Scott Steiner embraces ‘Phoebe Family’ as its new leader

ALBANY — While getting his feet wet in his new role, Scott Steiner says he plans to do a lot of listening over the next few months before determining the direction he wants for Phoebe Putney Health System.

Steiner succeeded Joel Wernick as president and CEO of the health system on March 1. Prior to taking on his new role, Steiner served as CEO of four Tenet Healthcare Corporation hospitals in Detroit and previously was CEO of a Tenet hospital in Chicago.

Steiner’s wife, Tracy Steiner, is a retired school teacher and active community volunteer. They have two daughters, one currently attending medical school and one enrolled in college with ambitions of becoming a teacher.

Raised in St. Louis, Steiner graduated from Missouri State University before earning a Masters of Business Administration degree with a health services emphasis from Webster University in St. Louis. He began his career in health care administration as director of physician network and development for a hospital in East St. Louis, Ill., in 1992.

He said he was raised learning about the industry, being the son of a nurse. And while he says his health care experience is significant, it is not the thing about himself that he considers most important.

“There is God, family and everything else after that,” he said. “Faith and family are what make me tick.”

Steiner said he considers himself an outdoorsman with special interest in fishing and biking. Since coming to Albany, he said he has been on his first quail hunt and now is excited about spending more time outdoors while in southwest Georgia.

The new Phoebe CEO said a recruiter contacted him about the position. When Steiner had a chance to meet with the health system’s leadership, he said he got a good feeling about the environment at Phoebe.

“This just feels right,” he said. “I don’t think I have come across a gruff person (within the organization), although I am sure they are here. People have been welcoming.”

Steiner said he was also struck by the strength of the health system in terms of financial stability, reinvestment of community benefits and physician recruitment — particularly for a hospital that serves a rural area.

The new CEO further said he was touched by the family atmosphere at Phoebe.

“What I have seen here is just as good as anywhere,” Steiner said. “The outcomes here are very special. One thing that resonated with me was the ‘Phoebe Family.’ I thought it was this year’s slogan.”

Steiner compares Phoebe to a real family in that staff takes care of one another, and he said that the results produced are comparable to what he has seen in Detroit and Chicago.

“I don’t see any difference,” he said. “What I hope to learn about is the uniqueness (of Phoebe).”

Wernick has retired, but he still has some level of involvement in the leadership transition in that he is spending the next few months working with Steiner. Given the 30 years Wernick had to build foundations and make connections in the community, Steiner said he has found Wernick’s willingness to take part in the transition helpful.

“He wants nothing more than to see Phoebe flourish,” Steiner said.

Steiner said he is making contacts on the southwest Georgia, state and national levels, while making rounds at all the Phoebe hospitals. He has also seen the safety huddles taking place on clinical floors, a step officials at Phoebe said has been vital in bringing down hospital-acquired infections and mistakes in patient care.

Steiner said he is a proponent of transparency.

“Some organizations can be criticized for it, but in my opinion it is the right thing to do,” he said.

At the end of the day, Steiner said people want safety, healing and compassion. In a hospital setting, that can be a difficult balance to strike.

“It’s a challenge because people don’t want to be there,” he said. “Our job is for them to walk away feeling satisfied. (We want them to) walk away from a Phoebe facility feeling like family.”

At age 50, Steiner said he plans to be at Phoebe for the long-haul and eventually retire from the organization. Working in a health system with great influence is a good opportunity, but he said size is not important to him.

“Purpose is what is important to me,” he said.

By mid-summer, after talking with and listening to staff at Phoebe and the organizations it partners with, Steiner said he expects to be in a position to give an idea of how he wants to pick up where Wernick left off.

“I want to make sure (Phoebe) is a stronger asset when I leave,” he said. “I don’t have the formula, but there is no doubt we will do this together. We work for the people.”

In his time since he’s transitioned into the leadership position at Phoebe, Steiner said has been made aware of the health system’s critics that have most recently taken to social media.

Steiner said he is willing to have discussions with those critics, with some exceptions.

“There are critics about everything; everybody’s got an opinion,” he said. “Today, with the digital age, people can quickly leave their opinion. I am not going to please everyone, but I will try to.

“I am always happy to have that dialogue. At the same time, we can only do so much to satisfy people. At some point, we have to move on. (Otherwise we may) spend so much time caring about the 2 percent that we lose sight of the mentally ill or the trauma center status.”

Steiner comes to Phoebe at a time that the health system’s main campus is seeking Level II designation as a trauma center.

“I have run a Level II trauma center,” he said. “It is the right thing to do.”

Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital is the system’s flagship hospital with 691 beds on two campuses. The health system also includes Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, a 76-bed community hospital in Americus; and Phoebe Worth Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital located in Sylvester. The health system also manages Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Cuthbert.

Phoebe Physician Group employs more than 300 clinicians who work in Phoebe hospitals as well as 42 clinics in nine counties. The system also includes the Phoebe Family Medicine Residency and is home to the Medical College of Georgia Southwest Campus and the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy Southwest Clinical Campus. Phoebe’s main campus serves as one of six designated regional perinatal centers in Georgia.

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