ht is Colin O’Sullivan, the new Chief Executive Officer of HCA Healthcare Colleton Hospital. O’Sullivan and his wife were both born and raised in Southern West Virginia and are excited to get back on the east coast after spending 13 years in Dallas, Texas. O’Sulliva says, “It's always been a goal to move back, we have four girls, 18 down to 4 years old, and moving back into the southeast that we're familiar with is more aligned with our family values.”
O’Sullivan has more than 30 years of experience in hospital administration, he explains, “I started off in an internship in a 300 bed Community Hospital in rural West Virginia, and then I did my residency afterwards. I've been in short term acute hospitals. I went into group practice for a while, and I did specialty hospitals on a national footprint, where we had hospitals all across the country. So getting back to my roots in a community hospital is really, it's a blessing. I'm telling you, walking into the hospital and being welcomed by the Walterboro community, just solidifies that this is the right decision for our family. I joke around that I met my wife from West Virginia in a rural town. I'm from a town of 900 growing up, she was from the big city. The big city is a couple 100 shy of Walterboro, so that gives how comfortable we are when we walk in. I walked out of a chamber meeting in the morning a couple weeks ago and walked halfway across the street and a gentleman stopped and his pickup. He turned off the truck, and we talked for 20 minutes. That's what I missed and that's the culture and family values that we're trying to raise our kids. I was one of six kids, and everyone knows, if I show up today, I still go back to West Virginia regularly and visit people at the bank, pharmacy, and local gas station. They all know me from 50 years ago, growing and being in a large family,”
The family loves the area, “Having the four girls brings a whole new purpose in life, our family as a whole are beach people. We love being around the coast. We love the ocean, so that's something that's near and dear, which makes this another great situation for us. We're big about being around family. So, we have what we call our South Carolina grandparents that live down in Beaufort and we'll be spending a lot of time with them. And then we have family in West Virginia, so it’s a quick five-hour drive, we'll be spending three day weekends up there.
He also has military experience which help in operating the hospital. “I was in the Air Force, and I flew planes for a while. The principles of flying are the same. You have to have wind going over your wings to create lift. It doesn't matter if it's a Cessna or 747 so it is the same thing in health care, whether it's a 50-bed hospital or a 500-bed hospital, the principles are the same. It's focusing on your quality, your clinical outcomes, physician relationships, and supporting your staff. That's your recipe for success, regardless of the size hospital”
O’Sullivan has been able to meet and work with the long time staff of the hospital, “We just celebrated a staff member that had been with us for 48 years. She has been with us long before the current hospital, the one that was downtown. So that’s pretty special, She is full of energy catches me every time I walk in the hospital. She's really a good role model for all the staff to strive to be excellent.”
I asked O’Sullivan if there was anything he would like to say to the community. He said, "I'll tell you one thing that I learned coming here. HCA Healthcare Colleton isn't your normal rural hospital, but with the support of HCA, which many rural hospitals don't have, the infrastructure of the building looks much newer than it really is, the access to our high tech radiology equipment that may not normally be in the rural hospitals. HCA has really supported the hospital prior to me being here. I'm looking forward to as we grow to add service lines to the hospital. It's really something that Walterboro should be proud about, and I think they are. The hospital looks great with the new signs. And that's really, you know, that's community pride. With the rebranding, we are really one system in the lowcountry, and we have access to three acute care hospitals, all the freestanding emergency rooms, a behavioral health hospital. It's really the full spectrum at the level that we have now. How well we take care of patients, is exceptional. It's not only exceptional within the division, when you look at national standards, the outcomes at Walterboro and HCA Healthcare Colleton exceed the national standards. For example, people are always worried about getting an infection when they come into a hospital. Colleton hasn't had a hospital acquired infection in, not in days, not in weeks, not in months. In some cases, it's been years since they've had some infections. I've never seen that in my 30 years, but quality and infection control is a discussion at every single meeting that we have and it truly shows in the culture. I'm very proud of them, and I'm ecstatic that I got the opportunity, and I've had the opportunity to come here and lead this organization."
