diversity journal | dennis a. swan, president and ceo – sparrow hospital - nov/dec 2010

Profiles in Diversit y Journal N O V e m b e r / D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 0 31

Dennis swan doesn’t view health care as a business, but as a noble cause – “caring for people in need of medical help is ‘sacred work,’” swan says, quoting erie Chapman in his book Radical Loving Care.

Meet Dennis A. Swan

ceo + interview

President and CEO, Sparrow Hospital and Health SystemLansing, Michigan

Swan has served as president and CEO of Lansing, Michigan-based Sparrow Hospital and

Health System since 2005, and has served as a member of the organi-zation’s leadership team for nearly three decades. In that time, he has witnessed many changes in health care and in the Sparrow organiza-tion, and since becoming CEO has

been a change agent for some of the most significant improvements in the 114-year-old organization’s history.

“We have a great team, but also a formidable task,” Swan said. “We will always strive to be the best, but because we truly care for our patients, we must constantly improve outcomes and transform the patient care experience.”

Swan’s focus has been on attract-

Company name: Sparrow Hospital and Health System

Date founDeD (as Lansing Women’s Hospital): 1896. Rededicated in 1912 as Edward W. Sparrow Hospital, honoring the benefactor who donated land and $100,000 to build Lansing’s first modern hospital facility.

Company heaDquarters: Sparrow Hospital, Lansing, Michigan

website: www.sparrow.org

primary business: Health care delivery and financing.

affiliate hospitals: Sparrow-Clinton Hospital, Sparrow-Ionia Hospital, Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Sparrow-St. Lawrence Hospital, Carson City Hospital. In addition, Sparrow has dozens of satellite diagnostic and care centers, a delivery and financing organization (Physicians Health Plan), a retail pharmacy network, primary care, home care and medical supply locations, the Sparrow Health Science Pavilion, the Michigan Athletic Club and a physician-hospital organization.

other major affiliations: Michigan State University Colleges of Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine and Nursing

2009 revenues: $929,234,000

ing, developing and retaining people with outstanding talents and skills who also like to work in teams. He believes that teamwork is the way to ultimately achieve Sparrow’s vision of earning national recognition for quality and patient experience. In his five years at Sparrow’s helm, patient satisfaction scores have improved significantly, along with associate engagement and medical staff align-ment metrics. Just last year, Sparrow Hospital, the flagship of the five-hospital Sparrow Health System, earned the nation’s most prestigious honor for nursing achievement and excellence – American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. Considered the “gold standard” for nursing care in hospitals, status as a Magnet – recognized organization is held by only about six percent of America’s hospitals.

Swan has also led initiatives to enhance Sparrow’s diversity and inclusion program, including a com-mitment to attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent and expanding supplier diversity initia-tives that enhance Sparrow’s ability to partner with local and regional minority-owned businesses.

Today, Sparrow stands as mid-Michigan’s largest and most compre-hensive health care organization and the region’s largest private employer.

Are there unique opportunities in your particular industry for implementing diversity programs?

YES, certainly there are, because there may be no more complex and

diverse type of organization than health care. Sparrow Hospital is like a city, with its own power plant, security force and supply chain. We have literally hundreds of different types of jobs, ranging in skills, exper-tise and educational requirements.

We are keenly aware that diver-sity and inclusion throughout our health care team is essential for us to care for and serve the diverse communities across mid-Michigan. Patients expect our physicians, nurs-es, staff and volunteers to reflect the people who make up this region. Our Sparrow team encompasses

an array of diversity dimensions including race, ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, religions, ages, edu-cational levels, physical abilities and cultural backgrounds. We all work together to provide the qual-ity of care and service excellence to patients and families who rely on us to deliver exceptional care to every-one, every time. The people who are Sparrow range from teen volun-teers and student nurses to doctors, nurses and support staff with more than 40 years of experience. This year, one of Sparrow’s Escort Service volunteers turned 100 years old.

32 Profiles in Diversit y Journal N O V e m b e r / D e C e m b e r 2 0 1 0

“One example of the ethnic diversity within our region can be found in the language interpreting service within Sparrow Hospital, a service that eliminates language as

a barrier to receiving quality care. ”

Inside one of Sparrow Hospital’s high-tech surgery suites where robotic-assisted sur-gery is performed, Sparrow President and CEO Dennis Swan is pictured with some of the members of Sparrow’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, from left, Tina Gross, Butch Johnson, Pete Skiles, Cleo Thurman, Dean Hartenburg, Craig VanSumeren, Dennis Swan, Lesley Mozola, Jim Thurston, Nesha Hill, Larry Wilhite, Kathy Kacynski, Kenyea Zimmermann and Sandy Kern.

Dennis A. Swan | Sparrow Hospital and Health System


Additionally, Sparrow Hospital is formally affiliated and just a few short miles from one of the world’s foremost learning institutions – Michigan State University – an organization which is committed to providing learning and advance-ment opportunities for all.

One example of the ethnic diver-sity within our region can be found in the language interpreting ser-vice within Sparrow Hospital, a service that eliminates language as a barrier to receiving quality care. The top five languages interpreted at Sparrow are Spanish, Somali, Russian, Burmese and Swahili. It speaks to the ethnic variety within the community, which we also try to reflect in Sparrow’s large workforce.

Given these realities, we have developed and continue to improve our diversity and inclusion program and help provide leadership to other organizations.

Sometimes diversity is referred to as a “numbers game” – how does your company know its culture is not tied up in numbers?

THE people who seek jobs at Sparrow do so because they want to make a significant difference in the lives of others. The “numbers” we most focus on are our patient satis-faction scores, our associate engage-ment and medical staff alignment metrics, and our quality outcome statistics. Our approach leads us to recruiting people based primarily on how much they care about oth-ers – their colleagues and the people we serve.

We believe in a comprehensive approach to selecting, developing and retaining a diverse and inclu-sionary workforce. New applicants

are interviewed for alignment of values and behaviors with our orga-nization’s mission, vision and values. While skills are imperative, we seek

Sparrow Health System’s Board of Directors is made up entirely of people who volunteer their time and expertise to serve the people in the mid-Michigan region. James W. Butler III serves as chair of the Sparrow Board, a post he has held since 2009. Butler, a longtime community advocate, also serves as director of the Urban Revitalization Division of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. He is a highly decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, receiving four Bronze Stars for heroism.

As the first African–American to serve as chair of the board of Sparrow in its 114-year

history, I am in a unique position to bring a dif-ferent perspective to our leadership team. I try to make people understand the diversity perspective in all the decisions we make.

Serving as chair of the Sparrow Board of Directors is a role I take very seriously, for it is vitally important to the overall health status of the region we serve. I am also keenly aware that as the first African-American to serve in this role, my performance influences the chances of other minorities to serve in similar leadership positions. Consequently, I am a strong advocate for an agenda that advances diversity and inclu-sion at Sparrow. I am pleased to say it is an agenda that is sincerely embraced by our board and by our president and CEO, Dennis Swan. Sparrow has worked hard to de-velop a process and methodology to advance the concepts of diversity and inclusion.

Fortunately, we live in a region that is relatively advanced in embracing the concepts of diversity and inclusion. People in mid-Michigan aren’t that hung up on race, religion or ethnicity. Employers tend to focus more on things like work ethic and positive attitudes. These qualities are highly sought after, recruited and rewarded.

Sparrow, under the leadership of Dennis Swan, has made great strides in emphasiz-ing these qualities in its workforce and reflecting the diverse profile of our community. Still, we have plenty of work to do. We are doing more to attract and retain more top and mid-level executives from minority populations. We are working to develop stronger mentoring programs to help develop minority candidates to advance up the corporate ladder. And Sparrow’s leadership team is becoming more active and visible in our com-munity so that minority populations become familiar with our organization and under-stand that there are great careers in health care and in health care administration.

It is indeed a great honor to serve as the chair of a progressive and forward-think-ing organization such as Sparrow. It is also a great responsibility to keep Sparrow as a leader in providing the highest quality health care and at the forefront of promoting diversity and inclusion in the region we serve. It is a responsibility I wholly accept and am eager to uphold.

Building a diverse organization starts at the top

James W. Butler III, chair of the Sparrow Health System Board of Directors

people who have high impact in their churches, schools, homes, neighbor-hoods and other associations. Our behavioral-based interviews with potential peers and leaders help us to ascertain character traits such as: Are they open, honest, warm and genuine? Do they enjoy being part of a diverse team? Our process allows us to make these key judgments to try and gauge how they will react in a dynamic and diverse organization.

What resources are allocated to diversity?

WE have a Diversity and Inclusion Department led by a direc-tor who reports to our Vice President of Human Resources. We also have a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council consisting of associates from a wide variety of backgrounds who meet to direct programs and activi-ties to promote, develop and enhance our diverse workforce.

Currently, we have a three-year diversity and inclusion strategy. Each year, the plan is thoroughly reviewed to ensure it remains aligned with our organizational priorities. Within the plan are goals for our Diversity and Inclusion Department. However, all of Sparrow’s leadership team is accountable for helping reach these goals.

In what other ways does your orga-nization demonstrate its commit-ment to diversity and inclusion?

WITHIN our organization hardly a week goes by without some



At the Sparrow Women’s Hospital Association annual luncheon, Sparrow President Den-nis Swan and Sparrow Board of Directors Chair James Butler III flank Service Auxiliary volunteer Martha Freeman as she receives a bouquet of flowers, gifts and a standing ovation for her 50 years of volunteer service to Sparrow.

In concert with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign that aims to promote healthy eating and exercise habits in American children, Lansing’s Sparrow Health System has taken the lead in fighting childhood obesity in mid-Michigan with a number of innovative programs:

Fitness Initiative Targeting Kids (F.I.T. Kids)

Debuting in 2008, the F.I.T. Kids program works with inner-city middle-school teachers and students to create fun, interactive educational activities that encourage students to increase physical activity and to make healthier food choices. F.I.T. Kids received the prestigious 2010 Ludwig Award from the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.

Feelin’ Good Mileage Club This incentive-based, eight-week walk/run

program is offered each spring to all elementary schools in Sparrow’s eight-county service area. The local Kohl’s department stores generously support the program so it can be offered free of charge to schools. Children earn a “toe token” for each five miles logged and a specially designed water bottle at the 20-mile mark. Sparrow has been building this program for more than 13 years and presently has more than 44,000 students participating.

Michigan Mile The capstone event for the end of the Feelin’

Good Mileage Club is the Michigan Mile, held at Cooley Law School Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts, a Class A Minor League baseball team. The sole “kids only” walk/run event in Michigan, children can choose from the one mile event, or shorter sprints. Everyone gets a specially designed t-shirt and all finishers get a medal. This year nearly 2,500 children and their parents participated.

Sparrow takes the lead to fight childhood obesity

“We believe in a comprehensive approach to selecting, developing

and retaining a diverse and inclusionary

workforce.”


type of Sparrow-sponsored event that raises awareness of the diver-sity in our organization. This sum-mer, among the many programs we have sponsored are an Americans

with Disabilities Awareness presen-tation, participation in the Capital African-American Parade and Heritage Festival, conducted a forum to raise awareness to Lesbian-Gay-

Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) issues, we have celebrated Cinco de Mayo Day, and offered an Asian American Awareness program. This fall, we have scheduled a Middle Eastern Awareness event, our annu-al Diwali celebration and a Native American Day.

How does an industry as fast- changing as yours keep up with diversity development throughout the organization?

WE use both internal and external forums to keep diversity and inclusion visible to our associ-ates, volunteers, physicians and the communities we serve and work hard to communicate the business

More than 2,100 children and 170 adult volunteers spill on to the outfield warning track at Lansing’s Cooley Law School Stadium for the beginning of the 2009 Kohl’s Michigan Mile/KID-SPRINT sponsored by Sparrow.

At Sparrow’s Michigan Athletic Club, a personal trainer leads a group of students from Lansing’s Pleasant View and C.W. Otto Middle schools in group exercises in the assessment phase of the award-winning Fitness Initiative Targeting Kids (F.I.T. Kids) program. The colorful costumes of dancers from

Lansing’s Fantasia Ballet Folklorico helped spice up an afternoon of food, music and discourse at a Cinco de Mayo celebration held in the Sparrow Professional Building atrium. The event, sponsored by Sparrow’s Diversity and Inclusion Department, is one of more than a dozen ethnic-themed events held throughout the year.

case for diversity across the orga-nization. Diversity and inclusion initiatives contribute to organiza-tional excellence and attaining per-formance targets which also is doing what is right for all. Our diversity and inclusion ideals are not held to meet numerical targets or avoid litigation. We seek to create a work-place where diverse backgrounds, ideas and perspectives are embraced.

Can you describe your method for orienting new hires into your culture, for enriching employees’ awareness or introducing new issues?

AT Sparrow, all new associates go through an orientation process that includes action steps and checklists to integrate them to the organization and their department. Prior to an applicant participating in the inter-view process, we ask that they read and agree with our ICARE values.

ICARE is an acronym for Innovation, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence. Imbedded in the lan-guage of the Respect value is the ability to comprehend and value diversity, inclusion and teamwork. These are essential to our organiza-tional success.

On their very first day new associates are introduced to our Diversity 101 on-line course. The curriculum of this course includes our organization’s core values, as well as important principles such as our Platinum Rule, a philosophy of service that goes beyond the Golden Rule. The Platinum Rule

states: “Treat others in a manner that is meaningful to them.”

Throughout an associate’s career, we offer many opportunities to

become more aware of, and dem-onstrate an individual commitment to, diversity and inclusion. These include training programs, team



As a major teaching hospital, Sparrow is the clinical center of training for more than 200 resident physicians in 33 different medical specialties. In addition, each year Sparrow helps train more than 600 nursing students, 60 medical students and dozens of students in a variety of health care occupations.

In 2009, Sparrow Hospital earned the nation’s most prestigious honor for nursing achievement and excellence – American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®. Considered the “gold standard” for nursing care in hospitals, status as a Magnet-recognized organization is held by only about six percent of Ameri-ca’s hospitals.


engagement and organizational and community events.

Sparrow is a community-owned- and-operated, not-for-profit organi-zation with 114-year-old historical roots in the community. Whether they were born at Sparrow or their kids were, or whether our hospice program helped their fam-ily through extremely challenging times with compassion, part of what inspires many of our associates is knowing they are part of this larger piece of history. As you might ima gine, most of our hires are from our community and already possess some knowledge of Sparrow before they begin to work here. What we strive for is to make Sparrow a place where people are respected for who they are – for their differences – and where there is no need to blend in to become a contributing member of the team.

What are your plans for the future in regards to advancing diversity and inclusion within your organization?

FIRST of all, we face loom-ing shortages of physicians, nurses, information technologists and certi-fied, accredited and licensed staff. So we must continue to have a presence in the area schools to attract young people to the wide variety of health care employment opportunities.

We will remain steadfast in attracting and retaining a workforce which properly reflects the available talent pool, across all of our job groups. We must also provide men-

tors, guidance, support and devel-opmental opportunities to reduce turnover and retain intellectual and skills capital. Our diversity and inclusion commitment allows access to a greater talent pool.

Finally, we have to do a better job of taking this message to all of our stakeholder groups. We are not into congratulating ourselves or seek-ing awards. We are about becom-ing stronger advocates for diversity and inclusion throughout the region by leading by example. At Sparrow, we want our diversity and inclusion efforts to be more than “programs-of-the-month.” We know that our commitment to diversity and inclu-sion as a long-term strategic priority will enhance our ability to be a major agent for lasting, positive change and advancement in our region. PDJ

“We will remain steadfast in attracting and retaining a workforce which properly reflects the available talent

pool, across all of our job groups.”

Last year, Sparrow treated nearly 30,000 inpatients, provided services to more than 600,000 outpatients and more than 100,000 emergency medicine patients. Sparrow blends the knowledge and expertise of more than 900 physicians, 7,000 associates and 1,600 volunteers with the most advanced technology, to serve as a comprehensive health system for an eight-county population.

Since becoming Sparrow president and CEO in 2005, Dennis A. Swan has brought energy, passion, intensity and a patient-centered philosophy to Sparrow. His insis-

tence on clinical excellence coupled with best-in-class service quality is the driving force of his leadership team. A member of the Sparrow executive team for nearly 30 years, Swan previously served as Sparrow’s senior vice president of operations and chief operating officer.

Where does your personal belief in diversity and inclusion come from? Who were your role models, or what pivotal experience helped shape your view?

My personal beliefs in diversity and inclusion stem from the teachings of my parents, who dearly communicated the value and equality of every person and opinion.

Who has shaped your thinking as a business leader? I have tried to absorb lessons from some of the great busi-

ness and health care leaders, such as well-known business authors Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence), Jim Collins (Good to Great), Peter Drucker (many, including The Definitive Drucker) and Erie Chapman (Radical Loving Care: Building the New Healing Hospital in America).

How did you get your present position? What was your career path?

Initially I served as vice president of human resources at Sparrow before becoming chief operating officer, and then president and CEO.

Who were your mentors? Banking executives Andy Hays and George Nugent. Also

serving as my mentor was longtime Sparrow President F. Karl Neumann, who retired from Sparrow in 1990.

If you were in a roomful of colleagues, what might they say about you, your style or your business sense?

Low key, high impact, strong work ethic, high integrity, and dedicated to others getting the credit for team successes.


Company name: Sparrow Hospital and Health System

title: President and CEO

age: 62

eDuCation: Bachelor of Arts, Western Michigan University; Juris Doctorate, Thomas M. Cooley Law School

first job: Banking

philosophy: “Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.” – William Arthur Ward

what i’m reaDing: Radical Loving Care, by Erie Chapman; Hardwiring Excellence, by Quint Studer; Take the Stairs, by Roger Looyenga, Joe Tye and Don Jones; and Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic, by Leonard Berry and Kent Settman

interests: Family travel, movies, reading, and trying to make a difference in service to others.

ChilDhooD hero: Robert F. Kennedy

best piCture (film/art): The Shawshank Redemption

favorite game: Golf with my 3½-year-old grandson

favorite Charities: Sparrow Foundation; Michigan State University; Thomas M. Cooley Law School

person i’D like to get to know over lunCh: Hank Aaron

Personal | Dennis A. Swan

diversity journal | dennis a. swan, president and ceo – sparrow hospital - nov/dec 2010

Documents