Media

Eight enter Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Hall of Fame

SCHAUMBURG, IL (October 21, 2019) – Bellwether League Inc. inducted 8 healthcare supply chain industry pioneers, leaders and innovators into the Bellwether Class of 2019 for their noteworthy contributions and performance. They joined 104 honorees inducted to date.

Underlying an embedded entrepreneurial spirit, key themes expressed by the 2019 inductees included the paramount importance of providing dedicated and devoted customer-driven reliability and service, breaking the rules and punching through precedence and thinking more collectively than individually.

Bellwether League inducted the newest class on Monday, September 30, during its 12th Annual Bellwether Induction Dinner Event at The Westin-O’Hare in the northwest Chicago suburb of Rosemont.

The group represented all five of Bellwether League’s targeted industry segments – provider supply chain management, supplier, group purchasing organization, consultant and education and media – featuring a military presence and spanning more than a century of progress .

The Bellwether Class of 2019 inductees included Clara Barton, Stanley J. Costello, George Y. Hersch, Capt. Terry R. Irgens, USN-Ret., Carl P. Meyer, Vance B. Moore, Kevin O’Marah and Larry P. Smith.

Bellwether League also honored the six members of the Future Famers Class of 2019.

Bellwether League Chairman Nick Gaich (Bellwether Class of 2013) lauded the professionalism and strength of the Honorees, Bellwethers, Future Famers and Sponsor executives in the audience.

“I’m struck by the sheer power of goodness and inspiration each of the [Honorees and Future Famers] brings to the industry and profession,” Gaich told the crowd. “The career achievements recognized tonight are legacy contributions by Bellwether Honorees, and the initiatives and programs spearheaded by Future Famers set a beacon of light for us all to follow.

“Most importantly, they signify a trusted community of healthcare professionals, making a difference in the lives of the patients, their families and the communities they serve each and every day,” Gaich continued. He challenged the audience to view the award winners through four virtues that encapsulate their individual journeys: Courage to take risks that set them apart from conventional thinking; compassion to serve others first before serving themselves; wisdom to listen deeply to those all around them; and curiosity, an innate inquisitiveness inspired on the ways in which outcomes might be achieved.

Gaich cited Aristotle’s concept of “practical wisdom” as inherent among the award winners for “achieving the highest levels of character and leadership” for having the “moral skill to do the right thing, but also the moral will to know what doing the right thing means. Each one of our award winners has demonstrated that doing the right thing at the right time and in the right way will leave an enduring impact on us all.”

Each of the Bellwether Class of 2019 honorees and their designees expressed appreciation and humility for being recognized, thanking colleagues, peers, team members and family for their ongoing encouragement and support throughout their careers. To access video on what they said, visit the Gallery pages on BellwetherLeague.org. To read what each member of the Bellwether Class of 2019 accomplished, visit the Awards page on BellwetherLeague.org.

Future Famers honored

Bellwether League honored its 2019 class of Future Famers for supply chain professionals who demonstrate innovative achievements early in their careers that contribute to service excellence.

The current class of Future Famers included:

Jun B. Amora, Vice President, Enterprise Supply Chain Services, Geisinger Health, Danville, PA
Erin M. Bromley, System Director, Value Analysis & Clinical Inventory, Memorial Health System, Springfield, IL
Brian A. Dolan, Senior Director, Health System Supply Chain, The University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City, KS
Sidney L. Hamilton, Associate General Counsel, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, Lebanon, NH
Sara M. Henderson, Vice President, Supply Chain, Avera Health, Sioux Falls, SD
Jessica Rinderle, Senior Sourcing Executive, Member Business Ventures, Mid-America Service Solutions, Vizient, Irving, TX

Acknowledging service

Bellwether League also marked the official retirement of Board Member Mark Van Sumeren who served two consecutive three-year terms and largely was responsible for cultivating the organization’s strategic planning efforts. Bellwether League also recognized Todd Ebert, R.Ph., who retired from the industry – and the Board – back in February.

About Bellwether League

Bellwether League’s Board of Directors, a veteran group of industry advocates, evaluates and validates professionals submitted for consideration in its two award programs: Bellwethers and Future Famers.

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.

To date, Bellwether League has honored 112 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 27 Future Famers.

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 six Founding and Platinum Sponsors – HealthTrust, Intalere, Owens & Minor, Premier, Vizient and VIE Healthcare – and a host of additional sponsors.

The 2019-2020 Board of Directors of Bellwether League Inc. includes a veteran group of industry advocates:

• Nick Gaich, (chairman) (Bellwether Class of 2013),CEO, Nick Gaich and Associates, Morgan Hill, CA
• Nathaniel Mickish (secretary) (Future Famers Class of 2015), Vice President, Sourcing, Supply Chain Management, Texas Health Resources, Arlington, TX
• Deborah A. Petretich Templeton, R.Ph., (treasurer), Chief, System Support Services, Geisinger Health, Danville, PA
• Rick Dana Barlow (co-founder, executive director), President, Wingfoot Media Inc., Schaumburg, IL
• Karen Conway, CMRP, Vice President, Healthcare Value, GHX, Colorado Springs, CO
• Dee Donatelli, R.N. (Bellwether Class of 2015), Vice President, Professional Services, TractManager,Newton, KS
• Edward J. Hisscock, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Management, Trinity Health, Livonia, MI
• Jamie C. Kowalski (co-founder, founding chairman 2007-2013) (Bellwether Class of 2017), retired CEO, Jamie C. Kowalski Consulting LLC, Milwaukee, WI

For more information on how to become a sustaining or corporate sponsor or to nominate Honoree and Future Famer candidates visit BellwetherLeague.org.

Pictures of the Bellwether and Future Famers Classes of 2019 are available online and on request.

Mark your calendars: The 2020 Bellwethers and Future Famers will be recognized and honored on Monday, October 5, 2020, at the Westin-O’Hare, Rosemont, IL.

Contact:  Rick Dana Barlow
Wingfoot Media Inc.
E-mail:     rickdanabarlow@wingfootmedia.biz
Phone:     847-466-7425