A conversation with Crouse Hospital’s Kimberly Boynton

Kimberly Boynton is president and CEO of Syracuse–based Crouse Hospital, a private, not-for-profit hospital that has more than 500 licensed beds and 3,100 total employees’ system-wide. Boynton has been CEO since of Crouse since Jan. 1, 2014 and has worked for the organization since 1998. She lives in the Strathmore neighborhood of Syracuse with her husband, Charlie and her son, Henry.

KNAUSS: Tell me a little bit about your educational and professional background.

BOYNTON: I’m originally from Syracuse. I grew up here on the west side of the city. Most of my family still resides in Syracuse and in fact, I live in the city in the Strathmore neighborhood. I went to Niagara University, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and came back to Syracuse. I worked for then what was one of the big six accounting firms, Coopers & Lybrand. They were the largest firm in town and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed accounting since high school. I took a couple of classes and I liked it, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do going to college. I came home, secured a position, and specialized in clients that were in the health care and higher-education fields. I was there for five years. I came to Crouse in 1998, starting in an entry-level financial-analyst position. I knew from the time I started that I really appreciated the culture of the organization. Crouse has such a rich history in our community, and growing up in Syracuse I always noticed the clock tower, which is such an iconic part of that history.

In 2003, I was promoted to chief financial officer. I did that job for 10 years. During that time, I received my MBA through Syracuse University. The CFO job really entailed a lot of hospital operations, so the responsibilities were much more broad than the “typical” CFO role. I oversaw or had significant involvement in construction and engineering, information technology, public relations, and physician recruitment for example. We actually started our physician arm of the system called Crouse Medical Practice during that time. So it was really exciting. When Dr. Paul Kronenberg decided to retire, the board asked if I would become the CEO. It has been two-and-a-half years now that I’ve held this position.

KNAUSS: What do you think makes Crouse stand out in the local health-care marketplace?

BOYNTON: It’s the people, the culture, and the history. The organization has been through a lot in its 130 years. We were a culmination of multiple, smaller hospitals coming together from those early days and I think that the culture of Crouse today helps us remember our past roots. It also keeps us focused on the future. We take our mission, vision and values very seriously; in fact, they form the strategic foundation for all we do as a community health-care resource — how we make decisions, how we operate, and how we interact and relate to our community.

Crouse has always been known as a “physician friendly” hospital, which again is a reflection of our culture. Physicians in our community can choose where they want to send their patients and where they want to practice. And, we want to make sure that we are always providing their patients with the best experience, outstanding clinical care, and the most talented staff. Crouse is an organization with a rich history and a great culture.

KNAUSS: You talked a little bit about culture. What do you think drives that culture and what are you doing specifically to help build Crouse’s culture?

BOYNTON: The culture of an organization starts with each and every individual employee. At Crouse, we don’t view culture as coming from the top down. It really comes from the bottom up. That’s how culture is created and we have to make sure that everyone feels that same way. So even when we hire people, from that very first time even before they interview, they watch a video that focuses on the mission, vision, and values of the organization. We then say to them, “If you’re still interested and you feel this is a great place for you, that your values are in sync with our values, then we want to move you into the next step.” We let them make that decision so we know that when people start here, they know what we’re all about — that it’s about the patients and the experience that the patients and families have here. It has to be from the minute they walk in the door — from the valet parker to the security guard — they see a smile. When people come to the hospital, no matter what the occasion, there’s apprehension and concern, whether it’s the patients or the loved ones with them. We want to make sure that we help put them at ease. They know that we’re here for them and all our attention is focused on them.

KNAUSS: How do you find great talent?

BOYNTON: I think our reputation helps drive the talent. It’s our own people who work here who help bring in other people that they find to be of similar integrity and people who would fit into our culture. We get a lot of our employees through referrals from other employees. We also have our own Pomeroy College of Nursing. So from the nursing perspective, we utilize that as a feeder system into the institution. The college is phenomenal. The students really get a chance to come over and work in the hospital while they are going through the program so they can see what it’s like and whether or not they will fit into our culture.

KNAUSS: What are some of the specific qualities that you look for when you’re hiring?

BOYNTON: Compassionate, caring people of the utmost integrity. So, it’s key to make sure that they understand that this organization is here to care for patients. It also depends on what position they are entering. We hire people all the way from the finance department to bedside nurses, administration, and environmental services. We want to make sure that no matter where they are going, they all share that compassionate, caring integrity, to make sure they have the appropriate skills for the job. Ambition is also important because the organization is so vast. If someone comes in with ambition, he/she has the ability to grow professionally as well. My story is a great example. I came in as a financial analyst and now I’m the CEO. The organization helped provide me that career path.

KNAUSS: Was it always your goal to become CEO, from when you started as a financial analyst?

BOYNTON: I’ve always been a very driven individual and looked at, not where I am today, but what can I do to better myself and to better the organization. That’s really what led me to my current role.

KNAUSS: What do you think is the largest risk that you’ve taken in your career?

BOYNTON: I think it was a big leap for someone to go from the CFO of the institution to the CEO. I followed a physician with a longstanding reputation here at the hospital and he was a beloved CEO. To move from that CFO role into CEO was a transition that I had to overcome. I had to make sure that individuals knew that even though that was my background, I bring that background as an asset, not a detriment, and I have rounded that out with operations, with clinical knowledge that I’ve received from working alongside physicians and making sure that the hospital is run according to our mission, vision, and values. When I first made the transition, I spent a lot of time with physicians and I still do. I do shifts with them. I get into scrubs. I go side-by-side four to six hours at a time and just see what they are doing. So I’ve been in the operating room, I’ve been in the neonatal intensive-care unit, and the emergency department. I’ve seen an autopsy. Although it’s a very small glimpse into their world, it really helps provide me with better knowledge and understanding of what a physician’s day is like.

KNAUSS: How do you think your employees would describe your leadership style?

BOYNTON: I think some of the words that you’ll hear are ‘friendly,’ ‘approachable,’ ‘she’s very nice.’ But I think also what you would hear is that it has been a smooth transition and that they have confidence in the fact that I care about the institution. Every individual at every level might not know exactly how I’m doing, but what they will know is that I care. I grew up here. This is my community. I live here. I’m raising my son here. This institution means so much to me personally as well as professionally. It’s not just that “this is my job.” It’s a great honor for me to be leading an institution with such a rich history in the community in which I grew up. I have that compassion for the institution as a whole and for all of the people who work here. I think you would hear “She’s really accessible. We see her around. She makes opportunities to come to us to hear what’s on our minds.”

KNAUSS: I noticed your desk was sitting right in the middle of the hallway — no doors, no walls. That must be a good reflection of how accessible you are as a CEO.

BOYNTON: Right from the orientation, I meet the new employees who come in to organization. So every orientation class we have, I go over and have lunch with them, talk to them. First of all, I thank them for choosing Crouse Hospital. I thank them for bringing their talents here and then talk to them about the organization and just have a conversation. So, from the very first day they know who I am. After they have been here for 90 days, we have breakfast and see how it’s going. It’s just them and me, and we talk about how their first three months have gone, including asking if we have met their expectations. Are they seeing the mission, vision, and values being carried out in their department or in other areas of the hospital? How welcomed have other employees made them feel? Every quarter, I have round-the-clock meetings. So I hit all three shifts and it’s really a financial, operational, and quality update for them. I provide status updates on major projects and other strategic initiatives. I also have an open forum called “Coffee with Kimberly” that we do quarterly. There’s no agenda — just open, informal conversation. We just talk about what’s going on, and again, it’s an opportunity for the departments to come together to say what can we do better, what’s going well, what’s not going well. They have questions about everything. It’s really great because it’s very relaxed and we get a lot of information out of it and we make improvements that come from that forum. Then every couple of weeks, I put out a “CEO Update,” an email that goes out to all employees that provides an update on current projects and activities. One of our Crouse values is open and honest communication and so nothing is hidden in this organization. Our quality scores are posted publicly. Our financial information, how we’re doing every month, we post it, our volumes, everything. Anyone who works here can have access to that information. None of it is a secret. It’s what they are all working toward.

KNAUSS: What do you think is the biggest challenge that Crouse faces in 2016?

BOYNTON: We are in a highly competitive market. So we need to make sure that we continue along the path of providing safe, quality care to our patients, that we keep providing the highest clinical performance at the highest level, and that we continue to be the place where physicians want to send their patients and where patients want to come for their care. It’s gratifying to hear people say, “Take me to Crouse,” but we need to be able to back that up with a high-quality product and a positive patient experience. There is a lot of work and effort that goes into that. 

About the author: Jeff Knauss is managing partner & president of a digital-marketing firm, DigitalHyve.com, and has always been interested in hearing successful executive’s stories. He lives in Camillus with his wife Heta and son Max. For more, check out his blog at www.CnyCeo.org