Palomar Health leader wins CEO of the Year award

SAN MARCOS – The Association of California Healthcare Districts announced Sept. 24 that Palomar Health President and CEO Diane Hansen is its CEO of the Year for her leadership, efforts and achievements to positively benefit the district and community.

The organization recognized Hansen for her swift and bold decisions, which stabilized the hospital district's finances, improved patient care and positioned the district to expand services.

"When we appointed Diane (Hansen) as president and CEO in late 2017, we knew she had monumental barriers to overcome so we never expected the positive outcomes to happen so quickly," Palomar Health Board Chairperson Linda Greer said. "Everyone who visits or lives in the region are beneficiaries of her strategic and wise decisions."

Some of Hansen's most notable accomplishments are:

• Improving Leapfrog patient safety ratings from C's at both district hospitals to an A and a B

• Achieving multiple hospital patient quality awards from national publications and rating agencies

• Reduced average patient length of stay by seven hours (more efficient discharge)

• Improved operating income by 214% ($22 million) through a series of financial decisions including renegotiating multiple unfavorable contracts

• Re-invested net revenue into expanding services including behavioral health services, rehabilitation services, emergency room capacity and the building of two medical office buildings to bring more health care closer to patient's homes

• Negotiated an agreement to create the largest physician network group in the region

"These accomplishments would not be possible without the tremendous support of the Palomar Health Board of Directors, my executive team and all the top notch staff at Palomar Health," Hansen said.

Submitted by Palomar Health.