When you talk about a diversified healthcare background, you talk about Bob Simpson. From 1976 to 1982, Bob was the Director of Operations for Northeast Red Cross Blood Service and from 1982 to 1983, Bob was the Director of Materials Management and Project Coordinator, building the first USDA Human Nutrition Research Canter at Tufts University in Boston.

From 1984 to 1994, Bob was at the Neponset Valley Health System followed by a time at Healthcare Services of New England. From 1995 to 2002, Bob held several executive positions at TFX Surgical Group. Since March 1, 2002, Bob has lead LeeSar, the Supply Chain Management Division, and Cooperative Services of Florida, the Group Purchasing Organization for Lee Memorial Health System and Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System as its President and Chief Executive Officer.
 
IDN Summit (IDN): How will healthcare reform impact your operations at LeeSar?

Robert (Bob) Simpson (BS): Healthcare reform will require our hospitals to do more with less reimbursement. As the Supply Management Team for these hospitals we are focused on looking for new and more efficient ways of supplying our hospitals at a lower cost. This means re-engineering the complete Supply Chain Model that currently exists.

IDN: We’ve been hearing a lot of discussion around IDN self-distribution recently but LeeSar was an early pioneer of this concept. What have your health systems seen as the benefits of a regional, direct contracting model?

BS: Direct sourcing of product from manufacturers bring substantial cost saving and value to our healthcare facilities. We have also been able to improve our fill rates to better service our customers.

IDN: How would you suggest a system begin the processing of identifying if a regional, self-contracting model is right for them?

BS:  Start in the C-Suites and see if there is a commitment on that level to commit to this process. That is the only way it will work.

IDN: You’ve been at LeeSar since 2002, what do you believe are the highlights of your leadership?

BS:  There have been many rewards from being in this position.
• Zero turnover in my senior management staff for eight years.
• To see the positive impact our work has on our hospitals and the patients we care for.
• So many people thanking us for what we do.

IDN: You invest a lot of your time with helping others such as Project Perfect World, please share with us why you invest so much of yourself assisting others?

BS:  No one should work in this industry without giving something back. It’s what we are all about and who we are, it’s personal.

Biography:

ROBERT ALLAN SIMPSON, CMRP

 

When you talk about a diversified health care background, you talk about Bob Simpson. From 1976 to 1982, Bob was the Director of Operations for Northeast Red Cross Blood Service and during that famous blizzard of 1978, Bob was responsible for ensuring the blood supply moved while New England was buried under twelve feet of snow, having assigned to him a platoon of soldiers, armored personnel carriers and a helicopter.

From 1982 to 1983, Bob was the Director of Materials Management and Project Coordinator and assisted in building the first USDA Human Nutrition Research Canter at Tufts University in Boston where the Federal Government made a commitment to bring in the top nutrition researchers from around the world to study the effects nutrition has on the aging population.

From 1984 to 1994, Bob was at the Neponset Valley Health System where he led the effort to centralize materials management services for the first multi-hospital health care system in the New England area as Vice President of Materials Management for that system.

In 1994, Bob joined Healthcare Services of New England, the largest and oldest group purchasing organization in New England and, as their Vice President, developed total service contracts for their membership.

From 1995 to 2002, Bob held several executive positions at TFX Surgical Group, where he led the development of a National Accounts effort and the development of a Service Division to assist customers in lowering their total operational cost.

On March 1, 2002, Bob returned to the Provider side of the business as President and Chief Executive Officer of LeeSar, the Supply Chain Management Division, and Cooperative Services of Florida, the Group Purchasing Organization for Lee Memorial Health System and Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System.

In addition, during 1995, Bob was the International President of the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management and in 1997 received the Association’s most prestigious award “The George R. Gossett Leadership Award”. He is also the founder and President of Project Perfect World, taking medical teams around the world to provide free surgery for needy children.

A graduate of Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts with an undergraduate degree in Healthcare Administration, Bob has his Advanced Training in Negotiation from Wharton School of Management and Harvard University.  Bob is a graduate of the Georgetown University Leadership Training Program and is also a Champion of the Six Sigma Process. 
Bob is a noted speaker and has published in many local and national magazines, newsletters and books.