Bjelich: Collaboration key to successful leadership

Steve Bjelich might have one of the most demanding positions in Cape Girardeau and the Cape Girardeau County region. As the president and chief executive officer of Saint Francis Medical Center, he oversees the occupations and responsibilities of 2,700 employees on a daily basis. Bjelich has close to 40 years of experience under his belt, and he stressed he has found success in collaboration. He said individual jobs require individual responsibilities, but there's always a common purpose in working as a team

How did you get to your position as the president and CEO of Saint Francis Medical Center?

I really have an interest both in medicine as well as business. I like the flexibility of the business world, and my father had open-heart surgery under a world-famous surgeon back when heart surgery still was very new. His name was Dr. Michael DeBakey and he suggested health care, so I pursued a business degree and I have a double major in finance and marketing from Indiana University. Then I obtained my master's through the Indiana University School of Medicine, which also included a year of residency at Mercy Hospital in Miami, Florida.

Then I've been with the Saint Francis health care system as the CEO since 1999, so it's been a long time. ... [Being a double major has] prepared me well, particularly for the challenges in health care. That balance of finance, and yet it's important to create access and visibility. I've been in senior management now almost for 37 years. In my last position I was with the, ironically similar name, but it's the Saint Francis Hospital and health care system in Wilmington, Delaware. ... I've been fortunate. I've been at a variety of hospitals and systems nationally. ... We used to live [in Kansas City] because at 25 I was the vice president at Baptist Medical Center in Kansas City.

What does your day-to-day work entail as president?

Well the Saint Francis health care system, which includes Saint Francis Medical Center, is the largest employer in Cape County. This really gives one great pause. My responsibility is to the 2,700 employees and their families, our physicians, but most importantly to our patients who come from a five-state region. We serve patients from western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, southern Missouri, northeast Arkansas and northwest Tennessee. Ultimately to the board of directors, they establish the stage for me and this organization to be a robust health care system that provides high quality care.

My role, a great deal of time, is collaboration with our physicians, with our community, with our employees through, often times, a strategic planning process that we use and then convert strategic planning into implementation. An example of that might be the $127-million building project that we are about to complete. The collaborative process that was used there was why we consistently finish on time and/or ahead of budget and are able to improve the environment and the quality of care for those that we serve. So I also have to tell you that I'm very fortunate because of a very experienced and highly motivated executive team that I have the privilege to work with. ... We have a passion for what we do here, and Saint Francis is much more of a family than it is a formal structured organization. We have structure, but it's done in a collaborative way.

You have a very demanding and responsibility-driven position. How do you work to inspire your team and others through the work that you do?

I believe it's leading by example, being passionate about what you do and who you serve. It's always being people of integrity. Beyond being prepared with education, it comes down to people. The success of our organization is not about the beautiful buildings we can build or the wonderful technology that we're able to acquire, it comes down to the compassion of the employees, staff, physicians at Saint Francis. I think they inspire me and we inspire each other, and I think that is the reason for success. ... It is very rewarding. I hope all of our employees feel that who they are and what they do is not only important to me but to the whole organization.

Where else do you see leadership pop up in your life?

I would say that leadership is something that you don't turn on or turn off. I think that leadership is demonstrated, whether it be community activities, whether it be places of worship, whether it be even with your own family. First and foremost my parents, they shaped my early values and instilled in me the importance of family and community. From that, they also instilled the discipline both in the classroom and on the athletic field. I think that you see leadership, it's something that doesn't just develop over time, I think it starts with your early values and it's stressed through your upbringing and, I think, through role models or mentors.

Who are your role models for effective leadership?

I will reiterate, first and foremost, my parents. They shaped my early values, instilled in me the importance of family and community. A second mentor would be Coach Sam Bell, who was a retired U.S. Olympic track and field coach and was the head coach at Indiana University where I competed and earned All-American, Big Ten Champion honors. Coach Bell's inspiration really came from those formative years.

When you're away from home and you transition from your early adult years into an adult, and all the responsibility that comes with that, that's pretty special. In track there's a great deal of emphasis on individual preparation, but you're always part of a team. It's similar to what we have in health care management. We are all part of a greater team. I think, professionally speaking, a third mentor would be a former health care executive named Dan Anderson, who taught me early in my career when I was a very young vice president at 25, that it goes beyond your educational training and comes down to people that deliver care, provide support services that channel all the technology into compassion, as I stated earlier. That's why employees are so important to me. I think another mentor would be Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger. Harry was our former board chair and a board chairman when I became a part of Saint Francis, and I think he's taught me the importance of the community, community values and giving back to the community.

To you, what qualities make up a successful leader?

I think you must have character. I think you have to work hard with focus and compassion. I believe you must set an example to those who will follow you. You must build a cohesive team, be willing to collaborate, communicate with clarity. Finally, the most important is to earn the trust and credibility of those around you.