Steven Knych's leadership and clinical expertise has been huge, not only in his current position at Adventist Health System, but also during his 24-year military career.
Knych — vice president of the Adventist Office of Clinical Effectiveness and chief quality and patient safety officer — spent 24 years in patient care during active duty with the U.S. Air Force and Veteran’s Affairs facilities. During his years of service, Knych served in leadership roles as a medical operations squadron commander. He played pivotal roles in the development and implementation of the Air Force’s theater hospital system in operation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and served as chief orthopedic consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General. He also was hand-picked by the Surgeon General to be the medical lead to stand up the Air Force Directorate of Homeland Security after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He retired from the Air Force in July 2006 at the rank of Colonel.
Since joining Adventist's corporate services team in 2013, Knych consistently has been on the leading edge of designing, deploying and overseeing clinical programs and initiatives. His forward-thinking approach and tireless pursuit of clinical excellence are helping foster better care and outcomes for the Altamonte Springs-based health system, which serves more than 5 million patients annually at nearly 50 campuses, including Florida Hospital.
Knych is leading Adventist Health System’s efforts to use data and analytics to identify gaps and improve processes. His team partnered with health care technology firm C-SATS to use data to help surgeons improve clinical skills and performance in robotic surgery. Knych led the development and deployment of this system across 15 hospitals, resulting in significant improvements to quality metrics, including reductions in the number of robotic surgeries that were converted to open surgery, blood loss, time in surgery, overall length of stay and procedural costs. He also enhanced Adventist's weight loss surgery program in nine hospitals.
Knych and his team also pioneered Adventist Health System’s bundled-payment initiative, which leveraged data with intensive process improvement efforts to make substantial advancements, such as a 19 percent decrease in 90-day readmissions, a 17 percent decrease in discharges to skilled nursing facilities, and a 13-17 percent decrease in acute hospital length of stay, depending on the diagnosis-related group. He also supports several community organizations through participating in the Adventist community involvement program; sponsors his alma mater's nursing students’ annual trip to South American countries to learn and provide health care to underprivileged communities; and serves as a deacon in his church and for the greater Orlando area in the St. Vincent DePaul Society.
For his achievements, Knych was named an honoree in Orlando Business Journal's 2018 Veterans of Influence Awards.
Here are this year's honorees in alphabetical order, many of whom shared the top business highlight of their post-military careers.
Here's more from Knych:
Why did you join the military? To fulfill my obligations associated with undergraduate and graduate medical education and training.
What's the best or most significant thing that happened to you while you were serving? While serving at the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, I led a team charged with validating, operationalizing and deploying the first-of-its kind Air Force medical support footprint called EMEDS, or Expeditionary Medical Support. We validated the concept from a five-man backpack, FAST team on up to a 25-bed fixed support facility that was modular and could deploy in as little as 72 hours. Previous support footprints were too large and heavy to move quickly to support the warfighter. This new package kept all the critical support elements and packed them into quickly deployable assets.
Favorite place you were stationed and why: Bolling AFB, where I was consultant to the Surgeon General in orthopedics and a hand-picked member of General P.K. Carlton’s 10-person Tactical Action Team. During this assignment, the Pentagon attack on 9/11 required us to organize and respond quickly to an attack on the homeland not seen since Pearl Harbor. After this attack, I was appointed, along with an MSC officer, with standing up the medical arm of the Air Force Directorate of Homeland Security.
What other challenges do you run into in your line of work? It's my ongoing priority to understand the challenges, and collaboratively deploy solutions that impact patient care across our diverse set of health care facilities, from large hospitals to urgent care centers and other outpatient sites. It's both challenging and extremely rewarding.
Your advice to veterans: Do not underestimate the transition from military to civilian life, and never undersell your value to your future employers. Your dependability and value set are extremely well appreciated by future employers.
Little-known fact about you: I am a recently ordained deacon in the Diocese of Orlando, a drummer who played at mass for close to 10 years, and I am a surgeon — a rather unique combination.
Is your company hiring right now? We are a very military-friendly company that emphasizes family and support, which is familiar for all military personnel. We provide a comfortable, inviting and balanced working environment for veterans planning their next career. To help facilitate the transition of military personnel into the civilian jobs within our system, we have made an investment in a military job translator. This technology is designed to easily identify roles for veterans that directly fit their military background using their military job code. You can learn more about veterans recruitment at Adventist Health System by visiting: https://veterans.joinahs.com/.
Stephen Knych
- Military branch: U.S. Air Force
- Years in the military: 24
- Highest rank achieved: Colonel 0-6
- Years with Adventist Health System: 12
2017 C. Fla. revenue
| Rank | Prior Rank | Company |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Westgate Resorts Inc. |
2 | 2 | Massey Services Inc. |
3 | 3 | Armstrong Air & Heating Inc. |
