, vice president of patient care services at the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Massachusetts, was local.

New direction?

With perspective from her early days working in a clinical setting, plus decades of administrative experience, Colombo said she brings two lenses to the table at Clinton Hospital. She arrives at a time when Clinton, UMass Memorial’s smallest community hospital at 41 beds, is searching for direction. The hospital has experienced a drop in patient volume in recent years, as well as negative margins. As of June 30, Clinton Hospital had a negative operating margin of 4.9 percent, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis.

In the last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2014, Clinton Hospital took on a greater share of UMass' system overhead, which includes direct and indirect costs such as legal services, compliance, audit, finance, government relations and human resources, said Douglas Brown, who heads up UMass Memorial’s community hospitals division Meanwhile, he said operating expenses excluding overhead were improving, and patient volume in fiscal 2015, which ended Sept. 30, was also rebounding. Financial data for the year has not yet been reported.

Colombo attributes a return of patient volume to the opening of a new, expanded Emergency Department at Clinton Hospital in 2013, which was named in honor of Sheila Daly.

“The number of patients coming through the doors has risen dramatically, and that will continue to support operations,” Colombo said.

But Colombo said once her feet on the ground, she’ll also be evaluating new needs in the community and how to build the business around those.

Colombo said Clinton Hospital’s recent quality accolades, including a five-star rating for patient satisfaction from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, are important to maintain, since patient satisfaction is now tied to reimbursement from CMS.

Colombo credits Daly’s work on quality initiatives for such results, and she said Daly will be a tough act to follow.

“It’s daunting, however, Sheila is so committed to the success of the organization and our plan for transition (ensures) smooth transition and minimal upset,” Colombo said.