Bellwether Class of 2013

Christopher J. Bale, (1949-1996)

Christopher J. Bale, 1949-1996, pioneered modern-day healthcare supply chain journalism by bringing journalistic standards to reporting on the industry, through knowledgeable, insightful and thought-provoking reporting back in the late 1970s. Through such publications as Purchasing Administration (later Hospital Purchasing News and then Healthcare Purchasing News) and Medical Product Salesman (later Medical Products Sales) magazines, Bale helped educate, inform and mentor a generation of healthcare supply chain journalists and association and trade group executives through his leadership and industry example.

Lynn Britton

Lynn Britton translated his early retail industry and initial hospital supply chain experience into the creation, founding and development of a comprehensive, consolidated and provider-based corporate supply chain operation that services a variety of healthcare facilities in multiple states for St. Louis-based Mercy Health System. Britton parlayed his leadership and expertise and leadership to the position of CEO at one of the largest regional integrated delivery networks in the nation. A weather-related disaster tested, shaped and refined his executive leadership resolve and resilience.

James F. Dickow (1943-2021)

James F. Dickow used his corporate engineering background, which included simulating astronaut link-ups with the space station, and his executive posts with several national, regional and local hospital medical/surgical product distributors and management consultancies to help hospitals with their operations improvement and facility planning initiatives. With an emphasis on quality outcomes while reducing costs, Dickow routinely challenged the status quo and backed it up with solid analysis. He shared his knowledge and skills with Supply Chain leaders and staff in hundreds of hospitals across the United States and Canada.

William A. Donato Jr.

William A. Donato Jr. demonstrates a keen knack for bridging clinical and supply chain operations, linking physicians and surgeons with those who fortify them in the surgical suites. Whether he’s leading supply chain operations at a nationally renowned hospital system, a national GPO, or product marketing and development efforts for a prominent medical products supplier, Donato expanded the art and science of authentic clinical supply chain operations to optimize the support to the caregiver and patient alike.

Nick Gaich

Nick Gaich was as pioneering and instrumental in giving physicians and surgeons authority and a voice in supply chain operations, as he was in implementing “stockless” supply systems for high-end clinical products and strategic point-of-use service center models in a prominent university medical center setting. Gaich then expanded his clinical service line management best practices program globally, promoting integrated supply chain excellence in the Middle East, Germany and China.

Donald E. Greenslade, (1934-2013)

Donald E. Greenslade, 1934-2013, pioneered regional purchasing, storage and centralized distribution operations in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service for the first four decades of the NHS’ existence, before bringing his logistics and procurement expertise across the Atlantic. Greenslade guided supply chain leaders and their organizations in the United States and Canada, helping them to redefine and reshape their supply chain thinking and apply that to the redesign and reconfiguration of their practices and procedures, to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency.

Michael T. Rosser

Michael T. Rosser is regarded as “the father of the modern healthcare supply chain in Canada,” and is credited with spearheading both the initial design and operations of the original, consolidated “shared services organization model” for Canadian healthcare provider organizations. Since his retirement in 2010, after a 35-year healthcare supply chain career, Rosser has been consulting as well as volunteering in Haiti to rebuild a hospital and recreate their supply chain operations in the aftermath of a major earthquake.

Alan D. Weinstein

Alan D. Weinstein spent more than three decades launching and leading businesses that provide shared programs and services to hospitals and other healthcare facilities, including the predecessor to Premier Health Alliance and its clinical- and data-driven successor organization Premier Inc. Since his retirement from Premier in 2000, Weinstein has shared his clinical and healthcare operational acumen with dozens of manufacturers, distributors, service companies and hospitals as board member and consultant. He also has mentored many supply chain leaders throughout his career.

Paul E. Widman, (1918-1983)

Paul E. Widman, 1918-1983, was one of the “founding five” executives that “formed the nucleus of non-physician, professional operations” at the modern-day Cleveland Clinic. Widman didn’t have to promote supply chain management as a C-suite operation because he actually accomplished it back in the 1960s and 1970s. Widman was recognized internationally as a hospital purchasing authority, regarded for his love of people and known for his keen wit. He frequently published articles and served on the Editorial Board of the industry newsletter Hospital Materials Management.

Congratulations to the Bellwether Class of 2013: