Through a Glass Darkly - How Can So Many Health Care Executives Be Visionaries?

Visionary (noun) 1:  one whose ideas or projects are impractical :  dreamer 2:  one who sees visions :  seer 3:  one having unusual foresight and imagination Merriam-Webster Dictionary online The Visionary, or Messianic Health Care Executive In 1997, Sherif Abdelhak, the CEO of the then unusually large vertically integrated health care system based in Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Health Education and Research Foundation (AHERF) was described in an American College of Physicians publication as a "visionary." (See the summary beginning on p 5 here.) Abdelhak had previously been called a "visionary" or a "genius" in the media. [Gaul GM. Creator of a cross-state health system despite personal and financial questions, Sherif Abdelhak has boldly expanded from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. Philadelphia Inquirer, March 4, 1991. P. D1. Gaul GM. The new prescription for health care: Hahnemann’s merger dwarfs - and frightens - many local rivals. Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 1993. P. E1.]   In 1998, AHERF was bankrupt, and Abdelhak eventually pleaded guilty to misusing charitable funds and went to jail.  Mr Abdelak was one of the earlier examples I found of the hospital leader regarded as fearless leader, visionary, even messianic, and the possible bad effects of putting so much money, power, and faith in one person.  For more recent examples of how health care leaders may be described in messianic terms, look ...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Management Tags: AHERF CEO disease leadership public relations Source Type: blogs