Lee’s Summit Medical Center CEO Damond Boatwright Recognized as a National Up & Comer
10-08-09
Lee’s Summit Medical Center CEO Damond Boatwright Recognized as a National Up & Comer
Lee’s Summit Medical Center’s CEO Damond W. Boatwright has been chosen as one of the 12 recipients of Modern Healthcare’s 23rd Annual Up & Comers award. This prestigious national award is given to rising stars in the healthcare management field and recognizes the next generation of must-watch leaders.
Boatwright, 37, took the position at Lee’s Summit Medical Center, part of the HCA Midwest network of hospitals, in January 2008. His impressive dossier of outstanding achievements in a relatively short time period, including leadership, mentoring to other minority healthcare executives, working to further relationships with minority vendors, affecting real change, a willingness to share expertise with his peers and outstanding community participation, defines him as an early-career superstar.
“Damond is a dynamic young leader,” says Steve Corbeil, HCA Midwest Division President. “He is engaging and warmly accepted by his executive peers, physician leaders, his employees and the patients that he works tirelessly to satisfy. We are thrilled by the skill and perspective that he has brought to our division.”
Damond began his career by serving as an Assistant Administrator at Colleton Medical Center and progressed quickly to an Administrative Fellow position with Duke University Health System. Following a period of service as Associate Administrator at Oak Hill Hospital and later CJW Medical Center, Damond was named Chief Operating Officer of Henrico Doctors Hospital in 2005. After a successful three years in that role, Damond came to HCA’s Midwest Division as the CEO of the newly-opened Lee’s Summit Medical Center in Lee’s Summit.
As a graduate of HCA’s Chief Operating Officer Development program himself, Damond has mentored two minority executives that followed him and has served as supervisor and mentor to department leaders in the organizations that he has led. Further, while at CJW Medical Center, Damond worked with HCA’s corporate headquarters and plant operations to improve relationships with minority vendors and successfully increased contracts to minority vendors from 1% in 2001 to 15-20% in 2003.
Damond’s quick ascent to a CEO role has not come without real accomplishment. At Lee’s Summit Medical Center he has led several initiatives to make care-delivery more efficient including controversial decisions to close non-performing services to better support the core healthcare delivery. Employee engagement scores have consistently risen during his tenure at Lee’s Summit Medical Center and Patient Satisfaction is at an all-time high with Lee’s Summit being ranked in the top 10% of all HCA facilities for overall satisfaction. In addition, Core Measures have improved dramatically with all four areas at 100 % compliance. He has led the organization to an outstanding financial position as well, increasing revenues by 22.7% during his tenure.
Damond is a Fellow with the American College of Healthcare Executives and works with local and national chapters to promote healthcare awareness to the public. Since 2002, he has participated in the Medical University of South Carolina’s Conference on Healthcare as a presenter and panelist. He also served as a panelist for the “CEO’s Unplugged” program for the Young Professional of the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce.
Beyond his abilities and accomplishments in the healthcare administration arena, Damond gives generously of his time to the community at large. He maintains an aggressive speaking calendar for community organizations and sits on the boards of the Lee’s Summit Symphony, Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, Lee’s Summit Economic Development Council, ReDiscover Mental Health Services and Lee’s Summit 360 Strategic Planning Organization and is also a member of the local Rotary Club.
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