Member News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 8, 2009
Ruth Colby Honored by AHA Healthcare Strategy Society
Ruth Colby, chief strategy officer and senior vice president of business development at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, Ill., was announced last Friday as recipient of the 2009 Award for Individual Professional Excellence from the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) of the American Hospital Association. Ms. Colby accepted her award from SHSMD President Diane Caslow during the Society's Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.
Ms. Colby was cited as a talented and innovative strategist who has successfully challenged her organization to push the boundaries, developing strategic alliances with academic medical centers, physicians, and new niche-market entrants such as MinuteClinic. She and her team spearheaded the hospital's IMatter program—a unique approach that rewards women for completing preventive health screenings by giving them discounts at local retailers.
In 2008 Ms. Colby successfully led her organization's efforts to obtain state approval for a million replacement hospital at a new campus. As part of this project, she was instrumental in developing an innovative approach to addressing the healthcare, economic, and social needs of Joliet's East side neighborhoods. She created the Silver Cross Healthy Community Commission, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides independent oversight of the hospital's ongoing commitment to the community. This year she led the effort to establish a freestanding emergency center in her market—the first such center licensed in Illinois.
In her previous positions at Solucient, LLC (now the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters), Ms. Colby spearheaded groundbreaking research that resulted in published studies on new approaches to consumer segmentation; the first comprehensive quantification of the downstream value of hospital call centers; insights into the impact of published quality ratings in healthcare; and enhanced techniques for forecasting the impact of technology adoption.
Ms. Colby, who was elected to the SHSMD board of directors in 2002, has served SHSMD as its president (2007) and as cochair of its Annual Conference (2005 and 2004). Additionally, she has given several presentations to healthcare organizations, and she is a member of the American Hospital Association's Long-Range Policy Committee.
SHSMD's Award for Individual Professional Excellence is the highest honor the Society can bestow on one of its members. Past recipients include Don Seymour and Ken Trester (2008), Pamela Bilbrey (2007), David Marlowe (2005), Russ Coile (2003), Scott Regan (2002), Carolyn Hightower (2001), Susan Dubuque (2000), Susanna Krentz (2000), and Greg Waskul and Rhoda Weiss (1999).
About the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development
The Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development is the premier organization for healthcare planners, marketers, and communications and public relations professionals. A personal membership group of the American Hospital Association, SHSMD serves more than 4,500 members and is the largest organization in the nation devoted to serving the needs of healthcare strategy professionals. The Society is committed to helping its members meet the future with greater knowledge and opportunity as their organizations work to improve health status and quality of life in their communities. For more information, visit shsmd.org.
