Taking over medical center in tough times

Honoring her predecessor's commitments is a priority for Meg Cleary.

But discovering the scope of those commitments sometimes is a challenge for the new chief executive officer of Northern Nevada Medical Center in Sparks.

Her predecessor, Jim Pagels, died in October from injuries he suffered in an auto accident two months earlier.

Pagels, who managed through the personal relationships he built with staff members, physicians and the community, didn't leave extensive written records of the commitments he made.

But, Cleary said during a visit at her office a few days ago, a commitment is a commitment whether it's represented on paper or with a handshake.

"I need to make sure that we're keeping the commitments this organization made with the leadership of Jim," she said.

At the same time, Cleary said she's seeking to restore the stability the hospital experienced before the accident claimed Pagels.

From the time of the accident in August until Cleary started work in late January, Northern Nevada Medical Center was overseen by interim managers assigned by its parent company, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services.

While the hospital still managed to record its most successful year financially during 2003, Cleary noted that decisions often were delayed until the new leadership was in place.

And that means, she said, that much of her first 90 days in the job were spent restoring the organization's momentum.

Northern Nevada Medical Center, located on a hillside just east of Vista Boulevard, plays a variety of roles.

On one hand, it's a community hospital serving the fast-growing neighborhoods of Sparks as well as other residents of the Truckee Meadows.

Northern Nevada Medical Center also draws heavily from communities east along Interstate 80, Cleary said, because the Sparks hospital is closest to them of any in the Reno- Sparks area.

At the same time, however, the hospital plays a leadership role regionally in providing some services.

A unit that provides in-patient psychological care for aging patients, for instance, draws patients from around the state as well as northern California.

Because other hospitals in the region specialize in trauma cases in their emergency rooms, Northern Nevada Medical Center markets its emergency rooms as a place where patients can get quick emergency treatment.

A third leg of the hospital's strategy, Cleary said, is development of boutique services.

For instance, Northern Medical Center has built a team that specializes in joint-reconstruction surgery to support the work of Dr.

Jeffrey Mast of Sparks.

As Northern Nevada Medical Center pursues its strategy, Cleary said the hospital's biggest challenge is simply keeping pace with the growth of the community it serves.

"How to we make sure we stay ahead of the growth?" she said.

"How do we make sure we understand our constituencies?"

Cleary brings to Northern Nevada Medical Center more than 20 years of hospital, medical practice and managed care administrative experience.

She has worked in Minneapolis, San Diego, Denver and Sacramento and most recently was president of Woodland Healthcare of Woodland, Calif., a 115-bed hospital member of the Catholic Healthcare West organization.

A Minnesota native, Cleary earned an master's in business administration from the College of Saint Thomas and an master's degree in health administration from the University of Minnesota.

She received her bachelor's degree from Colgate University.