Almost 20 years ago, in 2007, Scott Berlucchi, FACHE, NHA signed a two-year contract to be the President and CEO of Auburn Community Hospital (ACH). He didn’t intend to stay in Auburn for very long, and certainly didn’t think he would relocate his family from Pennsylvania to Central New York – however, almost two decades and a successful career later, that’s exactly what happened. Today, Berlucchi leads the same hospital in the same capacity, although much has changed over those twenty years: he helped lead a financial and operational turnaround that brought ACH out of bankruptcy and has grown it into a bustling, multi-specialty healthcare hub.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Berlucchi developed the passion and skills for leading small, rural hospitals before he arrived at ACH. Serving as the President and CEO of a few different healthcare systems in Pennsylvania between 1995 and 2007, such as Elk Regional Health System and Lancaster General Susquehanna Division, Berlucchi developed a keen understanding of the importance of local access to quality, specialized care in a small hospital setting. One of the first projects he undertook at ACH was rebuilding and enhancing OBGYN and Women’s Health, which was on the verge of being eliminated.
“In Lancaster, I learned at the feet of some brilliant people who built one of the only women and baby hospitals in Pennsylvania. They were so ahead of the curve with their comprehensive dedication to women and maternal health,” Berlucchi said. In just one example of many, he developed and executed a plan that brought OBGYN and Women’s Health at ACH from the verge of nonexistence into a thriving and growing specialty within the hospital system.
In 2010, the Becker Report named ACH a top ten hospital turnaround, and in 2019 Berlucchi was featured on a list of the top 60 rural CEOs by the same publication. Helping to reinvigorate struggling hospitals is a passion and a skillset Berlucchi has embraced over the decades, he said.
“I’m not a doctor, but I can help heal broken hospitals and health systems. I’m able to take particularly small, rural hospitals that are struggling in any way, shape, or form, and strategically transform them into healthcare systems that meet the needs of the communities they serve,” Berlucchi explained.
Building Blocks of Success
Looking back over the transformation of ACH since he took the helm, Berlucchi highlighted several accomplishments that were achieved along the way. The recent opening of the hospital’s Cancer Center, the Auburn Cardiovascular Institute and the Women’s Imaging facility are all exciting specialty additions to ACH that were made possible by several years of hard work and strategy. ACH’s Leapfrog score, a safety grade given to hospitals across the nation, has improved from a D to a B, almost attaining an A rating, which reflects strong enhancements made over time. In addition, ACH’s nursing home, Finger Lakes Center for Living, recently received a five-star rating from Care Compare.
“These are just ratings,” Berlucchi said, “but the work that goes into them is all about patient safety and quality of care.”
The work to achieve these milestones is structured in a strategic way, Berlucchi explained. He and his team always have a three-year plan that guides their operations, which is updated each year. The one-year operating plans are then broken down into 90-day increments, in which accomplishments and successes are reported and analyzed. Berlucchi emphasized the role his team plays in making sure the work gets completed with quality and efficiency.
“I’m very, very proud of my management team, the board, the medical staff, and the workforce. In all of those regards we have very dedicated professionals, physicians, allied health, maintenance workers, and office staff. Our community of workers are extremely dedicated to ACH and to the Auburn community. I’ve learned you can build buildings, recruit doctors, and start programs, but it won’t work unless you have a dedicated workforce to make it all happen,” Berlucchi explained.
During COVID and in the years since the pandemic, he said, there have been many challenges facing the healthcare sector that ACH has had to navigate alongside other hospitals and health care facilities. Rising demands for medical care mean that many hospitals have been operating at or over capacity, leading to strain and stress on existing systems and infrastructure.
“In my 40-year career, the post-COVID years have been some of the most challenging,” Berlucchi said. “It just changed the landscape of traditional healthcare. We’re being asked to see about 30% more patients with the existing infrastructure, and therein lies the need for creativity and innovation because we don’t necessarily have more dollars to make things happen. The Cancer Center we recently opened is already at capacity. We’re only five months into our Cath Lab being opened and it’s tripled and quadrupled our volume estimates. Thankfully, we have a great group of doctors, nurses and personnel that rise to the occasion and meet the needs of the community.”
Growing and Innovating into the Future
In addition to meeting the needs of the wider community in Auburn, the needs of the 65-plus population are quickly increasing. Many of the added services and facilities ACH now offers have an eye toward the present and future needs of this specific, growing population.
“I see a tremendous growth opportunity in meeting the needs of the aging population, particularly around chronic illness and disease. We’re a full-service hospital, but our older community members are accessing cardiology-related services in particular,” said Berlucchi, highlighting a growing need for cancer services, orthopedics, neurology, and services related to movement disorders within this population, as well.
Alongside other small, rural hospitals, ACH is also innovating and growing to meet increasing patient needs by partnering with larger, academic medical centers. Berlucchi shared that ACH partners with several nearby health centers to enhance its service offerings. ACH partners with SUNY Upstate for several service lines including cancer care, intensive care, and critical care; with the University of Rochester for neurology and cardiology; and with Rochester Regional Health for anesthesia.
“No man is an island, and no small hospital is an island. It’s good to build those clinical affiliations, and sometimes those affiliations can mature into joint ventures along service lines,” Berlucchi said.
Finally, recruiting top talent for ACH is a major priority for Berlucchi as he and the team continue to strive to meet the community’s needs.
“You always have to be trying to recruit the best and the brightest to your community,” he stated. “At the end of the day, medical professionals rely on one another. It’s always a multidisciplinary approach. It’s very important for physicians that your colleagues are as strong as you are for the best patient care. Recruitment and retention of a quality workforce is critical to our core mission.”
Purpose-Led Community Leadership
Reflecting on almost four decades of leadership at small, rural hospitals and health centers, Berlucchi highlighted the men and women who shared their own experience and made it possible for him to bring success to hospitals in Pennsylvania and now ACH.
“I’m very proud of the role of mentoring in my career, particularly the men and women who mentored me and have made me the person that I am. My family, of course, and my faith, first and foremost, but there are a lot of men and women and professionals who have helped shape me along the way,” said Berlucchi.
Now, as he continues through a phase of his career where he has decades of experience under his own belt, Berlucchi enjoys passing on the knowledge he’s gained with young professionals who will take over the reins in years to come.
“I’m trying to pave the road forward now, where I get young professionals or middle-aged professionals who are new at ACH or in a new role, and I try very hard to mentor the next generation. My thought process is that once upon a time, somebody was kind enough to show me the ropes, and in turn I became a better professional to serve the community. At this stage of the game, I feel a duty and a responsibility to coach, train, and mentor the next generation of healthcare leaders. All the trials and tribulations and the experiences I’ve had cannot be learned in a book. I think all professionals owe that to their profession, to not hold onto knowledge, but to release it for others to pick up,” he said.
However, Berlucchi is not yet ready to leave his work behind and for a very simple reason: he loves it too much. Roughly quoting a phrase from the Pennsylvania Dutch, he said, “If you’re fortunate enough in life to wake up one day and know what your purpose and your passion are, and if you’re lucky enough to find work that is synonymous with your purpose and your passion, then you’ll never work another day in your life.
“I’m just very blessed to understand what my passion is and what my purpose is, and very lucky to be afforded an opportunity to have a leadership role in a healthcare organization,” Berlucchi continued. “I’ll be providing healthcare leadership in some way, shape or form for a very long time because I love what I do, and it doesn’t feel like work.”
And although he never intended to stay in Auburn for longer than two years, let alone two decades, his love for the community and for ACH also keeps him going.
“I guess I’m right for Auburn and Auburn’s right for me,” he said. “Look at all the wonderful things we’re doing together. ACH has been here for 150 years, and I’m sure it’ll be here another 150 years because we’ve built a strong program and a strong legacy, and we’re doing very good work for the community.”
Reflecting on mid-year data, including membership utilization, I am pleased to report that the Syracuse Builders Exchange continues to demonstrate exceptional strength, stability, and growth. The Association remains well-positioned to serve the regional construction industry today while preparing for future opportunities.
Across every industry, executives are facing unprecedented pressure to do more with less. Economic uncertainty, workforce constraints, rising costs, supply chain volatility, and accelerating technological change have become permanent features of the business landscape. While organizations can’t control many of these external forces, they can control how effectively they operate. That’s why operational excellence has become one of the most important strategic priorities for organizations seeking sustainable growth.
Interesting conversation with a patient last week about their mounting health care debt. Higher premiums, higher deductibles, higher co-pays, more out-of-formulary uncovered meds all adding up to $45,000 in annual out-of-pocket costs. 
ustaining a Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; at Crouse, it’s not only their deliveries that rely upon the NICU, but also babies from 17 hospitals across a 14 county region that spans the Canadian to Pennsylvania borders and from Albany to Rochester. Through its Regional Perinatal Center, Crouse also provides services for the region’s high-risk obstetrics. Crouse has the busiest labor and delivery unit in Central New York, welcoming more than 3,000 babies annually. The NICU serves about 900 babies annually, which includes 300 babies transferred in from the 17 regional hospitals. Staff care for an average of 56 babies daily. The average stay is about 33 days.
Seth Kronenberg, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer for Crouse Health, said Crouse started as a women’s and infants’ hospital 140 years ago, making it one of its core services. “We’ve been the Regional Perinatal Center since the 1970s, and we’ve always been the market leader in obstetrics and NICU. We have a saying that ‘those with low-risk pregnancies can have great experiences at Crouse, but those with high-risk pregnancies can rest assured that the time from their baby’s birth to the time they see a NICU doctor is reduced, and the shorter that timeframe, the better the outcome.’”
0s, medication called surfactant was developed, which helps lungs absorb and transport oxygen,” she said. Some of the most impressive gains have been around ventilation therapy and ways to support the development of preterm babies’ lungs, which are the last things to develop.
, and the ability to perform major surgical operations here,” Bou Aram said. Fetal surgery can now prevent severe damage from complex fetal problems such as spinal defects, blockages of blood flow into the heart, or severe twin conditions. Precision medicine options have exploded; the rapid use of genetic mapping and neonatal-specific imaging now provide highly accurate results. Crouse has all the necessary equipment to insert breathing and chest tubes and to put babies on heart-lung bypass. “Though comprehensive mapping may take longer than other options, such as the use of microarray or gene sequencing, advanced tools like MRI and genetic testing allow for quicker, more accurate determination of a diagnosis,” he said. “Early, accurate diagnostics give doctors the opportunity to tailor a treatment plan earlier in an infant’s stay.”
“It is very stressful, especially when babies are very sick and every minute counts,” Bou Aram said. “I am a father first, so putting myself in the shoes of these parents adds to the weight of the responsibilities. New parents are naturally overwhelmed, so information needs to be clear, direct and honest. Multiply this by a hundred when the baby is sick.”
“Because neonatology has advanced as a field of medicine, equipment has followed suit,” Dadey said. “We have all the equipment and the doctors and midlevel providers like nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants, nurses, and respiratory therapists who are all trained to use it. But some of our toughest cases are big babies who aspirate meconium during birth or might have an infection when they are delivered, so their lungs are compromised. The technology has evolved to improve survival rates so these babies can leave the hospital. We work very hard for every baby to make sure they have the best outcome.”
e to enhance, expand and invest in those services. The highest-level NICU requires investment in the latest and greatest technology. We already have the best doctors and nurses.”
“Crouse delivers world-class medical care and high-end programs like the Regional Perinatal Center in a family community hospital culture,” Kronenberg said. “It’s that culture that separates us: It’s how we treat each other, how we treat our patients, how everybody interacts. It’s special. Our people aren’t just employees; they are family. We invest in workforce development, invest in them as human beings, and try to have fun at work because healthcare is very serious business. Everyone believes in the mission. At Crouse we say ‘every moment matters,’ and that’s the influence everyone has on patient experience – from environmental services to security to patient access – they are all equal. It’s not just the doctors and nurses; it’s our entire Crouse family. Walk down the hall, and you see smiling faces and people who enjoy being here. That doesn’t take away the stress of being in healthcare, but that family environment really sets up our culture.”
around Syracuse and know that a child in the park or a grown adult or high school or college student you see was once a one-pound baby lying in a bassinet in our nursery brings me so much pride. Neonatal care is truly a collaborative endeavor, and we cannot do it without the backing of our entire Central New York community.”
Going to the Zoo
I often wonder why the patient experience feels complete in one medical practice yet lacking in another. The answer usually lies in a collection of touchpoints: how the phones are answered, how staff greet patients, whether communication remains consistent between visits, and how issues are resolved when something goes wrong. These visible moments are only part of the story, but together they reveal the culture.
Syracuse Community Health was founded in 1978 with the mission to provide high-quality healthcare to the residents of Onondaga County, especially those who are uninsured, disadvantaged or who face other obstacles to care.
SCH employs 200 staff, 23 of them nurses, including eight Registered Nurses and 15 Licensed Practical Nurses. “Nurses are the center of our organization and create the first impression for our patients,” said Yoxall. “We may not be able to pay the highest amount, it’s not the easiest job, not the highest paying, but it is the most rewarding. Our nurses are working here because they want to be here.”
e in as newborns and reach each milestone as they grow up brings the workday extra brightness.”
ogram before she was hired in the same role in the Eye Care Department. She then worked as an LPN for approximately 10 years when she decided it was time to become an RN. Her motivation to stay at SCH is simple. “The patients,” she said. “I really love the community we serve here at SCH.”
called out three physicians who were particularly encouraging while she studied toward her LPN, Oris Moore, DDS, Wilson Sithold, DDS and the late Henry Chionuma, an adult medicine internist who started SCH’s Walk-In Care operation.
becoming an RN. “Working at SCH exposed me to a diverse patient population and allowed me to see the impact nurses have on improving patients’ lives,” she said.
nderson Mitchell. “However, the assistance and support I received from SCH were unparallelled compared to any other organization where I have been employed.”
It’s easy to assume that anyone with an “advanced degree” is exempt from overtime. For physicians managing a practice, that assumption can be costly. The framework for determining which employees are exempt from overtime pay is established by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”).
When Sam Neivel was just five or six years old, he began learning the basics of plumbing from his father, Lawrence Neivel, a plumber who has worked in the trade for several decades. Neivel learned a lot from his father that has influenced how he progressed in the field – working first for DBR Plumbing in his teens, then Armani Plumbing for a few years, Town Mechanical in his early twenties, and for DBR Plumbing again in his late twenties.
In the early days of the company, Neivel and his four or five employees worked out of Neivel’s home in Baldwinsville. Franklin remembers having very tight quarters to operate in, but making it work. After several months, the team relocated to an office off Malloy Road in Syracuse for a few years. After utilizing a different office space on Arterial Road in Syracuse for a few more years, Neivel purchased a much larger building with office space and a warehouse on Butternut Drive in East Syracuse, where the company operates today with almost 80 employees. Franklin attributes the company’s growth and expansion to Neivel’s expertise, leadership, and focus on high-quality craftsmanship.
Many of the other projects the Neivel team has completed over the years exemplify the company’s focus on building long-term, trusted relationships with clients. Neivel is the preferred plumber for all the Tully’s and Coppertop restaurants in the Central New York area, all the way from Albany to Buffalo, and down into Pennsylvania. The company has completed several projects for local hospitals, including St. Joseph’s Health, Crouse Hospital, and Upstate University Hospital. Neivel is also the preferred plumber for Visions Hotels, owned by Andrew Patel. The hotels are located all over New York State and Pennsylvania.
For Neivel, though, the success of the company comes down to its employees. He focuses on creating a job setting where employees feel supported and appreciated.
Franklin listed several ways Neivel aims to ensure his employees are well taken care of and feel like family, from sponsoring modified car races, to box seating at baseball games and hockey games, catered meals, the company’s annual clam bake, and multiple charity events. Perhaps the most important way Neivel focuses on the well-being of his employees is through investing in their skills and success, helping them advance in their careers.