MetroWest495 Biz

MetroWest495 Biz | May 2014 17 10 To wATCH a t 41, Marlborough Hospital President and CEO Steven Roach is younger than many of his fellow hospital administrators. But with a sharp focus on cost-saving measures and quality improvement, he's prepared to meet the formidable challenges facing the health care industry head on. He came to Marlborough Hospital aware that some budget trimming was necessary, he said, as reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid have gotten smaller while patient admissions have decreased. But he soon learned that the situation was more difficult than he had anticipated, and in January, there was a round of job cuts. Roach said there was a "rapid drop" in patient volumes at hospitals across Massachusetts back in October. He thinks that was partially related to difficulty getting web-based health insurance exchanges live ahead of the federal universal health insurance mandate. But the worst may be behind for Marlborough Hospital. "We have stabilized our volume trends to what we think is real in the current market," Roach said. Now Roach, a Littleton resident, has his sights set on the future. At his previous job as CEO of Steward Health Care-owned Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, he set maximum emergency room wait time goals of 30 minutes to improve patient satisfaction and make operations more efficient. Roach said administrators at Marlborough Hospital are now in the process of setting similar goals. Roach also has ideas for new programs at Marlborough Hospital. He said administrators are discussing the possibility of opening a new geriatric psych unit for patients 55 and older, as well as a new wound therapy program that would employ hyperbaric chambers, an increasingly popular service given the high incidence of diabetes in the aging population. Roach noted that Marlborough Hospital is still in the early stages of explor- ing these programs, and any service must fit the community it serves. Roach said that's been a motivating factor in pursuing his career as a health care administrator, along with the fact that most of his family members work in the medical field. "At the end of the day, you can really make a difference in any community by having a good hospital," Roach said. n sTeven roACH President and CEo, Marlborough hospital By eMily Micucci a building — whether commercial, residential, civic or institutional — should really never be just that. It should always be considered in context, said architect Clay Benjamin Smook. "It's more than just creating sculptural sitting objects," said Smook, who runs his 10-year- old business, Smook Architecture & Urban Design Inc., out of Westborough. "The new buildings or renovations really need to knit themselves back into the surroundings." In February, Smook relocated his five-employee company from Boston to Westborough, in part because of a boom of activity in the area. "There's a lot of development out here," he said. "It was a great opportunity, and one that I thought long and hard about. I never intended to move from Boston." His firm works on projects ranging from $5,000 to $32 million, he said, and comprise custom homes and multifamily housing, assisted living and healthcare facilities, office space, hotels, retail centers, educational and industrial complexes, as well as master planning and urban design. Recent examples include the 55,000-square-foot, 83-bed Christopher Heights As- sisted Living Facility in Marlborough; the 30,000-square-foot Worcester Crossing retail center; and private residences across the state and as far away as the mountains of North Carolina. Smook received his master of architecture in urban design degree from Harvard University. Most of Smook's designers are LEED accredited, and the firm as a whole focuses on green design, which Smook noted has transformed from a "buzz- word" to the architectural norm of the 21st century. Projects are often years in the making, comprising of "fits and starts" due to is- sues with the economy, physical or financial constraints, and the often drawn-out permitting process. "Things are constantly falling on and off the plate," he explained. Still, he has great hope for the future, in both MetroWest and beyond. "Our intention is to grow substantially over the next decade," he said. n ClAy smooK President, smook architecture & Urban Design inc. By Taryn PluMB

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