Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States
Gerard is a known pioneer who was involved in transforming two distinct industries: healthcare and luxury hospitality. He is renowned for embracing challenges others deem impossible with a reputation for elevating brands, nurturing customer loyalty, emotionally engaging stakeholders, and streamlining operations. Gerard believes that we need to create consumer segmentation and customization, build emotional connections and move away from the ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of healthcare delivery. Like other consumer organizations, he believes we need to treat people like valued and respected consumers, not by disease or payment, but by patient and consumer needs and their preferred engagement. Entrepreneurial CEO offering progressive experience in operations leadership. Skilled at identifying and implementing process improvements to drive efficiency, productivity, and maximizing market penetration. Proud member of teams that have earned an unprecedented two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in 1999 and the Henry Ford Health System in 2012. During his tenure at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Gerard led the organization to be ranked fourth out of the 42 national hospital systems, tracked in the YouGov BrandIndex “Best Brand” survey. A highly regarded speaker, communicator and writer on the topics of: driving growth, quality outcomes and profitability through world-class customer service, the future of healthcare and creating a foundational patient and consumer experience in an era of value-based purchasing.
October 2015 - Current Founder/CEO The Van Grinsven Hospitality Group | Boca Raton, FL The Van Grinsven Hospitality Group is launching an innovative new venture that seamlessly merges luxury and health innovation, targeting premier hotels, luxurious residences, exclusive private clubs, and cutting-edge health and senior living facilities. By integrating advanced health strategies such as precision medicine and personalized health programs with unparalleled luxury, we are setting new benchmarks for wellness hospitality. Each guest's experience will be uniquely tailored with state-of-the-art diagnostics and personalized nutrition, transforming traditional hospitality into a sanctuary of deep healing and well-being. We are more than just a provider of luxury accommodations; we cultivate a vibrant community committed to sustained health and superior living. Our round-the-clock personalized care is managed through a sophisticated digital interface, ensuring a seamless and holistic wellness journey for every visitor. Our adaptable and scalable business model taps into the burgeoning wellness and ethical luxury markets, poised to make a significant global impact. This approach not only promises compelling financial returns but also reshapes the luxury wellness landscape, delivering profound value to our stakeholders and guests alike. • Developed Project Fountain, a lifestyle hotel concept for health and healing with evidence-based wellness programs for one of the leading healthcare systems in the nation. •Co-Created Project Catalyst, a first-of-its-kind medical treatment center for patients whose conditions and symptoms are served poorly by today's treatment protocols. • Developed wellness, longevity and related operational plans for a new Five-Star hotel and residences in Boca Raton. • Developing hospitality protocols and systems for a leading academic healthcare system opening a cancer hospital in the Midwest.
At Waterstone Properties it is our vision to enhance the health and prosperity of every community we touch, through our mission to unlock the power of place and in a business that will build highly-personalized strategies and partnerships to deliver exceptional growth.
In Collaboration with the hospital CEO's, the Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Directors, transformed Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA), a national network of private hospitals and outpatient clinics, specializing in the treatment of patients diagnosed with complex cancer. By involving all key stakeholders, we launched the groundbreaking “Re-imagine” strategy, which put CTCA on-track to become one of the top global providers for cancer care by 2020. The strategy focused on: • Improving profits to reinvest in patient care, technology and research; • Achieving world-class patient engagement levels as benchmarked against all service providers, not just healthcare organizations; • Increasing stakeholder engagement to world class levels; • Significantly improving CTCA's reputation among physicians, making it the preferred employer for doctors in the nation
Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) and The Henry Ford Medical Group pioneered a new standard for health and wellness care, by opening a one million square feet, 300 bed hospital in West Bloomfield, a suburb of Detroit. In collaboration with numerous Henry Ford Health System key stakeholders, I planned the grand opening of this $350 million hospital, and I was involved in the facility design, construction, recruitment, staffing, on-boarding, program development and operational planning. • Within two years of opening of the hospital, captured market share from well-established competitors, was 18 months ahead of schedule to become cash flow positive; had the highest patient and stakeholder engagement scores in the country and achieved the lowest length of stay and readmission rates in the region. • Improved clinical outcomes and reduced the length of patient stays through groundbreaking innovations that focused on patient well-being: private rooms which greatly lowered infection rates, a “no overhead paging” policy, organic food, spa and wellness treatments, music and art therapies as well as wellness education programs. • In collaboration with Talent Plus, Inc. built a Talent Based Organization ® from the ground up. • Successfully introduced best practices to other Henry Ford Health System hospitals and medical centers.
While revitalizing The Ritz Carlton Dearborn property, I also took regional management responsibilities for Ritz-Carlton hotels in Cleveland, St. Louis and Philadelphia and contributed to the Corporate Steering Committee meetings at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. headquarters. While engaging all the ladies and gentlemen and corporate leadership in "The Ritz Carlton Re-Born initiative", we executed a back to basics program at the Ritz Carlton Dearborn, re-energizing the Ritz-Carlton philosophy, it's motto and service basics. • Within 24 months, The Ritz-Carlton Dearborn had moved from 50th place in employee engagement in the company to 5th; from 32nd in customer satisfaction to 7th and the hotel's restaurant was named “Restaurant of the Year” by the Detroit Free Press. • The highly successful Re-Born initiative was accomplished with zero capital investment in the property and honored with the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's “Best Practice” award. • The Re-born initiative re-engaged the local community and led to increased market share and improved financial results, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company adopted this initiative company wide. • The Ritz Carlton Dearborn, Cleveland, St. Louis and Philadelphia exceeded all key performance indicators
By engaging the Food and Beverage Directors and Executive Chefs in all Ritz-Carlton properties worldwide, we successfully improved The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company's food and beverage image throughout both the industry and in each property's home market, by redefining the culinary and service experience. • Under my direction, each team Introduced freestanding restaurant concepts, resulting in a pronounced improvement of financial results across the chain. • Planned and presided over the Food and Beverage operations in the pre-opening and opening of 26 new Ritz-Carlton Hotels worldwide, with full P&L responsibility for the company-wide Food and Beverage line. • Designed, planned and executed “Tour de l'Europe”, a comprehensive educational program for Ritz-Carlton culinary and food and beverage leaders, which led to improved employee engagement and financial results • Achieved the first Michelin Star rating in the history of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company: Aqua, at the Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg.
Successfully opened the largest food and beverage operation in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and introduced the first nightclub in the company’s history, voted the best nightlife spot by The Korea Herald. Market-leading profit and performance amongst the competitive set.