CEO turned Craig into top 10 rehab hospital

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Craig Hospital CEO Dennis O'Malley sits in the therapy gym of the rehabilitation facility in Englewood on Monday. O'Malley is stepping down after 34 years.

Dennis O'Malley, who during his 34-year tenure as CEO transformed Craig Hospital into one of the world's leading rehabilitation and research centers for spinal cord and brain injuries, is stepping down in October.

O'Malley took the helm of the hospital fresh out of graduate school at age 25 and is credited with creating a stem cell research alliance with Sweden's Karolinska Institute, tripling Craig's staff to 525 employees and, perhaps most important, fostering an upbeat environment in a place where patients are grappling with catastrophic, life-changing events.

"If all of these patients could look forward to was getting up and surviving another day, life isn't much fun," O'Malley said. "So we tried to create an atmosphere where laughing is not only permitted but encouraged."

At age 58, though, O'Malley acknowledges that while he "loves" his job, the accumulated strain has nibbled at the edges of his enthusiasm.

"Feeling the weight of this place on my shoulders, it never leaves you. When you have a position like this and you care about it, and people here do, it's gotten a little heavy," O'Malley said. "I'm ready to hand it off."

Craig Hospital's board of directors last week named Mike Fordyce, who served on Craig's board for seven years and is a 21-year veteran at Catholic Health Initiatives, as the center's new CEO and president.

O'Malley will work with Fordyce until October to help smooth the transition, and he plans to stay on to raise funds for the nonprofit hospital's endowment.

The 93-bed Englewood hospital at any given time has 50 patients with spinal cord injuries, 30 with traumatic brain injuries and 50 outpatients.

It treats patients from across the country, and U.S. News & World Report routinely ranks it among the nation's top 10 rehabilitation hospitals.

Craig's staff has an unusually long tenure, with physicians averaging 18 years and physical therapists more than 15. Several employees credited O'Malley with creating, as physical therapy supervisor Sharon Blackburn called it, "an environment where we all look forward to coming to work."

O'Malley isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and feed patients, raft down a roiling river with a boat full of exhilarated patients - or, for that matter, dress up as Madonna in a miniskirt and cone-shaped bra for Halloween.

Craig is one of the few rehabilitation hospitals that takes patients on high-risk activities like hot-air balloon trips and bicycle tours, something O'Malley has always encouraged even as other centers are eliminating such programs because they aren't reimbursed under many insurance plans, said Joe Gomez, Craig's head of recreational therapy.

After a disability, "so much of your self-identity is tied to what you can't do anymore," Gomez said. These adventures "show people what they can do."

Dr. Daniel Lammertse, Craig's medical director, said that's characteristic of O'Malley's belief in putting patients before the hospital's best financial interest.

"It truly is a patient-centered environment, and Denny is the person who sets that tone," Lammertse said.

Thanks to the mentoring of a family friend who was a physician, O'Malley knew since high school that he wanted to go into hospital administration.

The Omaha native picked Craig for his required 10-month residency initially because he was interested in its serving-sharing agreement with neighboring Swedish Hospital at the time. O'Malley also already had previous experience with rehabilitation because of his brother, a polio survivor who once was confined to an iron lung but went on to an active life as a lawyer and father of four.

The walls of O'Malley's tidy office are a testament to his active life as well, featuring photos of his hike along the Inca Trail and climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. O'Malley says he's looking forward to spending time with his wife, Denise Denton, his children and nine grandchildren as well as fishing, golfing and cycling.

O'Malley might also be the only hospital CEO who is also a member of the Nebraska Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During high school, he played rhythm guitar and sang with The Chevrons, who opened for the Dave Clark Five when they toured the U.S. His bandmates now live around the country, but they reunited last year to play Craig's 100-year anniversary party.

O'Malley hopes to play more once he steps down, but laughs off the idea of a reunion redux.

"The problem with our tour is that is would cost us money," he joked. "I think the objective is to make money."

davisj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2514

• March 12, 2008

  7:44 a.m.

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  denverjason writes:

  Denny is a good man and always a joy to be around. He will be missed. Good luck wherever you go, Denny!

• March 12, 2008

  9:12 a.m.

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  Biff writes:

  For those of you who have not been to Craig Hospital, I can tell you it is truely a magical place!

• March 17, 2008

  10:37 a.m.

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  Jackster1954 writes:

  As a Craig graduate (1999), I can tell you that Denny set the bar for hospital administrators. When's the last time you've heard of a hospital administrator taking an hour out of his day to work with a patient during a therapy session? Denny did that for me and it will never be forgotten!