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5 professionals tapped by Hall of Fame for Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership as Future Famers

SCHAUMBURG, IL (March 27, 2017) ) – Bellwether League Inc., the Hall of Fame for Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership, recognized five professionals for their contributions to supply chain operations during the first decade of their respective careers.

The Future Famers Class of 2017 includes the following individuals who have made significant strides in the healthcare supply chain industry early in their employment:

• Ben Cahoy, Principal Contract Specialist, Sanford Health, Sioux Falls, SD
• Derek Havens, Senior Region Director, Premier Inc., Charlotte, NC
• Mark Growcott, Ph.D., Manager, Supply Chain Finance and Strategy, Oschner Health System, Harahan, LA
• Karen Kresnik, R.N., Director, Supply Chain Value Analysis & Contracting, Nebraska Methodist Health System, Omaha, NE
• Christine Naughton, Communications Specialist, Supply and Service Resource Management, Dignity Health, Phoenix, AZ

“The Future Famers Class of 2017 has individually and collectively contributed to the supply chain profession and to their healthcare provider’s efforts to maximize supply chain performance,” said Jamie Kowalski, Bellwether League Co-Founder and Board Member who chairs the nominating committee. “Some Future Famers have done this through success in a narrow, more focused initiative, while others have taken a broad scope in what they have already done. Each of their contributions and initiatives have prepared them to take on more and more diverse supply chain initiatives, while building their own self-confidence as well as the confidence in them by their organizations, peers and customers. Some of their successes were not necessarily in the typical recognized realm of supply chain management, but the Famers used their experiences and capabilities developed in that area. Each has a jump start on the journey to round out their supply chain skill set even further, preparing them for more contributions as their careers progress.”

Nick Gaich, Chairman, Bellwether League’s Board of Directors, expressed his admiration and excitement for the Future Famers Class of 2017.

“Bellwether League’s Future Famer recognition program allows us to look at some of our industry’s best young executives and their accomplishments, which in turn provides us a glimpse of those who will carry forward the legacy of supply chain contributions,” Gaich said. “I would like to congratulate all five Future Famers in this year’s class, and along with our Board of Directors, look forward to keeping a watchful eye on their continued path of scaling supply chain excellence.”

The newest Future Famers will be recognized during the 10th Annual Bellwether Induction Dinner event, scheduled for Monday, October 16, at The Embassy Suites by Hilton Chicago-Downtown Magnificent Mile, which also includes the Bellwether Meeting House & Eatery.

Future Famers Class of 2017

After working as an undergraduate intern at Sanford Health, Ben Cahoy led an organization-wide improvement project that implemented a location identification system of route numbers to improve the process of tracking and delivering products, employees and correspondence across 43 hospitals and 260 clinics in six states. The organizational structure of tracking employees by work location for emergency situations, and distribution of information throughout the health system led to $18.8 million in non-labor cost reduction. Sanford also used the system to implement product conversions in 10 facilities and bring them up on the organization’s enterprise resource planning system.

Derek Havens used his global strategic sourcing expertise to help selected Premier hospitals choose the “right fit” cochlear implant products for their physicians and clinicians by bringing them together with Supply Chain to explore options, designate a preferred supplier and negotiate the contract. Havens accomplished this through his quickly gained skill and ability to extract actionable information from collected data and bridge any gaps between clinical and operational players. He also ran a partially outsourced, for-profit supply chain department, incorporating best-practice, standardized conversion templates, value analysis tools and workflow patterns.

Mark Growcott joined Ochsner Health without any experience in healthcare but quickly established himself as an expert on supply chain metrics and financial analytics for member facilities. His own analytical work has propelled strategic planning and the successful launch of several business ventures by the health system, including a molecular imaging service with a disciplined supply chain process, an orthopedic initiative designed to transform the surgical process and a new business model for the system’s regional purchasing coalition. Growcott actively works with physicians, nurses and technicians to strive for organizational and patient outcome success.

Karen Kresnik demonstrates an ability to draw even the highest-level hospital executive into value analysis meetings and motivate him or her to actively participate in relevant discussions and decisions about clinical products and services. With a clinical and consulting background that reinforces her business acumen, judgment and negotiations, Kresnik tackles historically difficult projects in such areas as orthopedics, laboratory distribution and blood management, working with clinicians to cut costs by more than $2 million for their organization and bolstering its self-distribution model.

Christine Naughton effectively serves as a bridge between Supply Chain’s sustainability culture-engrained efforts and the clinicians and end users who work with appropriate alternative products and services. Naughton works to match Supply Chain’s cost management and reduction duties with the department’s identification, evaluation and implementation of sustainable products for system-wide use. By uniting the aims and operations of Dignity Health’s Supply Chain and Sustainability teams, Naughton is carving out a new and developing discipline within an organization that already has earned considerable renown and a minted reputation in the healthcare sustainability movement.

About Bellwether League Inc.

Bellwether League’s Board of Directors, a veteran group of industry advocates, selects deceased, retired and currently active professionals with a minimum of 25 years of exemplary service and leadership performance in supply chain operations that meet its criteria to be publicly recognized. Honorees demonstrate their qualifications by advancing the profession through work experience and performance and active participation in professional organizations and their communities. Future Famers represent supply chain professionals early in their healthcare careers who do not yet qualify for Bellwether consideration, but have contributed to the healthcare supply chain profession in a meaningful way.

Bellwether League has honored 86 innovators, leaders and pioneers in healthcare supply chain management in five distinct categories: Education & Media, Supply Chain Management, Group Purchasing, Supplier and Consulting Services. With the current class, Bellwether League also has recognized 17 Future Famers to date.

Launched in late July 2007 by a group of influential veterans in the healthcare supply chain industry, Bellwether League Inc., is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation that identifies and honors men and women who have demonstrated significant leadership in, influence on and contributions to the supply chain from healthcare providers, healthcare product manufacturers and distributors, group purchasing organizations, consulting firms, educational institutions and media outlets.

Bellwether League currently is funded by five Founding and Platinum Sponsors – Halyard Health, Owens & Minor, Premier Purchasing Partners, Vizient Inc. and VIE Healthcare – and a host of additional sponsors.

For more information about Bellwether League, visit bellwetherleague.org

Contact Rick Dana Barlow, Executive Director, at (847) 466-7425 or rickdanabarlow@bellwetherleague.org.