DescendingUpwards LLC

DescendingUpwards is a youthful minded company with a vision to have a complementary well-care model with the current sick-care model where aligned incentives across all stakeholders (Private/Public Payers, Health Systems, Major Industry and every citizen) leads to a healthier and more prosperous society!

Our mission is to transform and enhance Healthy Aging by promoting Lifestyle behaviors thru health education and leveraging state of the art bio-metric and smart device technology resulting in optimized healthspan (years in good health) and greater lifespan (Length of life, Longevity).

- Created partnership with an international APP company that integrates across numerous smart devices such as wearables, scales, as well as other high impact apps like MyFitnessPal.
- Successfully guided over 20+ clients to better health (most have been in healthcare) including reversing T2D/insulin resistance, high BP (HTN), Sleep Apnea, GERD along with vital sign and lab improvements.

Owner/ Operator

Select Medical

-Orchestrated the opening of the new Select Nashville West campus in partnership with Ascension-St. Thomas.  
- Finalized structure and membership of the inaugural Board of Directors and Medical Exec committee (MEC).
- Successfully credentialed greater than 100 medical providers to care for the patients and families at Select- Nashville West
- Increased occupancy rate to over 45% in the first six months of operation with an expectation to exceed 80% occupancy (and ADC) by end of Yr 1 surpassing the budgetary goals set by the JV b/n Select Medical and Ascension.

Chief Executive Officer

Hospice at Home of Arizona

As a member of the Hospice care team, my focus is engaging with the patient and their family by providing an environment that is both caring and compassionate leading to an excellent patient experience and high quality care.

Health Sabbatical- Patient Companion

Banner Health

Provided direction and oversight for Ancillary Services, Support Services and Oncology, Cardiovascular, Orthopedic and Neuroscience Service Lines.  Led development and coordination with the Chief Nursing Officer for the FY2020 Patient Experience Action Plan for Banner Desert and Cardon Children’s Medical Center.  Reported directly to the Hospital CEO.

Desert Medical Center and Cardon Children’s Medical Center is a comprehensive tertiary medical center for Adult and Pediatric care with 669-adult and pediatric beds, 1,200+ medical staff, and 3,100 team members providing clinical services to the East Valley of Phoenix.

Chief Operating Officer, Desert Medical Center and Cardon Children’s Medical Center

VCU Health

Provided direction and oversight for Pharmacy, Radiology, Laboratory, Radiation Oncology, Rehab and Respiratory Care services for VCU Health and functioned as Executive sponsor for Massey Cancer Center.  Co-led the Labor Optimization Committee and contributed to advancement from the existing internal benchmarking model to a national benchmarking model, Action OI through a pilot study with Vizient.  Orchestrated a visit by Institute for Safe Medication Practices with the Chief Quality Officer and developed strategic pathways for ongoing improvement across the inpatient and ambulatory settings.  Contributed as a voting member of VCU Health System’s Steering and Selection Committee for a new partnership with EPIC as the Electronic Health Record (EHR) provider and Premier as the new Group Purchasing Organization.  Reported to the Chief Operating Officer.

Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS) leading academic hospital system with 865-licensed beds, 750 medical staff, and 8,000 team members servicing Central Virginia.

Vice President, Professional Services

Hackensack Meridian Health

Provided direction and oversight for JSUMC and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, including an annual net revenue budget of $850M and 3,800+ team members.  

Oversaw construction and successful opening of the $265M, 300K sqft 10 story Hope Tower project that included a state of the art Cancer Center, Simulation training lab, Clinical Trials Office (CTO), and multi-specialty Adult and Pediatric clinics with conference space. Achieved high team member engagement with participation rates of 76% and became a certified place to work with overall employee satisfaction of 78% in 2018/2019 with Great Place to Work (GPTW).
Achieved CMS 4 Star rating, A in Leapfrog and two programs named in the Top 50 US News rankings (Orthopedics and Pediatric Oncology) in 2018/2019. Co-led the transfer center consolidation between JSUMC and Hackensack UMC to one unified center and delivered a module with EPIC in partnership with UNC-Chapel Hill.  Co-led Network productivity value capture team delivered a selection of Applied Management Systems (AMS) as a labor optimization partner.  Reported directly to the Regional President.

Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital is a leading academic and teaching tertiary medical center with 630-licensed beds, 1,400 medical staff, and 3,800 team members providing patient care to New Jersey.

Vice President-Chief Hospital Executive, Jersey Shore University Medical Center

UF Health

Provided direction and oversight for Cardiovascular Services, Oncology Services, Pharmacy Services, Rehabilitation Services, GI/Endoscopy Services, and the Diabetes Self-Management program with an annual $860M gross revenue budget and 550+ team members.  Co-led development and oversight of operations for the Joint Oncology Program with Orlando Health to increase standing as the premier cancer program across Florida.  Reported directly to Hospital CEO.

Shands Hospital is a leading major academic hospital with 996-licensed beds, 1,300 medical staff, and 8,500 team members providing patient care services to Florida and the Southeastern United States.

Associate Vice President, Operations, Shands Hospital

Moffitt Cancer Center

Oversaw the Ambulatory care patient experience improvement initiative for several clinics focused on select Press Ganey categories including environment of care, customer service, patient education, counseling and support; achieved significant improvements by 10-20% in each category.   

The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute is Florida’s only organization with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation with over 200-licensed acute care beds, 210 medical staff, and 3,900 team members providing cancer care to patients residing in Florida and worldwide.

Administrator

As an Sr. Health(care) Leader with a future oriented focus on Care Transformation, Integration, and Delivery; my “why” is to develop, inspire, and support our clinical teams that enhances collaboration with the communities we serve and deliver on our mission of a healthier state of being resulting in higher quality of life (healthspan) & greater length of life (lifespan)! 

With over 20 years of exceptional experience in building, cultivating, inspiring and mentoring cohesive teams, developing and enhancing new & existing relationships, and leading robust operational performance improvement efforts, I have earned influential leadership roles across the continuum of care.

In my newest chapter, I am “all in” on leveraging my experience, knowledge and relationships to re-imagine, coordinate, and deliver strategies emphasizing “well-care” solutions to complement our current models of care that will optimize the health status of the communities we serve!


SPECIALTY AREAS
Transformational Leadership
Organizational/Team Development 
Operational Excellence
Employee Engagement
Coaching/Mentorship
Care Delivery and Integration
Population Health
Value-Based Care
Healthy Aging & Lifestyle Medicine
Industry and Corporate Relationships



Taplio

Andrew "Drew" Smithson's Linkedin Analytics

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Taplio

.css-1jgreyo{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39,43,72,1) 0%, rgba(33,47,183,1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Andrew "Drew" Smithson's Linkedin Analytics

Want to drive more opportunities from LinkedIn?

Andrew "Drew" Smithson's Linkedin Analytics