VCU Health Administration Department Names 2008 Outstanding Alumnus

By Malorie Burkett

Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Health Administration has awarded the 2008 Outstanding Alumnus Award to R. Timothy Stack, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta.

The Outstanding Alumnus Award recipient is recognized as a leader and significant contributor to the health administration field, his or her community, VCU's Department of Health Administration, its alumni and professional organizations.

Selection criteria included professional accomplishments, departmental involvement and community involvement.

Prior to his arrival at Piedmont Healthcare in December 2001, Stack was president and CEO of Borgess Health Alliance and was president and CEO of Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Before joining Borgess, he was president and CEO of South Side Healthcare System in Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president and chief operating officer at Central Medical Center and Hospital, also in Pittsburgh.

Under Stack's leadership, Piedmont Fayette Hospital was honored as one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals in 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004, while Piedmont Hospital received the same recognition in 2005 and 2002.

A Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, Stack also was the 1987 recipient of the Robert S. Hudgens Award. The award began in VCU's Department of Health Administration and has continued to be awarded each year by ACHE.

"It is especially satisfying to see someone whom the profession honored early in his career, said Roice Luke, Ph.D., professor and acting chair of the Department of Health Administration. "ACHE's selection of Tim to receive the prestigious Hudgens Award accurately predicted the impressive leadership capabilities he would demonstrate in the years to come. The Department is proud to claim Tim Stack as one of its own."

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Stack served the Department of Health Administration as president of the alumni association from 1992-1993, MHA residency preceptor, host of a regional alumni event and a fundraising adviser to the department.

Stack, who received his Masters in Health Administration degree from VCU in 1977, resides in Atlanta with his wife, Mary and their three sons. In 2006, he was named American Diabetes Association Father of the Year.