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Ocean Beach
Hospital
A Perfect
Fit For New CEO
Nancy Butterfield,
Observer Correspondent
Ocean
Beach Hospital is a perfect fit for new CEO Joe DiPalo.
“My wife and I always wanted to be part of the great
Northwest,” the New York State native said. “There’s
something pristine about the area.” DiPalo and his wife,
Carol, an art teacher, have two daughters in college and
the time was right for a move across the country to the
West Coast. “We’ve been warmly welcomed here,” he said.
“My wife is looking forward to volunteering in the
schools and with civic organizations.”
And, after a month on the
job, he’s settling in at a hospital that’s a “mirror
image” of his position as CEO at Margaretville (N.Y.)
Memorial Hospital.
“There were similar
challenges at Margaretville,” DiPalo said. “Both
hospitals have celebrated their 75th years, both have
two clinics. The importance of the hospital to the
community is very big. OBH is the biggest employer on
the Peninsula and, with payroll dollars being spent
here, has an important economic impact on the area.
Peninsula residents deserve a hospital of reliable
quality with affordable care.”
 Originally from La Grange,
N.Y., DiPalo, 57, said he has “a passion for small
communities and the role and importance of the hospital
to them. It was easy to say ‘yes’ to the hospital board
after recruiters contacted me about the job here.” He
says his strengths as a hospital administrator are
financial management, staff development and physician
recruitment and retention.
“Ocean Beach Hospital has a
skilled and dedicated workforce,” he said, “with
excellent doctors and a modern and well-equipped
facility. There are good people here, motivated to
achieve the mutual goals of providing the community with
health care and the medical services needed.”
After a less-than-favorable
audit a couple of years ago, interim CEO Bill Buck was
working hard last year to bring the facility’s financial
picture up to snuff and DiPalo is continuing Buck’s
work. “It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “The goal is
to be financially solvent with a positive profit margin.
I’ve been reviewing policies and processes to ensure
fiscal responsibility and accountability with prudent
management to achieve financial goals. OBH today enjoys
strong and dedicated senior management.”
To that end, DiPalo has
hired Scot Attridge as the hospital’s chief financial
officer. Attridge, from Omak, was CFO at the Omak
hospital for five years. He has also hired a new human
resources director, Kary Holloway.
The physicians, physicians’
assistants and nurse practitioners on the staff at OBH
are competent and highly qualified, DiPalo said, adding
that he’s currently recruiting personnel for expanded
women’s health services at the clinic and physicians who
specialize in urology, cardiology and pain management to
complement current specialties in general and orthopedic
surgery, internal medicine, family practice,
dermatology, oncology, radiology, pathology and
emergency medicine.
The clinic is expanding,
DiPalo said, and, within a couple of months a new
orthopedic “center of excellence” will open in the
former Red Cross building across the street from the
hospital. “We will continue to implement best practices
to achieve excellent outcomes at the clinic and
hospital,” he said. “Within three to six months, we’ll
be hiring additional family practice and internal
medicine physicians.”
DiPalo began his hospital
career when he was a young man working as an orderly. “I
knew then that working at a hospital was what I wanted
to do,” he said. “I was very comfortable and sensed the
hospital was an environment I wanted to be part of.” He
received his master’s degree in business administration
with a concentration in health care at Wagner College in
Staten Island, N.Y., and was an administrative resident
at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before
becoming vice president of operations at a large New
Jersey hospital. He moved to the West Coast for the
first time when he worked for a for-profit health care
company, then was recruited as executive vice president
of integrated health care delivery systems at
Margaretville.
“Small rural hospitals
require a special passion and commitment to the
community and the rural character,” he said. “I roll up
my sleeves, I flip hamburgers, I’m a hands-on manager
and will protect the safety of the hospital’s patients
and employees. I’m direct, thorough and fair and will
consistently choose goals and objectives that best serve
the residents of the Peninsula. That’s what I achieved
in the other communities I’ve served. I know my
strengths and weaknesses.”
Reprinted with permission
from the Chinook Observer, May 28, 2008.
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