Franciscan Skemp CEO returning to Mayo Clinic

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Feb 26, 2003 | by Rindfleisch, Terry

Dr. Glenn Forbes has decided to step down as president and chief executive officer of Franciscan Skemp Healthcare early next year to return to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Forbes, 56, physician leader of Franciscan Skemp for almost six years, said it was time to return to a clinical practice as a consulting neuroradiologist to finish out his professional career.

"I feel I have accomplished many things I set out to do," Forbes said. "I love patient care, and in my final years, I want to do clinical consultation with patients and work with education and certification programs for physicians.

"That's where I feel I can have a lot of impact, and I can have some control over my life in My final years," he said. Franciscan Skemp board of directors will name a search committee that will include representatives from both sponsors-the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and Mayo Clinic, as well as Franciscan Skemp physicians and members of the senior management team.

Franciscan Skemp bylaws stipulate that the CEO must be a physician. When the new CEO is named, there will be a transition period. The new CEO will begin when Forbes leaves in early 2004.

Forbes, who received his medical degree from Yale University, completed his postgraduate training in diagnostic radiology at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, and in 1977, he completed a special fellowship in neuroradiology at Mayo. He was chairman of Mayo's Department of Diagnostic Radiology before coming to La Crosse.

He joined Franciscan Skemp in January 1998 and was the first president and CEO after the merger of Mayo, St. Francis Medical Center and Skemp Clinic.

"Franciscan Skemp's future is bright, thanks to Dr. Forbes' many contributions," said Dr. Dave Nelson, chairman of the Franciscan Skemp board of directors. "We have a strategic plan in place to optimize the system and to focus our development. The new Center for Advanced Medicine and Surgery will open in early 2004. Our partnership with Mayo Clinic, especially with the departments of cardiology and radiation oncology, has strengthened."

Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and a Franciscan Skemp board member, said Forbes guided the institution with the Franciscan values as a top priority.

"He is a very insightful person who looks at many things through a visionary lens," Weisenbeck said. "He has done well with the Catholic identity piece. He kept the Franciscan gospel dimension close to his lens."

His strategic plan to strengthen Franciscan Skemp's future with campus expansion will be part of his legacy, she said.

"But his big task was to solidify the model of physician leadership, which is established and well-formed," Weisenbeck said.

Forbes said one of his biggest accomplishments was creating a climate and structure to make sure the merger worked well. "It was about building cultures among different people and partnerships," he said.

He said he is proud of the campus regeneration project, which so far has included a parking ramp and construction of the Center for Advanced Medicine and Surgery. The $28.4 million three-story center for surgery, sameday surgery, outpatient cancer services, a walk-in clinic and emergency services will be constructed on the health care provider's La Crosse campus, just east of the current medical center and clinic.

The center is expected to be completed just about the time when Forbes leaves Franciscan Skemp.

"I feel real excited about Franciscan Skemp's future," Forbes said. "I'll be the place's biggest cheerleader.

"What I clearly enjoyed the most was working with the people here," he said. "The excitement, commitment and values of the people turned me on."