With health care the dominant industry in the Lehigh Valley and across the nation, these three leaders have taken strides to ensure that the hospitals they represent stay vibrant and dynamic. They’ve each got their own unique prescription for building and sustaining a healthy business – and a healthy track record of success.

Ronald W. Swinfard, CEO of Lehigh Valley Health Network since 2010, has made major inroads into keeping costs low for his $1.6 billion organization. Some simple-yet-effective steps include reducing the number of surgical instruments and combining offices across various locations. For 16 years, the network has landed among the top-ranked hospitals in U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking. He’s also made an effort to increase LVHN’s mission to educate the community on healthy eating habits and to reach out to the network’s employees so management can hear employee concerns as well as suggestions for improvement. With a focus on using lean production practices and a passion for enhancing the growth of health care workers across the network, it’s clear Swinfard is the right man for the job.

John Nespoli, CEO of Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown, has helped guide Sacred Heart to unprecedented levels of success in the three short years he has served as the hospital’s leader. Since his tenure began, the health care system added 20 new physicians, completed $1.5 million in improvements to the hospital campus and raised more than $5.4 million for hospital improvements. The progress did not go unnoticed either, as Sacred Heart earned the 2011 Business of the Year award from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. With a $45 million, five-year improvement plan under way, Nespoli is ready to take the facility – and the community it serves – to the next level of success.

Richard A. Anderson, CEO and president of St. Luke’s University Health Network in Bethlehem, oversees about 8,000 employees within the network, which includes seven counties, six hospitals and 150 sites. Under his leadership, St. Luke’s added new hospital facilities in Bethlehem Township in 2011 and 2012. Also in 2012, he helped acquire St. Luke’s Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg, N.J. Anderson has helped St. Luke’s expand its medical education outreach by adopting a new moniker – St. Luke’s University Health Network. Added to this growth are the major investments in high-tech devices, which are poised to help St. Luke’s flourish in the future.