“I’d like to keep my roots here in Dayton,” said Breitenbach, who with his wife, Carol, lives in Oakwood and has four grown children. “We’ve lived here 25 years and have a strong attachment to the community.”
In particular, Breitenbach looks forward to continued involvement with the Dayton Public Schools, whose accountability committee he co-chairs.
“Both for Dayton and the nation, we have to drastically improve our urban schools,” he said. “The Dayton Public Schools are well-positioned to do that, and I’d like to be involved in that process.”
And he’d like to have a hand in the implementation of the health care overhaul, perhaps as a consultant or through government agencies.
Those plans would fit the certified public accountant’s strengths, observers say. Breitenbach is among a small group of people who can anticipate how health care regulations will affect hospitals and other institutions before they’re implemented, said Bryan Bucklew, president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association. That makes him an intellectual leader in health care public policy whose opinions are sought from beyond the region.
“He saw the need to be collaborative (in clinical care) long before other people in the industry saw that,” Bucklew said.
Breitenbach has “always been considerate of the mission of the hospital, which is to take care of people who come to the front door,” said Dr. Michael Craig, a pulmonary doctor who sits on Premier’s board. “He’s concerned about those in need.”
Premier said its Montgomery County hospitals provided 81 percent of the county’s $135 million of uncompensated care in 2009.
Frank Perez, who will retire in May 2011 as CEO of Premier competitor Kettering Health Network, called Breitenbach an “extraordinary colleague.”
“He is studious, he delves deeply into detail, is highly intelligent and very tenacious in the pursuit of success,” said Perez, who also plans to remain in the area. Breitenbach, a trustee of the University of Dayton, was one of the first people that Daniel J. Curran met in town prior to being selected president of the University of Dayton.
“He realizes human dynamics,” said Curran, who also worked with Breitenbach and Brother Ray Fitz on the Genesis project, which revitalized the Brown Street business district and the Fairgrounds neighborhood. “He understands how to approach a variety of different problems. It’s a rare quality.”
Reflecting on his career at Miami Valley and Premier, Breitenbach said the hospital he joined in 1979 was a faltering one, both clinically and financially. Today, he said, “it’s the cornerstone of the largest and most successful health care system in southwest Ohio.
“It’s a privilege for me to be part of the team that ... bootstrapped Miami Valley into prominence,” he said.
One key development during Breitenbach’s tenure that has positioned Premier well for the future was his offer to buy and manage primary care practices after Virginia-based HealthSprings HMO began recruiting local physicians for its clinics in the mid-1990s. Today, Premier employs 245 physicians at a time when its biggest challenge is recruiting and retaining high-caliber physicians.
Breitenbach also led Premier through some challenging times, including its year-long separation from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield network in 2005. He admits he was mistaken then.
“I tried to impose national health reform on a local region,” he said. “I tried to get community pricing into a local region that was struggling economically. In retrospect, that was probably not the right environment and time to do that, primarily because Delphi and General Motors were on the road to bankruptcy and the community just couldn’t deal with the economic situation.”
Breitenbach sees himself as taking part in a relay race to make the community better.
“We’ve had tremendous leadership in this community, and I think Dayton is a very resilient region,” he said. “Despite all the economic trauma, Dayton has a very bright future.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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