By Derek Wilson
Marinscope
Possibly at the end of his career, Lee Domanico finds he is asking himself the same question he asked when he first started, “What dom I do now?”
Domanico’s last official day as CEO of the Marin Healthcare District and the MarinHealth Medical Center was Sept. 1, but he has been busy with paperwork and in an advisory role has been preparing the transition for his successor, Dr. David Klein. But for Domanico, what to do now?
“I still have a lot of energy, so it’s a little hard to get my head around retirement even though I felt this was a good time for it,” Domanico said. “Retiring during a pandemic is a unique experience. I had planned a trip to Italy, but that has been postponed… I am starting to feel less pressure. Running a free-standing hospital is a challenging job 24/7. There’s less pressure as I’m handing things over. The weight of responsibility of leading the hospital is off my shoulders now… I’ve been a CEO since 1982, so this is a good time to do other things, both professionally and personally.”
Domanico, who is of Irish-Italian heritage, laid out some of his plans, “I’ve always wanted to become fluent in Italian. I can speak a little, but I will re-initiate it via private lessons. I want to go to Italy and converse with family in Italy where they live. Also, I’m trying to perfect my golf swing. That’s more challenging than learning Italian.”
Domanico leaves MarinHealth after a decade-long career as CEO highlighted by the completion of the brand new Oak Pavilion Medical Center, which replaces the former Marin General Hospital. The top floors of the old facility are likely to be closed and patients are now being transferred to the new hospital building.
“When I came to Marin in 2008, my first goal was delivering the hospital to the community free from its previous owner, Sutter,” a transfer Domanico oversaw in 2010. “After that, the goal always was to replace the aging hospital. I feel I’ve fulfilled that commitment to the community and the Marin HealthCare District. I feel very good about what was accomplished during my tenure at the hospital.”
Domanico built his reputation on reviving hospitals and health care systems that were struggling financially. He took on the biggest challenge of his career when he joined the Marin Healthcare District in 2008. The district and the hospital were in an ugly legal battle with former owner Sutter Health. Marin Healthcare District officials accused Sutter of diverting up to $120 million from Marin General, leaving the hospital with just seven days worth of operating funds. The two went to court in 2010 and a Sacramento judge three years later awarded $32 million to MarinHealth.
After the transfer of ownership and the court-ordered payment, “I agreed that first week to pay everyone back,” Domanico said. “We had to provide an opportunity for physicians to stay with the hospital. We did that with forming a medical foundation to provide structure and financial support through the community. Also, we wanted to assure that all the very good employees stayed with hospital at the outset. The biggest challenge was creating confidence that we could pull off what we had planned. Once the community starts to gain confidence, it’s critical that the community entrusts us with their health care. We’ve done that over the past decade.”
The hospital raised $400 million in public funding, $65 million in gifts and $100 million in debts to build the new hospital facility. The old hospital facility does not meet all of California’s earthquake safety standards and needed to be replaced. In a virtual ribbon-cutting for the new Oak Pavilion Hospital, Domanico thanked the community for passing Measure F in 2013 to raise money for the new $535 million facility which Domanico describes as a place of healing for mind, body and soul.
As a young man, Domanico ventured West with a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan to pursue his Masters Degree at Stanford. “I wanted to work in an industry that I felt was making a contribution. Hospitals were just starting to use those same industrial engineering techniques to reduce costs. It was a combination of opportunity and my view that health care was a higher calling that got me into it,” he said.
Perhaps no one really wants to go to the hospital, but that’s where Domanico’s path led him. Although not a doctor or surgeon, Domanico eventually learned what mattered for the health of patients and hospitals. He led the Allegheny Health System in Philadelphia out of bankruptcy to become a profitable organization, for which he received the “Philadelphia Business Leader of the Year” award. He had similar success as CEO of El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, which became one of the most profitable district hospitals in the state and invested in leading medical programs.
During an early stint as CEO of Delta Memorial Hospital in Antioch, Domanico “was 29 and had not run anything to that point. I had always been more of a strategic planning person. I remember that first day and walking in and sitting behind the desk and thinking ‘Wow. Now what do I do?’”
Dr. Klein might be asking himself the same question, but he enters his new role as CEO with more experience than his predecessor did at the outset of his career.
A resident of Marin, Dr. Klein comes to MarinHealth after serving as President and CEO of Dignity Health’s Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. Saint Francis Memorial Hospital is a community based, non-profit, 294 bed acute care hospital while St Mary’s Medical Center is a 275 bed acute care hospital. Both are part of the Dignity Health system.
“David Klein is an outstanding selection to take the mantle and lead MarinHealth to new levels of success,” Domanico said. “Based on his prior experience as both a healthcare executive and practicing surgeon, David is well equipped to face the challenges within todays healthcare industry. As a resident of Marin, he will have the best interests of the community in mind. I am pleased with the choice made by the MarinHealth Medical CenterBoard of Directors for David to build upon the momentum we’ve established these past 10 years.”
In addition to his new role as CEO at MarinHealth, Dr. Klein currently serves as the Chair of the San Francisco Section of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California and is a member of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Saint Francis Foundation and the Board of the Hacienda Surgery Center and serves as an ex-officio member of the St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors.
While serving as President and CEO of Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center, Klein worked to foster a culture of clinical excellence and accountability. Dr. Klein developed and grew talent, ensuring a highly functional team with responsible leadership. He also led succession planning, drove culture, maintained labor relationships, led strategic growth through implementing new business strategies and built outstanding physician and external partnerships.
Before Dignity Health, Dr. Klein was Chief Operating Officer and then President of the 574-bed Baylor Scott & White Health All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. There, he introduced key strategic growth initiatives and highly innovative programs. As a result, the hospital received numerous accolades for service line excellence and overall hospital quality, including top hospital rankings from U.S. News and World Report.
Dr. Klein has also served as Administrator of Presbyterian Hospital of Denton in Denton, Texas, and as CEO of Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Klein practiced general surgery for 14 years before becoming a full-time hospital administrator. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, his medical degree from the University of New Mexico and his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Irvine.
For many years, Dr. Klein has served on numerous community boards including the American Heart Association, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society and Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
“I could not be more excited about this role and the opportunity to contribute to the organization’s stellar reputation for high-quality, safe, innovative, and patient-centered care,” said Dr. Klein. “My predecessor, Lee Domanico, has truly set the benchmark for excellence in healthcare, and I intend to build upon the incredible legacy he has given to the community of Marin and the Bay Area at large. I also look forward to working closely with the exceptional and extremely dedicated team of professionals at MarinHealth—especially during these unprecedented times—to ensure that we continue to uphold the great values and traditions that have made us the Healing Place for our community.”
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