Owensboro Surgery Center gets new CEO
Jul. 15—Dan Haire has been named the new chief executive officer of Owensboro Surgery Center.
Haire, 42, started in the role Monday. He said it's a good fit for his growth in the health care profession. It also offered him a chance to return to a place that was familiar to him and his family.
"What enticed me (to the position) was that we lived in Owensboro for 20 years — my wife is from here, my kids grew up here and go to college locally," he said, "and I really wanted to come back and utilize my leadership skills in our community."
According to its website, Owensboro Surgery Center is the only freestanding multi-specialty surgery center in Owensboro. It serves the community of western Kentucky and southern Indiana and provides "high quality outpatient surgical care to both adults and children" with a focus on clinical quality, integrity, service excellence, teamwork, accountability and continuous improvement.
The surgery center is a part of SCA Health — formerly Surgical Care Affiliates — which is a part of OptumCare and is fully accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.
Haire has been working in health care since 2001, starting at Owensboro Health as a nurse, followed by a little over six years at Hospice of Western Kentucky (now Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Kentucky) before moving into regional territory with positions with entities such as AseraCare and Intrepid USA Health care Services.
He most recently was vice president of hospice for Alternate Solutions Health Network in Kettering, Ohio.
"Making a difference in those communities doing hospice work was really rewarding and fulfilling, but I really wanted to get back here and to start investing in making a difference in Owensboro again," Haire said.
Haire said the departing CEO — Lyzette Galloway — has been with the surgery center for 39 years and will retire at the end of the year.
In his new role, Haire said he is responsible for all operations, such as clinical outcomes, physician relations, business development, finance and revenue cycle, recruiting, retention and staff management.
"Every department and department head reports up through me, and then I am ultimately responsible for every single patient who comes through, every staff member (and team member) that we have and then all of the physician relationships with our providers," he said.
Haire sees the position as an opportunity to become more acquainted with another area in the profession.
"One of the biggest drivers for making this change was I wanted to grow even more as a healthcare executive and learn another sector outside of just post-acute care and home health and hospice," he said. "I really wanted to diversify my knowledge in getting very close to an ambulatory surgical center and working closer with health systems and gaining that operational knowledge."
While the healthcare profession may seem stressful considering the past two years brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Haire hasn't lost sight of what is important to him.
"I love taking care of the people and the team members who provide the direct care for our patients," Haire said. "That's what really drives and motivates me to do this.
"What's driven me to do more and take on more responsibility and to do things I've done in my career is (that) it gives me more and more influence over more providers and clinicians to impact more and more families and communities. That makes me more and more fulfilled."
