New UC Health Leader: 'Bring Your 'A' Game Every Day'

Richard (Rick) Lofgren, MD, MPH, began his first week as UC Health’s new president and CEO with a challenge to the health system’s clinicians, nurses and staff.

"Bring your ‘A’ game every day,” Lofgren said in a video interview posted on UC Health’s website, challenging everyone connected with UC Health to provide the best possible care for the Tristate and beyond.

Lofgren was appointed Nov. 1, 2013, to succeed Jim Kingsbury, who retired Nov. 30. Lofgren’s first day at the helm was Monday, Dec. 2. As part of his efforts to get acquainted with UC’s medical campus, he will hold a Town Hall meeting with College of Medicine Dean Thomas Boat, MD, at noon Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the CARE/Crawley Building’s Kaplan Reception Hall.

"Every day I remind myself that providing care and serving Cincinnati is a privilege,” Lofgren said in the video. "And I also remind myself that regardless of the technology and all that we do, health care is a very human endeavor.”

Discussing his approach to health care leadership, Lofgren said he is guided by three basic tenets: The needs of the patient come first, the most effective systems produced the best results, and health care is very much a team sport. Rather than shying away from divisions, he said, employees should reach out across barriers and strive for optimal communication.

His pact with employees, he said, also is three-pronged: They should go to work and get respect, have the tools to be successful, and if they do something well, that somebody will acknowledge that they’ve done a good job.

"I think that what UC Health has done in positioning itself over the last couple of years is really quite remarkable, and I think it is the type of organization that really can be  a leader in transforming and revolutionizing health care and the way we deliver care in America.”

Lofgren added: "We need to make a commitment to the community that regardless of how sick or how complex the medical problem, they can get world-class care right here in Cincinnati.”

Lofgren previously served at UK HealthCare (UKHC), the University of Kentucky’s health system, and held two senior-level positions during his tenure there that transformed UKHC into a highly successful health system. 

Most recently, Lofgren served as senior vice president and chief clinical officer for the University Healthsystem Consortium (UHC) in Chicago. As a member of UHC’s senior executive team, Lofgren was responsible for helping UHC members improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of their clinical services as they transform their health care delivery systems.