2011-up-and-comers-andrew-bagnall

Andrew Bagnall was cruising through college on his way to getting a master's degree in healthcare administration in 1998, but he was missing one thing that most other students in his class already had: real-world experience. Thus, the future up-and-coming hospital CEO took an unpaid internship doing data-mining for the Genesis Health System in Davenport, Iowa, while he finished his master's at nearby St. Ambrose University. “I felt like I needed to get some projects under my belt and get something I can put on paper so I can understand what I want to do,” says Bagnall, 39. “I went to Genesis and asked them if there were any projects I could work on.” Genesis noticed Bagnall's skills and hired him to work full time as a market researcher when he graduated that year. He went on to become a market researcher for University of Iowa Health System, but it was at Bagnall's next employer—Grinnell (Iowa) Regional Medical Center—where he found his footing in the field. “Andy, he interviews well, and I was just immediately drawn to him,” says Todd Linden, president and CEO of Grinnell and a 1995 Modern Healthcare Up & Comer himself. “He's one of those natural leaders. He's obviously bright. He has outstanding interpersonal skills; that's probably his greatest strength.” Bagnall's initial job was to serve as administrator of a small outreach center, the Deer Creek Health Center, a joint venture between the University of Iowa Health System and Grinnell in Toledo, Iowa. There, he added visiting clinical specialties to the center's roster, helped in physician recruitment and led a $100,000 capital campaign to build a wellness and rehab center addition. Linden quickly realized he wanted Bagnall on his Grinnell staff and hired him to become director of physician services, where the relative healthcare newcomer developed and directed a new physician services organization and led the day-to-day operations of multiple physician clinics. He ended up developing a strong rapport with the physicians in that role partly because of his tendency to talk about physician alignment goals as a partnership, Linden says. Bagnall worked eight years with Grinnell before becoming CEO of the Select Specialty Hospital in Davenport in 2008. But when Linden got word that Bagnall was applying for the CEO job at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, Wis., he says he didn't hesitate to put in a good word for his physician services director. Bagnall became CEO of the 78-bed hospital in March 2010, 11 years after graduating with his MHA. He says he still draws on the lessons he learned at Grinnell working with physicians. “I think it helps me now in my role to understand the pressures … that physicians go through in their practices, which is much different than at a hospital,” he says.