Since September 2010, Tom Jensen has been leading the team at Grays Harbor Community Hospital. He arrived here from Eastern Washington nearly four years ago now, with over 20 years of health industry experience in his pocket.
The life of a CEO is full of surprises and the hours are long. In fact, Tom explains that he is essentially on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hospitals are open at all hours, requiring him to be ready to take action at anytime. And as CEO, he is the leader in implementing the goals and vision of the Board of Directors as well as taking care of the hospital’s 600 plus employees.
At his home in Montesano, Jensen lives with his wife and two children, plus ten acres of land for his horses, dog and cats. Some days he heads into work at 7:00 a.m. in order to get started on the day’s activities bright and early.
A typical morning for Tom is spent interacting with the health care providers and taking care of any issues that may have come up in the past 24 hours. As the senior executive, he is often sought out for help in a variety of situations from policy making to day to day operations. He also is responsible for recruitment and retention of physicians as well as being a part of the financial management and statistical recording at the hospital.
Each day holds a schedule full of meetings for Tom. He interacts with every department of the hospital on a daily basis, from operations to marketing, and even plays a large role in maintaining the relevance of the hospital to the state’s government officials. Tom visits with important decision makers and lobbies for the hospital regularly, in order to maintain the quality of care and services that Grays Harbor Community Hospital provides.
With the upcoming opportunity for the hospital to become a public hospital and designated sole community hospital through a public vote, Tom has been especially busy finding solutions for the struggles that the hospital has faced in recent years. In the end, his goal is to save jobs for the community, thereby also enabling the hospital to provide essential services and resources to those in need.
Over the past four years, Tom has led the hospital to make major improvements. Recently, the hospital has received positive press for their surgical excellence and well as their affordability rating. As a community hospital CEO, Tom continues to make moves towards improving the quality of care for area residents and puts in the hours to make positive changes.
