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Hall of Fame for Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership welcomes two Board members

SCHAUMBURG, IL (May 31, 2017) – Bellwether League Inc., the Hall of Fame for Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership added two executives to its Board of Directors that evaluate, validate and select professionals to be recognized and honored for their industry contributions, performance and vision.

Joining Bellwether League’s Board are Edward J. Hisscock and Nathaniel Mickish, boosting the Board’s number to 11 executives that will select Bellwether Class Honorees, Future Famers and Ammer Level Supply Chain Organizations within the industry.

Ed Hisscock currently serves as Vice President, Clinical Sourcing and Informatics, and Transformation Officer, Non-Labor Spend, for Trinity Health, Livonia, MI. He brings to the Board more than 25 years of supply chain and information technology expertise with Fortune 50 companies, and healthcare provider and supplier organizations. He also has founded two healthcare companies and served more than 100 healthcare provider organizations in the United States and Europe. He holds an Engineering degree in Electronics, a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science, and a Master's degree in Supply Chain from Michigan State University. 

Nate Mickish currently serves as Vice President, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, for Texas Health Resources, Arlington, TX. He has been with THR’s Supply Chain for more than four years. Previously, he spent six years with Alegent Health, Omaha, NE, as a financial analyst, contract administrator and director of operations. Mickish began his healthcare career 12 years ago as a Medicare auditor for Mutual of Omaha. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and an MBA from the University of Nebraska in Omaha. Mickish is a member of Bellwether League’s Future Famers Class of 2015.

Hisscock expressed enthusiasm for the privilege to contribute and carry out Bellwether League’s continuing mission.

“I am excited to serve on the Bellwether League BOD,” Hisscock said. “I am one of those folks who loves what he does, so serving an organization that recognizes and promotes that passion is an honor.

“Our profession has come a long way in recent years, but in my opinion, our muster has yet to be tested,” Hisscock noted. “Regulation, technological advances and increasing financial pressure will create a platform aflame. Exceling in that environment will require the best people. Bellwether League plays a critical role to inspire the best in people.”

Mickish, the first Future Famer to join Bellwether League’s Board, promoted the integral contributions that Bellwether League makes to the industry in linking the past and present with the future.

“The work of Bellwether League is important not only because it recognizes and elevates the supply chain profession in our industry but also because it engages multiple generations in our field,” Mickish said. “This is important because there is so much for younger generations to learn in our field from the people who have shaped our profession over many years. Conversely, with the rate of change in healthcare ever-increasing, it also provides people newer to the industry the opportunity to share insights on how our work is impacted by technological advances, healthcare reform and the migration of care in the continuum, among other issues.”

Mickish also emphasized how Bellwether League honors multiple segments within the supply chain industry, including providers, suppliers, consultants, group purchasing organizations and education and media outlets.

“Bellwether League, which recognizes all of the contributors in the healthcare supply chain, serves as reminder that we all need each other to get the important work of care done,” he said. “Bellwether League also offers the opportunity for a diverse group of individuals to celebrate each other’s contributions to our industry in a way not always possible at the negotiating table.”

Mickish further indicated that he plans to link those new to the profession to veterans from which to learn.

“As Future Famer from the 2015 class, I hope to help keep all of the Future Famer classes engaged in Bellwether League long after they’ve been recognized,” he said. “Our industry thrives when our relationships with each other are healthy. Bellwether League provides a wonderful way to develop these relationships across geography, disciplines and generations.”

Bellwether League Board Chairman Nick Gaich expressed his admiration and excitement for the new Board members.

“I am pleased and honored to welcome Ed Hisscock and Nate Mickish to Bellwether League’s Board of Directors,” Gaich said. “Ed’s and Nate’s influence, contributions and passion to advance Supply Chain’s contributions in healthcare will enhance our efforts to recognize and instill the legacy of supply chain executives and organizations that continue to inspire us all.

“As Bellwether League enters our second decade of service we are fully committed to serve as the cornerstone destination organization for recognizing supply chain excellence among healthcare leaders and organizations,” Gaich added. “With the addition of Ed and Nate to the Board I am confident in our efforts to fulfill our vision.”

About Bellwether League Inc.

Bellwether League’s Board of Directors, a veteran group of industry advocates, evaluates and validates professionals submitted for consideration in its three award programs: Bellwethers, Future Famers and Ammer-Level Supply Chain Organizations.

The Board selects deceased, retired and currently active professionals with a minimum of 25 years of exemplary service and leadership performance in supply chain operations that meet its criteria to be publicly recognized as Bellwether Class Honorees. Those honored demonstrate their qualifications by advancing the profession through work experience and performance and active participation in professional organizations and their communities.

Future Famers represent supply chain professionals early in their healthcare careers who do not yet qualify for Bellwether consideration, but have contributed to the healthcare supply chain profession in a meaningful way.

Departmental recipients of Bellwether League’s Dean S. Ammer Award for Supply Chain Excellence demonstrate superior performance achievement in their daily operations.

Bellwether League has honored 86 innovators, leaders and pioneers in healthcare supply chain management in five distinct categories: Education & Media, Supply Chain Management, Group Purchasing, Supplier and Consulting Services. Bellwether League also has recognized 17 Future Famers to date and two highly designated Ammer-Level organizations.

Launched in late July 2007 by a group of influential veterans in the healthcare supply chain industry, Bellwether League Inc., is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation that identifies and honors men and women who have demonstrated significant leadership in, influence on and contributions to the supply chain from healthcare providers, healthcare product manufacturers and distributors, group purchasing organizations, consulting firms, educational institutions and media outlets.

Bellwether League currently is funded by five Founding and Platinum Sponsors – Halyard Health, Owens & Minor, Premier Purchasing Partners, Vizient Inc. and VIE Healthcare – and a host of additional sponsors.

Bellwether League’s 2017-2018 Board of Directors include:

• Nick Gaich, (chairman) (Bellwether Class of 2013),CEO, Nick Gaich and Associates, Morgan Hill, CA
• Patrick E. Carroll Jr. (secretary), President, Patrick E. Carroll & Associates, Cypress, CA
• Deborah A. Petretich Templeton, R.Ph., (treasurer), Chief, System Support Services, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA
• Rick Dana Barlow (co-founder, executive director), President, Wingfoot Media Inc., Schaumburg, IL
• Todd Ebert, R.Ph., President and CEO, Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA), Washington
• Edward J. Hisscock, Vice President, Clinical Sourcing and Informatics, and Transformation Officer, Non-Labor Spend, for Trinity Health, Livonia, MI
• Jamie C. Kowalski (co-founder, founding chairman 2007-2013), CEO, Jamie C. Kowalski Consulting LLC, Milwaukee, WI
• Michael Louviere, (Bellwether Class of 2010), System Vice President, Supply Chain, Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, LA
• Nathaniel Mickish (Future Famers Class of 2015), Vice President, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Texas Health Resources, Arlington, TX
• John W. Strong, (Bellwether Class of 2011),Principal, John Strong LLC, Fontana, WI
• Mark A. Van Sumeren, Strategic Advisor, Health Industry Advisor LLC, Richmond, VA
• John A. Gaida, Chairman Emeritus, Bellwether League Inc., Arlington, TX

For more information about Bellwether League, visit bellwetherleague.org

Contact Rick Dana Barlow, Executive Director, at (847) 466-7425 or rickdanabarlow@bellwetherleague.org.