Norwalk, CT - March 26, 2010 - Geoffrey Cole of Wilton, President and CEO of Norwalk Hospital, has announced his resignation, effective April 8, 2010. Since joining the hospital in August 2004, Mr. Cole has focused on improving quality and patient safety, while building and strengthening services and programs to better serve the health care needs of the community.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are grateful for Geoff’s leadership during his many years of service. During this time, we have continued to develop into one of the highest quality community hospitals in America and are better prepared to face future challenges,” said Ervin Shames of Wilton, chairman, Norwalk Hospital Board of Trustees. “Geoff’s tenure at the hospital will leave a lasting legacy of which he should be proud. We thank him for all of his contributions to our organization and we wish him the best for his future,” he said.
Dan DeBarba, Norwalk Hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, will be assuming the role as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer.
In addressing the Norwalk Hospital family, Mr. Cole said, “I cannot adequately convey to you how proud I am of the accomplishments we have made together over this time from our great strides in quality and patient safety, to the significant strengthening of our financial position, to the growth in our medical staff, and the new technology and services which we can now make available to our community.”
“It has been a source of great pleasure and pride to be part of this first rate organization during such an exciting time,” he said. “The organization has a sense of both focus and momentum which will be hard to lose and should hold us in great stead in the years ahead no matter what challenges come our way.”
Under Mr. Cole’s leadership, Norwalk Hospital has become a national leader in health care quality. Highlights include:
- Norwalk Hospital received the national Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence three times. This award is designated to recognize the nation’s top critical care facilities.
- Norwalk Hospital received a significant national healthcare award for quality care, the Luc R. Pelletier Healthcare Quality Award for Improving Organizational Performance given by the National Association for Healthcare Quality. This award recognized an interdepartmental team that improved patient quality outcomes while reducing average length-of-stay.
- The hospital was nationally recognized in the 2009 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study for its use of advanced information technology. This prestigious designation announced in Hospitals & Health Networks, is based on the magazine’s "100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems" survey which focuses on how hospitals use information technologies for quality, customer service, public health and safety, business administration and workforce issues.
- The Stroke Center earned the Gold Seal of Approval™ for stroke care. The Joint Commission awarded Norwalk Hospital Primary Stroke Center Certification.
- The Diabetes Education Program received American Diabetes Association Education Recognition for a “quality diabetes self-management program.”
- The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons granted Three-Year Approval with Commendation to the cancer program of The Whittingham Cancer Center.
- The Norwalk Hospital Sleep Disorders Center was re-accredited for five years, meeting high standards of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
- Norwalk Hospital’s success in using multidisciplinary rounds to improve quality outcomes, enhance resident education and shorten hospital length of stay received international attention in an article published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Mr. Cole also led the expansion of numerous services and programs, including life-saving Emergency Angioplasty Services, Women and Children Services, Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery, Vascular Services, Imaging Services, the Smilow Family Breast Health Center and the Whittingham Cancer Center. He led efforts that renovated and redesigned the Childbirth Center and the Jeffrey Peter Bauer Newborn Intensive Care Unit, the Main Lobby, the Emergency Department waiting area and the employee cafeteria.
Most recently, a Pediatric Subspecialty Center was established at Norwalk Hospital, making receiving high-quality specialty care easier and more convenient for parents and children.
In addition to the improvements on campus, he created a major off-site presence at the Health and Wellness Center of Norwalk Hospital at i.park. Working with the Medical Staff and other key constituents, he strengthened the hospital’s clinical capabilities.
In 2007, Mr. Cole was commended by Governor M. Jodi Rell for his efforts in placing Norwalk Hospital as a leader among health care organizations in the State of Connecticut by becoming a “greener” facility by installing innovative energy conservation systems and technologies that increase energy efficiency.
New technologies were introduced and many Norwalk Hospital “firsts” were achieved during Mr. Cole’s tenure:
- Norwalk Hospital acquired the high definition daVinci Robotic Surgical System, providing 3-D visualization and greater precision enabling the surgeon to perform complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach.
- Norwalk was the first hospital in the State of Connecticut to use liquid nitrogen cryotherapy in the treatment of Barrett’s Esophagus and esophageal cancer.
- The Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital was the first in the world to activate an important new clinical research study for patients affected by lung cancer.
- Norwalk Hospital was the first hospital in Connecticut to offer to the public Double Balloon Enteroscopy for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the small intestine.
- Norwalk Hospital became the first hospital in the State of Connecticut to study an innovative new technology called “Third Eye® Retroscope®” to improve detection of colon polyps and cancer.
- Norwalk Hospital became the first hospital in the State of Connecticut to use a new innovative multidisciplinary approach for lung cancer staging. Through Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS), combined with Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS), both a pulmonologist and a gastroenterologist are able to use advanced technology to sample lymph nodes throughout the chest cavity (anterior and posterior) to assess the stage of lung cancer for the most appropriate therapy.
A noted public speaker, Mr. Cole also served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Hospital Association and served as a Board member of the Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to joining Norwalk Hospital, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA, for ten years. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and a Master’s of Public Health Degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a Regents Fellow in 1979.
