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November 18, 2009

LCRH head Jeff Seraphine moving on to Nashville after promotion

By HEATHER PYLES, CJ Staff Report The Commonwealth Journal Wed Nov 18, 2009, 08:39 PM EST

Happy trails, Mr. Seraphine.

On Wednesday, news began spreading that Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital CEO Jeff Seraphine will soon be heading south to take the reins of a multi-hospital position with LCRH owner LifePoint.

That sentiment was confirmed by Seraphine, and he said he’s sad to leave a city he’s come to call home since moving to the area in 2003.

“It was the best thing for our family,” Seraphine said. “It was an opportunity, and we’re grateful for it, but we hate leaving the place that we love.”

Seraphine is moving his family to the Nashville area in the beginning of 2010 — after his children finish up the current semester. From there, he’ll oversee the operations of several hospitals in the region owned by LifePoint, including LCRH, as Chief Operating Officer of the Delta Division. Seraphine said his responsibilities will also include overseeing the potential acquisitions of additional hospitals into the LifePoint network and the hospitals’ transitions into the network.

Those added responsibilities came up in July of this year, and Seraphine said he worked hard to carry out his duties from Somerset — all while remaining CEO of LCRH.

But the time has come for a change.

“We’re getting to the point where I can’t just do both,” Seraphine said.

In the six years since Seraphine and his family have lived in the area, they’ve taken strong roots in the community. Seraphine and his wife of 16 years, Christi, are active members of their church communities, and they’re heavily involved in their three oldest children’s activities at Somerset Christian School.

The couple have five children — Jeffrey, William Dane, Josi Grace, Shaw James and Graham Wesley.

Seraphine has also been active in business, civic, and community organizations. He has served on the boards of directors for the YMCA and United Way of South Central Kentucky and is currently first vice-president of the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce.

Seraphine also served for two years as Chair of the March of Dimes Cardinal Division WalkAmerica, and was the Boy Scouts of America Chair for the Sixth Annual Hal Rogers Leadership Award Dinner this year.

LCRH has undergone several transitions since Seraphine took the lead at LCRH. The hospital stands as one of Pulaski County’s largest employers with around 1,200 employees and an annual payroll of $65 million.

The site went tobacco free nearly three years ago, and the hospital underwent an expansion and is soon to undergo a second expansion of 45 beds that will bring the number of beds in the facility to 304.

According to information provided by LCRH Director of Marketing and Community Relations Susan Ramsey Wilson, under Seraphine’s leadership, satisfaction surveys have shown marked improvement, with employee satisfaction jumping to the top quartile of the company, “far exceeding national averages.”

But Seraphine means more to the hospital’s patients and staff, and to Somerset, than that.

“We feel very fortunate to have ad him as our CEO over the last six years,” said Wilson. “He’s accomplished so much, not just in brick and mortar and technology ... so much on a personal level, to pull our team members together and increase the hospital’s standing in the community, because he’s a good man.”

But what LCRH may have lost in a CEO, Wilson said a division of hospitals will gain in a leader.

“He has the opportunity to improve other hospitals in the same way he’s improved us,” Wilson said. “In the big picture, a lot of people will gain.”

But that doesn’t make it any easier for Seraphine or his employees.

“This is a hard thing for our family,” Seraphine said. “We feel that the door the Lord has opened for us, we’ll walk through.

“We’ll do it, but it’s hard,” he added.

Seraphine’s career in hospital administration began some time before he joined the LifePoint network some 11 years ago. Born in Louisville, Seraphine graduated from the University of Kentucky, with a BBA in marketing and a master’s degree in Health Administration.

Seraphine’s experience began with administrative positions as assistant administrator of the 101-bed Raulerson Hospital in Okeechobee, Fla. and vice-president and chief operating officer of a large multi-service facility at the 339-bed Winter Park Memorial Hospital in Winter Park, Fla.

In 1998, Seraphine joined LifePoint Hospitals as CEO of Georgetown Community Hospital. In 2000, he was promoted to market CEO, with added responsibility for Bluegrass Community Hospital. According to Wilson, in 2003, Georgetown Community Hospital was named as a Solucient TOP 100 Hospital in America for Clinical and Operational Excellence under his leadership.

“Georgetown also achieved the position of top-rated facility in the LifePoint organization in patient, employee, physician, and community satisfaction surveys during his tenure,” stated a press release from Wilson.

Seraphine is actively involved in the Kentucky Hospital Association, has served on the Board of Trustees since 2002, and has been a member of the Executive Committee and the Certificate of Need Committee. He also served on the Legislative Committee, serving as Chair from 2005–2008. Seraphine is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and was named the Regent’s Award Winner in 2007.

He has also received numerous awards from LifePoint Hospitals.

In Seraphine’s absence, LCRH will begin seeking out a new CEO to take the reins.

But both Seraphine and Wilson emphasized that he won’t stay away for good. His professional duties will bring him to the area “on a regular basis,” Wilson said, and Seraphine, who said he specifically asked to oversee LCRH operations, said there are too many connections to Somerset for the family to never come back.

“We’ll spend a lot of time here in Somerset,” he said.

And who knows? Some day, the Seraphines may come back to the area — perhaps to stay for good.

“You never know where the Lord takes you, and if he brings us here, we’ll be happy to be here,” he said.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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LCRH head Jeff Seraphine moving on to Nashville after promotion

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