CDH’s Melin Named ‘Top Entrepreneur’ By Area Business Publication

NORTHAMPTON — Cooley Dickinson Hospital President Craig Melin was recently named the ‘Top Entrepreneur for 2004’ by Springfield-based BusinessWest magazine, an honor given in recognition of his ability to turn around the once fiscally troubled hospital and for instilling an entrepreneurial mindset at the facility.

Announcing Melin’s selection, BusinessWest publisher John Gormally, who also launched The Healthcare News, said that, while a hospital administrator may seem an unusual pick for ‘top entrepreneur,’ in Melin’s case it is certainly warranted.

“He has led the hospital back to sound fiscal health at a very difficult time for all health care providers,” said Gormally, referring to CDH’s stunning turnaround — from a hospital on the brink of fiscal collapse in the early ‘90s to one of the few hospitals in the state to record surpluses the past several years. “And while what he’s done is important, it’s how he’s done it that is most impressive; he has people thinking outside the box, and in the process, Cooley Dickinson is creating models for hospitals across the country.”

The magazine listed several initiatives at CDH under Melin’s direction, including a recently announced $45 million expansion plan, an imaginative campaign to recruit nurses and other health care professionals, and the creation of a new product, Way Cooley Coffee, which is being sold at the hospital and now other locations, with proceeds used to support Hampshire Health Connect, a CDH-sponsored program that connects uninsured people in the community with health care and coverage.