St. Agnes Hospital has a special place in David Simpkins? heart.
His mother, Ivery Simpkins, worked at the hospital as a staff nurse during the 1970s. Years later, she was back at St. Agnes ? this time as a patient. She lost her battle with Alzheimer?s, but David Simpkins was always grateful for the care and comfort his mother received at St. Agnes.
A national recruiter phone call brought Simpkins back to the community health care center three years ago to help St. Agnes with marketing and business development.
“There was just something special about the place,” Simpkins said. “It gave me an opportunity to give something back.”
Simpkins, the vice president for planning, marketing and business development at St. Agnes, works to expand and develop new programs at the hospital and promote the center as a welcoming and caring place for patients.
“Because of the competitive health care market in Baltimore, there was a need to develop the hospital?s brand,” said Simpkins, 45, who grew up in Howard County.
St. Agnes is in the beginning of a $214 million multiyear campus revitalization project, and Simpkins? task is to make sure hospital operations continue to run smoothly and patients aren?t affected by the construction.
“For me, it?s about the people in the community,” Simpkins said. “We?re keeping our eye on the bottom line, but we have to maintain good relationships with our patients, making sure we?re serving them well.”
He joined St. Agnes after working at Holy Cross Hospital for 12 years as a vice president of marketing.
Simpkins, who has degrees in business and health management services, has succeeded because of his knowledge in both fields, said Dr. Adrian Long, chief medical officer and executive vice president of medical affairs at St. Agnes.
“For a position like his, it?s important to have someone who knows both very well,” Long said. “He?s been very successful in listening to and working with the physicians here, expanding programs and developing new programs.”
DAVID SIMPKINS
First job: Dishwasher at small restaurant, The Red Caboose, in Columbia
Education: Bachelor?s degree in health services management from Towson University, master?s in business from Johns Hopkins University
Daily e-mails received: 75 to 100 easily
Daily voicemails received: About 20
Favorite gadget: BlackBerry, equipped with GPS and Internet
Career objective: To improve health?s status. It?s about getting information to people and helping them live healthy lives.
Essential Web sites: bizjournals.com, wsj.com, area hospital sites
Hometown: Howard County
Birth date: Oct. 9, 1961
Original aspiration: I wanted to be a pediatrician.
Sports/hobbies: I love to run. I?ve taken up golf, although I?m horrible, but I?m working on it.
