Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association leader leaving for California post

The president and CEO of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, a powerful lobbying and coordinating organization for the Dayton-area’s 28 hospitals, is leaving his position for a similar job in California.

Bryan Bucklew, who has led the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association since 2005, has been named the president and CEO of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, which represents 185 hospitals and health systems.

Under his leadership, the GDAHA became a leading voice in Ohio on a variety of hospital and health care issues, including a community response to the opioid epidemic, mental and behavioral health redesign, disaster preparedness, and improvements in quality care metrics.

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Bucklew helped create the innovative clinical partnership between three major health systems in the Dayton area called Ascend Innovations. The organization focuses on the development of new technologies and products designed to improve patient care outcomes, intensive data analytics and increasing clinical trial opportunities in the Dayton region.

“Bryan has been an outstanding leader of the GDAHA bringing innovative approaches to the many challenging issues facing our community. His deep and expansive knowledge of healthcare has been instrumental to helping the member hospitals achieve their goals of providing high quality accessible healthcare,” said Deborah Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital and board chair of GDAHA.

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“Beyond his work at the hospital association, Bryan is a highly respected leader in our region and has spent countless hours working to improve the lives of our citizens. We are deeply grateful for the positive and lasting impact Bryan has had on the Dayton region. He will be greatly missed and we wish him well in his new leadership role at the Hospital Council of Northern & Central California,” Feldman added.

Bucklew said he is most proud of the recognition local hospitals have received within Ohio and outside of the state with initiatives like opioid crisis response, Ascend Innovations and the use of data analytics and clinical trials.

“I think it’s a great community and I think the hospitals are representative of the community,” he said.

Dayton Children’s specialty makes U.S. News & World Report rank

Prior to joining GDAHA, Bucklew was vice president of public policy and economic development for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. He began his career serving as district director for former Rep. Tony P. Hall,D-Ohio.

Bucklew will be relocating to Sacramento with his family this fall, and will begin his new role Oct. 22.

The Hospital Council of Northern and Central California represents 185 hospitals and health systems in 50 of California’s 58 counties—from Kern County to the Oregon border. Major cities in the service area include Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Fresno and Modesto.

“I have known Bryan for many years,” said Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, in a release. “He is an outstanding leader and innovative association executive, and will work tirelessly to help our members provide high quality health care and improve the health status of the communities they serve.”

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