In this episode we talk to John Strong.

John is a 40 year veteran of the healthcare industry with leadership experience in healthcare providers, suppliers and service providers, and group purchasing organizations. On October 4, 2011 the Bellwether League (Health Care Supply Chain Hall of Fame) inducted John for “his outstanding contributions over the years to healthcare supply chain management, development, innovation and leadership.” He combines talents that include health care administration, entrepreneurship, national accounts contracting, group purchasing, the roles of President, CEO and board member, and healthcare industry consultant. John has developed and implemented programs that have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in value for his employers and clients.

In addition to his consulting practice, John served on the adjunct faculty of the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business, at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee for three years.

John presently serves as president of Greenhealth Management, a subsidiary of Practice Greenhealth. It operates Greenhealth Exchange, a Delaware public benefit company (“B” Corp). Greenhealth Exchange is focused on developing specifications and aggregating green, sustainable purchasing volume to accelerate the adoption of better and more sustainable products in the health care industry.

John retired from Nexera, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association, where he was Senior Vice President of Management Services. This division provides outsourced services to clients including Supply Chain Procurement, Distribution, Central Processing, Linen, Receiving, Environmental Services, Facility Management, Clinical Engineering and Food Services.

John served as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Consorta, a $5 billion dollar group purchasing organization serving more than 350 hospitals for more than ten years.

Prior to Consorta, John served in a number of senior executive positions at Premier, Inc., a leading national healthcare alliance. In his final role as Chief Operating Officer of the group purchasing program he was responsible for medical surgical, operating supply and pharmacy group purchasing and clinical programs, alternate site services and international programs. He was a key architect of Premier’s contracting programs, member service and marketing operations for the group purchasing program, increasing purchasing volume to more than eight fold.

John’s experience also includes consulting as a Senior Vice President with Concepts in Healthcare, Inc., an Ashland, Massachusetts consulting firm.

John received his Master’s Degree in Business Administration with Distinction, with an emphasis on Human Resource Management from DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with a comprehensive major in Management from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is married, and has two post-college age children.