November 15, 2009
Bill Longstaff, YKHC's new Developmental Disabilities Director.
From Isotopes to Ice in the Great Land
by Donna Bach, YKHC Public Relations
Meet the new Developmental Disabilities Director, Bill Longstaff
The Developmental Disabilties Department and YKHC welcomes Bill Longstaff as its new director. An interesting individual with a somewhat unique background for health care delivery, Bill comes to Bethel with some captivating life and health experiences. He was encouraged by his wife, Laurie, of 24 years to apply for the position and started on October 21. Laurie, their 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, and nine year old son Bobby will eventually move to Bethel next summer.
A genuine man with an appreciation for Alaska's vast wilderness and beauty, Bill has attempted a trip to Alaska before and, according to him, "the third time's a charm." He can't wait for a chance to explore the area further and get into some fishing, hunting or even trapping. Well, now he has the chance.
According to Bill, he wanted to get into the medical field at a young age. Bill started out his health career working in nuclear technology for a small research reactor at Ohio State. He received his associates degree from a technical college and wrote his graduating thesis about radioisotopes in medicine. Eventually he obtained a BA in Chemistry from the University of Toledo (Ohio). After working in formulations chemistry with a biomedical research company he made invitro diagnostics and eventually began working his way through an MBA in health care administration before taking on an internship with Mercy Health Partners (MHP).
During his internship with MHP, he developed a cost control strategy with the goal of saving the organization over $1 million over three years if they hired him. Not only did they take on his proposition and hire him, he documented a savings of $1.74 million within only two years! As a result of the success of this initiative he was asked to present his outcomes at the Washington Business Group on health and went on a speaking tour with mention of his success in publications like the Wall Street Journal. Promotions within the company saw him taking on similar initiatives with more hospitals and expanded responsibility for revenue generating and savings. Eventually he moved on to serve as a liaison with Catholic Health Partners, a parent company, and was instrumental in saving his employer an average of over $1 million per year. Over the course of six years, he advised 39 hospitals and long term care facilities in 11 regions spread over six states. YKHC is very fortunate to bring him on board.
In 2001, he was asked to join the UNUMProvident Insurance company as a result of working informally with UNUM's Disability Management research team. At the time, it was the largest carrier of life insurance and long and short term disability insurance. Their large clients were asking for help in controlling costs across the disability spectrum and he served as one of eight to serve on the team and experienced success.
Developmental disabilities strikes a little closer to home with Bill, because he and his wife raised their son who grew up with developmental delays. "I hope to reach and serve our clients in the YK Delta with some of the streamlined approaches I've been able to accomplish in clinical environments in the past. I know things are different and some challenges are unique out here, but I hope to find ways to align services, break down silos, and maximize how our department's services are able to help," Longstaff said. "I'm excited to learn about some of the successes our department has received and take things from there."
Not only does Bill Longstaff have a passion for the work set in front of him, he is pretty resilient when it comes to flexibility and overseeing rapid changes. In 2008 he worked for Summa Health Systems, a network of three hospitals and a workforce of 5,500 people. At Summa, Longstaff served as a Third Party Administrator in Workers' Compensation in addition to the integrated disability management programs. In a short amount of time they experienced rapid growth and had to automate some of their operations to obtain a more robust computer information system to keep up with the work load.
"I'm currently assessing the strengths and needs of our services and programs. I am also learning how we fit with the other services provided by YKHC. There are also state and federal agencies that we work with, getting news of legislative and compliance issues as well as training opportunities are just some of the things I hope to keep informed about."
Welcome to YKHC and best of luck with the move for your family, and getting to know the Kuskokwim Delta in your work here, Bill!
