The Lynn Oswald file
Employment: Worked at Fort Hamilton Hospital 31 years; starts Monday as executive vice president of Lindner Center of HOPE.
Education: Master’s of health administration from Xavier University, master’s of business administration from Miami University, and bachelor’s degree in nursing at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.
Organizations: Chairman of board of local American Heart Association; member of board of Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.
HAMILTON — The former top executive of Hamilton’s hospital has found a job as a top executive at another local health institution.
Lynn Oswald starts Monday as executive vice president of the Lindner Center of HOPE of Mason, a nonprofit mental health center. She stepped down as senior vice president of Fort Hamilton Hospital in November after the hospital joined the Dayton-based Kettering Health Network.
Oswald took a couple of months off to spend time with her five grandchildren, but said she looks forward to her new post.
“I like change, and I like taking advantage of opportunities that change brings,” Oswald said.
Lindner Center opened in 2008 and houses residential, outpatient and hospital services for those 11 and older. It also has a research institute and a brain imaging center, said Dr. Paul Keck, president and chief executive officer.
The executive VP position is newly created to allow Keck more time for clinical, research and strategic-planning activities, he said. Oswald’s primary responsibility will be managing day-to-day operations.
“She has an extraordinary amount of experience ... as a CEO herself,” Keck said.
Oswald led Fort Hamilton through health system change
Lynn Oswald did her best work as the person in charge of Fort Hamilton Hospital during its change from the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati to the Kettering Health Network, said Robert Weigel, vice chair of the hospital’s board of trustees.
Oswald spent 31 years at Fort Hamilton, more than five as senior vice president. She assumed the top role after Health Alliance appointed her predecessor, James Kingsbury, to University Hospital of Cincinnati, Weigel said. But after joining the Kettering system, Oswald stepped down.
Next stop
She starts Monday as executive vice president of Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason, which provides patient-centered, scientifically advanced care for individuals suffering with mental illness.
Kettering Health named Jennifer Swenson president of Fort Hamilton on Nov. 19.
“That’s when her leadership was important, when she did her best work and she represented herself very well,” said Weigel, who is also owner and director of Weigel Funeral Home of Hamilton.
Started as a nurse
Oswald, 56, began her medical career as a Registered Nurse. After a stint in Chicago, she came to the Cincinnati area and started at Fort Hamilton in 1980. At the time, she said, few managers had clinical experience — and after going back to school for master’s degrees in health administration and business administration, Oswald worked her way up. A clinical background helps managers understand the front-line provider’s point of view, she said.
Weigel said he met Oswald when she was second in charge in 1998, the year he joined the board.
He said Oswald kept Fort Hamilton a viable hospital. It went from 3 percent of Health Alliance’s assets to one of three equally represented partners. And he feels Kettering Health was the right choice for a new partner.
Oswald counts raising the quality of care as her proudest accomplishment, followed by managing finances. She said until recently, the hospital always broke even or had a small positive bottom line.
“I think it’s a challenging place because there are a lot of financial challenges,” Oswald said.
Another challenge
The Hamilton resident will join the Center of Hope at a time of increasing demand for its services. It has about 300 employees. President and chief executive officer Dr. Paul Keck said the center was built to meet an enormous need for mental health services and sometimes still has difficulty getting patients in as quickly as they’d like.
Oswald said, “I have nothing but the highest regard for Fort Hamilton. As a resident of the community, it’s important to me the hospital stays strong and I’m confident they will.”
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